Website

The Boowa & Kwala web series contains literally hundreds of games, songs and animations for preschoolers. Created by Véronique and Jason Barnard, run by UpToTen….

Boowa & Kwala website launched in December 1998 with several games, and an advent calendar. It was built using Macromedia Flash and so required a plugin to be viewed. This didn’t hold the site back as it built from just a few visits in the first days to over 60 million in 2007.

Characters in the web series:

Boowa voiced by Jason Barnard
Kwala voiced by Véronique Barnard
Dawa voiced by Jason Barnard
Mawa voiced by Jason Barnard
Siwa voiced by Léonor-Jo Barnard
Mummy Koala voiced by Céline Chevrier
Daddy Koala voiced by Jason Barnard
Grandpa Koala voiced by Jason Barnard
Grandma Koala voiced by Céline Chevrier

Sending letters for the Boowa and Kwala website in Mauritius

Jason Barnard explains why sending a letter to “Santa at The North Pole” is a little similar to sending a drawing to “Boowa & Kwala, Between the Sea and the Post Office”.

Transcript:

Jason Barnard: I was a blue dog, my wife was a yellow koala. I was called Boowa, she was called Kwala. It was delightful. And the kids would send in their drawings of Boowa and Kwala and it was a bit like Father Christmas, because we would write on the website, “please send your drawings for the gallery. We’ll do a gallery.”

Jason Barnard: And we did a gallery every month as well. Showing the kids’ story to Boowa and Kwala, which is super delightful and touching.

Josh Rech: Oh, that’s so fun.

Jason Barnard: And send it to … the address was “Boowa and Kwala between the sea and the post office, Mauritius.” That was it. And the parents would send them in and they would go, “this is like Father Christmas because it’s like sending to Santa Claus the North Pole… it’s not gonna get there” and it did.

Jason Barnard: Mauritius is this tiny little country in the Indian ocean. And it would get to the main city in Mauritius and the people in the local post office told the people in the main post office, “anything for Boowa and Kwala send it to us. We know where it goes.” And for seven years the post office system in Mauritius adapted to this father Christmas kind of situation. And it was absolutely delightful…