By Gavin Boyle
Disney appears to be reestablishing itself as the king of kids content after outbidding Netflix to move COCOMELON over to its streaming platform.
“We are focusing heavily on the core brands and franchises that fuel all of our core businesses and reduce output overall, to enable us to concentrate on fewer and improve quality while continuing our efforts around the creation of fresh and compelling original IP,” Disney CEO Bob Iger explained in November 2023 when discussing the future strategy for Disney+.
Acquiring COCOMELON sticks to this plan as it is an already established, popular IP that Disney+ will not have to spend on to further produce. Furthermore, it allows Disney to have even more control over the kids content market. Disney+ currently houses the top three shows for preschool kids (BLUEY, SPIDEY AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS and MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE), and COCOMELON will join the lineup as the No. 6 show for the age group, per Deadline.
Despite this popularity, COCOMELON has been underperforming in recent years. During the pandemic, it was the No. 1 show, but from the first half of 2023 to the second half of 2024, viewership of the show dropped nearly 60% as other shows surged in popularity. Nonetheless, the addition of the show the Disney+’s library will be a welcomed by many and will certainly help drive viewership on the platform.
COCOMELON is often seen as a positive show for children, teaching them basic life skills through catchy songs and dances. The show has had a few controversies, though, including a same-sex couple and a witchy song for Halloween. A portion of Movieguide®’s review of season 12 reads:
Related: Is COCOMELON as Safe as it Seems?
Unfortunately, episode two features a song that promotes witchcraft as three girls dress up as witches for Halloween. While the first season of COCOMELON LANE, a Netflix exclusive spinoff of the series, was controversial for its inclusion of a same-sex couple who encouraged their son to dance while wearing a tutu, season 12 of COCOMELON avoids the LGBTQ+ topic altogether. Though the series features no foul language, violence, or sexual content, it also features multiple songs with shirtless boys. MOVIEGUIDE® recommends children aged two and under have no screen time, while preschoolers aged three to five should have extremely limited and monitored screen time. Parental discretion is advised.
Though the streamer will be sad to see COCOMELON go, Netflix remains a large player in kids content as well through MS. RACHEL, GABBY’S DOLLHOUSE, PEPPA PIG, CARE BEARS, HOT WHEELS LET’S RACE and the recent acquisition of SESAME STREET.
“Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, and all their friends are coming to Netflix later this year, with Sesame Street’s all-new, reimagined 56th season — plus 90 hours of previous episodes — available to audiences worldwide,” Netflix announced in May.
The addition of such a strong show may explain why Netflix was willing to let COCOMELON leave even as it joins the lineup of one of its main competitors in kids content.
Read Next: COCOMELON Leaves Netflix for This Streaming Competitor
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