COCOMELON’s Celebration of Love, Kindness Promotes Family-Friendly Values
By Movieguide® Contributor
COCOMELON is an animated Netflix-streamed show for preschoolers. The show’s original creator, Jay Jeon, intended to provide his own children with helpful and fun ways to learn. The show is now produced by Moonbug Entertainment. Viewers follow a little boy named JJ as he learns his ABCs, shapes and many other things with the help of his family, friends and teacher.
The eight-season series encompasses many experiences for JJ and his friends. He learns how to use the toilet, share, cook and even make a quilt. His big sister YoYo and his big brother TomTom are always there to help him, whether it’s with his “please and thank yous” or fixing a broken toy. His loving parents and grandparents play games with him and instruct him on how to be a good helper. His teacher, Mrs. Applebee, teaches him and his friends their shapes, numbers and ABCs and about different places and cultures. Like many toddlers, JJ gets sad or frustrated when things don’t go his way. Each time this happens, there is always a bigger person there to guide him, and JJ learns how to respond and react positively.
The show doesn’t have any dialogue but is completely made up of songs that last around 2–6 minutes. Each song has its own theme, and there are many songs in each episode. In some episodes, instead of showing a little story about JJ and his family to go with a song, JJ and his friends perform a dance. Other times, talking and dancing animals perform a silly song.
COCOMELON contains a strong moral worldview. It prizes family values and is big on kindness and consideration for others. It shows children what a healthy family relationship looks like. Though the show’s audience is young, the creators pay attention to small details. Parents wear wedding rings and always show love for each other and their children. It highlights parental and gender role models with songs like “My Mommy” and “My Daddy.” The show also contains many classic nursery rhymes like “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” “Wheels on the Bus” and “Johny Johny Yes Papa.” This last song is inconsistent with the otherwise wholesome worldview. It is a silly nursery rhyme, but it is acted out by the parents and talks about someone being caught in a lie. The parents, who are otherwise often great examples, fall a little short here.
When JJ’s parents go on a date to the tune of “On a Bicycle Built for Two,” they open what appears to be a champagne bottle. But it does not show them drinking it. A similar bottle can be seen in the background on the family’s kitchen counter throughout the series and inside the fridge in one scene. There is only mild nudity—viewers see JJ with only a shirt and underwear on when he potty trains, and male characters don’t wear shirts when they bathe or play in the water. There is one instance of very mild violence: an angry pirate cannons watermelons at some pigs, who avoid getting hit. The show does have a handful of Christmas and Halloween-themed songs. During the latter, characters dress up in various costumes—zombies, witches and aliens included. There is no language or sexual content.
COCOMELON occasionally has an occasional inconsistency in the animation style but otherwise appears bright, engaging and extremely colorful. Many scenes are designed to be from a small child’s point of view. All of the characters’ surroundings are designed with kids in mind. For example, there is a bright yellow kitchen and a rainbow staircase that turns into a slide.
Overall, there are many good values displayed in COCOMELON. It displays compassion, charity, love, forgiveness, kindness and the importance of honoring one’s parents, but there are some minor questionable elements present, too.
However, Movieguide® would like to remind parents that children should not consume any screentime before the age of 2, and it should be limited after that.
