Imagine walking into a Disney park and instead of seeing Star Wars Land (ahem, we mean Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios) or Avatar Flight of Passage, you see a ride starring YouTube kids’ phenom Blippi.
Well, that future isn’t too far out of reach, thanks to a recent collaboration between Blippi, Walt Disney World, and Disney Cruise Line.
The collab will kick off by bringing Blippi and pal Meekah to the Mouse House for a 45-minute special called Blippi’s Magical Walt Disney World Adventure. That premiered this week on YouTube, where Blippi has 24 million subscribers and brings a whopping 600 million views per month. It’ll be followed by four shorter YouTube-exclusive episodes, two filmed on the Disney Wish, one filmed in Animal Kingdom, and one filmed at Walt Disney World Resort. Those will premiere one per week.
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“Disney has been a source of joy for generations, and it’s been incredible to work together to create authentic, magical experiences with Blippi that families can enjoy at home,” Mike Katzman, General Manager of Blippi, said in a statement. “Filming in the four parks at Walt Disney World and on Disney Cruise Line brought that magic to life in the most genuine way–seeing kids light up when they spotted Blippi and showcasing all the ways families can be curious and playful together.”
As you can probably guess, these adventures seem advertorial in nature, aimed at getting the kiddos excited to make their own trips to Disney properties, just in time for summer. (Sorry, parents.) Considering the consistent prices hikes of Disney visits and just how much a room on the Wish (the pioneer ship of Disney’s newest cruise line) can go for these days, Disney may hope appealing to kids’ pester power might help nudge adults into opening their wallets a little wider.
We’re not surprised Disney is turning to a YouTube creator to lead this campaign–especially since said YouTube creator’s IP is owned by Candle Media, the company founded by former longtime Disney execs (and current Disney consultants) Kevin Mayer and Thomas Staggs.
CoComelon owner Moonbug acquired Blippi for ~$120 million in 2020, and Candle Media acquired Moonbug for $3 billion a year later. As we mentioned, Candle Media’s leaders are also Disney advisors, so there’s a pretty direct line here between who owns Blippi and the history those owners have with Disney. What we’re wondering is whether this will result in a longer-term Blippi partnership, or a closer-knit relationship between Disney and Candle Media, where Disney makes ads with Candle’s stable of family content brands more frequently.
We’re also curious whether Blippi heading out on the high seas will actually result in more Wish rooms getting booked, but we’ll probably never know. Unless we get Jenny Nicholson on the case…
