Why are they always angry? Coming soon: Angry Birds, the series

If you can't get enough of the addicting, furious fowl on your mobile device or on Facebook, the creator of the wildly popular Angry Birds game plans to launch a series of very short cartoons later this year. Rovio Entertainment announced at the MIPTV programming conference that the Angry Birds will broaden their stories beyond the famous mobile app.

Nick Dorra, the head of Rovio's animation department says while fans know some of the character's quirks, they can look forward to "deeper thoughts, deeper feelings of the characters, such as why are they always angry?" He says that Angry Birds will become less about the slingshot and more about the characters.

Maybe they'll explain why the pigs are so irritating in the upcoming series: Rovio will prepare 52 episodes, each lasting between two-and-a-half and three minutes. The comic-ettes will be available "on all possible devices", Dorra says. ABC says that's not all: Rovio is also working on a feature film.

Before you laugh, Rovio says in the first week of its launch, there were 20 million downloads of its latest game, Angry Birds Space.

It's not clear if the Birds will talk in the cartoons, but Dorra is coy: "We have not yet encountered a talking member of the species, but who knows? There are new birds popping up all the time."

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