St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Creator Platform Tongal Unveil Fever Fighter

First animated series inspired by St. Jude patient artwork

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^® and award-winning creator platform Tongal, which has developed projects for Netflix, Disney and Sony, have announced the launch of an animated series based on Fever Fighter at LA Comic Con Friday, a first-of-its-kind project inspired by artwork from a patient at St. Jude.

Fever Fighter is based on a character created by Ethan Washburn, who first dreamed up the superhero when he was seven years old and being treated by St. Jude for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The character - whose superpower is fighting fevers, which are often present during cancer treatment - has long served as an informal mascot for patients and families. Now, Tongal is turning Washburn’s vision into an animated series, tapping its global network of creators to develop content based on this artwork. The goal is to make Fever Fighter not just a series, but the basis of a Feververse of patient-created superheroes.

“I can’t believe Fever Fighter is going to be a real show!” said Washburn, who is now a college graduate and St. Jude cancer survivor. “I dreamed him up when I was at St. Jude more than a decade ago, and it’s amazing to now see him living an exciting life of his own. I can’t wait to see what’s next as we hand his future over to artists and storytellers everywhere.”

St. Jude and Tongal announced the series during a Comic Con panel on Sept. 26, unveiling Fever Fighter’s origin story and teasing a larger “Feververse” to come. Fans and creators will be invited to submit their own creative concepts and artwork through the Tongal platform to help build Fever Fighter’s universe and choose his adventures.

“Transforming a child’s drawing into a fully animated character like Fever Fighter is more than creative storytelling - it’s a powerful reflection of how we’re evolving the way patient artwork is experienced and shared with the world,” said Samantha Maltin, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Art is a vital part of holistic care at St. Jude, and through this unique partnership with Tongal and its generous community, we’re able to position patient stories in ways that connect and inspire.”

“Through our collaboration with St. Jude, we’re focused on connecting with people of all ages on a deeply emotional level through storytelling,” said James DeJulio, CEO and co-founder of Tongal. “Fever Fighter was born out of Ethan’s imagination, and I believe it can spark an entirely new future of fundraising. We can use creativity to develop meaningful engagement that mobilizes creators, fans, and donors worldwide. The future of fundraising is through content and there’s no better way to build it than by empowering our global community of creators to bring Ethan’s Fever Fighter to life.”

A docu-style short chronicling Ethan’s story - created by Manuel Izquierdo, a member of the Tongal creator community - was premiered at L.A. Comic-Con. Fever Fighter’s transition from patient artwork to animated universe will continue with more content released later this fall.

About Tongal: Tongal has a long track record of reimagining iconic IP through fan and creator collaboration, from LEGO World Builder, a platform built by Tongal which allowed LEGO fans to co-create with other fans and LEGO executives, to Disney’s Star Wars: Go Rogue, a fan-created stop-motion series which won PRWeek's Global Campaign of the Year. The company most recently collaborated with dozens of creators worldwide on Piece by Piece, Pharrell Williams’ LEGO-animated biopic directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville. Additionally, they have been working with Atlantic Pictures (Eric, Karate Kid: Legends), and non-profit Boulder Crest Foundation, to raise awareness for Post-Traumatic Growth with a short film contest hosted on their platform, with support from celebrities and entertainment producers including Academy Award-winner Wendy Finerman.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children.® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. When St. Jude opened in 1962, childhood cancer was largely considered incurable. Since then, St. Jude has helped push the overall survival rate from 20% to more than 80% in the United States, and it won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude shares the breakthroughs it makes to help doctors and researchers at local hospitals and cancer centers around the world improve the quality of treatment and care for even more children. Because of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. Visit St. Jude Inspire to discover powerful St. Jude stories of hope, strength, love and kindness. Support the St. Jude mission by donating at stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook, following St. Jude on X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, and subscribing to its YouTube channel.