Bloo Cloned?

Variety sez: Steve Baker won the Tropfest top prize on Sunday with his film An Imaginary Life. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be uncannily similar to Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, and Cartoon Network lawyers are already on the case.

I doubt that Baker would be stupid or naive enough to rip off such a high profile show as Foster's Home, but the evidence seems to make a case a clear cut one, at first glance. The images posted above are of Andrew, the protagonist of Imaginary Life and Bloo, the showstealing star of Foster's. Both are imaginary friends. Both animations are Flash-style affairs.

There are plenty of differences between the stories, notably that Imaginary Life adopts a pseudo-documentary aesthetic (well, as far as an animated film can) which is very different to the graphic, classical stylings in Foster's Home.

As much as I'd hate to see Craig McCracken getting ripped off, I think Baker has done so only by accident, if at all.