History Main / SleeperHit

* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' was meant to be just a short series Burnie Burns and his friends did for fun. Yet the videos gathered thousands and thousands of views bordering on DemandOverload, so everyone quit their day jobs, founded the still thriving Creator/RoosterTeeth, and ''Red vs. Blue'' has been running continuously since 2003.

* SleeperHit/AnimatedFilms

* ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', a VisualNovel for the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo DS}}, was released in North America to little fanfare -- there was basically no advertising and retailers had to specifically request copies of the game to stock. It then received several near-perfect scores from major reviewers, and good word-of-mouth led to so many sales that the distributors had to ''re-print the game.'' The sequel, ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', was released on the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 3DS}} and UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation Vita}} to similar critical acclaim.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Cocomelon}}'' started as a channel called ''[=ThatsMEOnTV=]'' that uploaded educational videos. After two rebrands, it began producing original animated videos featuring a set cast of characters. As the channel's last two incarnations were rather obscure, it was not expected to do well. ''Cocomelon'' is now the third most-subscribed to [=YouTube=] channel in the world, and the song "Bath Song" is the fourth most-watched [=YouTube=] video of all time. Additionally, since ''Cocomelon'' first became available on Netflix, it has almost never left the network's daily posted list of top 10 shows/movies watched in the United States. Though it has never once topped the list, it has almost always been at least ''somewhere'' on it, and has risen at least as high as fourth. This changed once Netflix made changes to how the top 10 are ranked, though the series still surfaces in the top 10 from time to time.

A SuperTrope to AndYouThoughtItWouldFail, where the work is actively derided before release and still ends up being a hit. Compare to ColbertBump, where a work/creator/event becomes popular upon being featured or referenced elsewhere, and EnsembleDarkhorse, when a character in a show/film/etc. becomes unexpectedly popular. If it takes longer than just its initial release to become popular, then it has been VindicatedByHistory instead. Contrast AcclaimedFlop, where a work flops in terms of box office or ratings but does well with critics and audiences, and CriticProof, in which a popular blockbuster/franchise gets a lot of bad publicity, despite being a box office hit.

* After Website/{{YouTube}} implemented the controversial COPPA compliance changes, alternative video sharing sites like Vlare.tv[[note]]Now defunct[[/note]], Website/{{Newgrounds}} and Odysee (which are smaller but more focused on QualityOverQuantity) became this for a small subset of content creators who felt that their content would be unfairly flagged by [=YouTube=], especially animators and/or people whose content could otherwise get mistaken for being family friendly.

* Unlike most of the biggest animated series from PBS, ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'' was an entirely new property; not based off of anything except for creator Ron Rodecker's paintings at a festival. Almost immediately after the show premiered, it became very popular, at times even beating ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' in the ratings. In 2004, the show reached as many as '''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20040720030335/http://www.ohpark.com:80/PressReleases/PRESS%20RELEASE%20DRAGON%20TALES%20LIVE!.pdf 11 million households a week]]''' and would become one of the most iconic preschool shows of the 2000s.

** The 3-D movie ''[[Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids Honey, I Shrunk the Audience]]'' was, according to ''The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World'', "launched with very little fanfare" at Epcot in 1994; it came along mainly because ''Film/CaptainEO'' had run its course and something fresh was in order. Well, that guide mentioned the "little fanfare" part by way of explaining that it swiftly became the hottest attraction in a park devoted mainly to {{Edutainment}}, and managed to run until 2010. It's also the only 3D movie besides ''Captain EO'' to play in more than three Disney parks, since it was exported to Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disneyland -- and even though Tokyo didn't get it until 1998, they were rewarded for their wait with a unique preshow. Even ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' made a joke about its tactile special effects in "Special Edna" -- Homer and Bart get CoveredInGunge by ''Honey, I Sprayed Goo on the Audience'' -- and Gigabyte, the python that menaces the shrunken crowd, was incorporated into Ridley Pearson's third ''Literature/KingdomKeepers'' novel.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'' was originally made to prep the kids of low-income families for school, and as a result it had very low ratings early on. After word of mouth spread about how beneficial the show was not only to poor families, but to all children regardless of their wealth, along with the show's [[ParentalBonus Parental Bonuses]] attracting a PeripheryDemographic, the ratings skyrocketed. It beat ''Series/CaptainKangaroo'' (where several members of ''Sesame Street'''s initial creative team had been hired from) as the most popular show for preschoolers on TV, and it's now a certified LongRunner CashCowFranchise.

* OlderThanRadio: The ''Penny Dreadful'' novels were cheap serials written in the 19th century by amateur authors on second-rate paper, intended for children and the working class, who couldn't afford the more expensive books by more popular authors.[[note]]They were considered by readers like then much like comic books were in modern times.[[/note]] While most ''Penny Dreadfuls'' were indeed, not very good, some have become cultural icons, like ''Literature/VarneyTheVampire'' and ''Literature/TheStringOfPearls'', the first known version of the ''Franchise/SweeneyTodd'' story.