Cocomelon is a YouTube channel created by Jay Jeon which is dedicated to a mix of Aesop's Fables, educational songs, and nursery rhymes. The brand started out as a channel named checkgate in 2006, and was dedicated to releasing songs based on the alphabet. They would later rename themselves as ABCKidTV, with a movement from being dedicated solely to alphabet songs to including a variety of song content and then again to their current-day moniker of Cocomelon. Later videos (and the ones that the public are likely to be most familiar with) focus on the adventures of a toddler named JJ, his older brother TomTom, his older sister YoYo, and their parents, plus some adventures in preschool.
Perhaps thanks to the overwhelming power YouTube's algorithm has on the younger generation, the channel has slowly become a dominant force across the site. As of 2022, Cocomelon is the second most subscribed YouTube channel in history. And this is in addition to being readily available on streaming services like Netflix and creating a huge merchandising machine. You can access the channel here
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In 2021, Netflix ordered a three-season cartoon based off the series, titled "Cocomelon Lane". The series is expected to premiere in 2023.
Do do do do do do do do do COCOTROPES DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DAAA.
- A Boy, a Girl, and a Baby Family: We have the (presumably very similar in age) male TomTom and female YoYo, and the baby JJ.
- Are We There Yet?: What kickstarts the game in "Are We There Yet?" is the kids doing this during a road trip.
- Art Evolution: The channel has gone from 2D animation to a blend of CGI and 2D animation to completely CGI animation. Within the same medium, the CGI work was somewhat choppy at first, but has improved immensely since then.
- Black and Nerdy: Cody is black and loves dinosaurs.
- Black Best Friend: Cody, the dinosaur-lover, is officially marked as JJ's best friend. (They are also next-door neighbors, as Cody's family moves in during a 2021 episode.)
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Early videos on the channel were dedicated solely to teaching the alphabet, were in 2D animation, and featured none of the regular cast whatsoever.
- Everything Is Racist: This bit:Cody: What animal am I?
Nina: OH! a MONKEY! - First Day of School Episode: It has several:
- "Getting Ready For School" takes place the day before JJ's first day of school and is about him preparing for said day.
- "First Day of School" refers to JJ getting ready and going to preschool for the first time.
- "Getting Ready For School
- Living Toys: zigzagged. There are a number of animal characters (Pepe the pig, Mochi the monkey, Wally the wolf, etc) who correspond to stuffed animals JJ owns. However, we never see them coming to life, and the episodes never particularly discuss how we, as an audience, are meant to perceive them — even when those characters interact with JJ's parents.
- Medium Blending: There was a brief period in the channel's history where a mixture of CGI and 2D animation were used in the videos. A notable example is this rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", which had a CGI star interacting with a 2D animated cast.
- New Baby Episode: A story arc focused on Cody preparing to become a big brother.
- No Name Given: With the sole exception of Ms. Appleberry, who teaches the daycare / preschool JJ attends, none of the adult characters have names.
- No Plot? No Problem!: As this show is music-centric, there doesn't seem to be any discernible plot.
- Parents as People: JJ's parents appear to be Happily Married, and have a few numbers devoted to their marriage ("Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built For Two)" and two different iterations of "Skidamarink"). These double as Parental Bonus, since they're the only ones who would appreciate the significance of two parents who, despite the troubles of child-rearing, are still deeply in love.
- Playground Song: A fair amount of the songs on this channels are rendition of nursery rhymes, with some examples including "John, Jacob, Jingleheimer, Schmidt" and "Ring around the Rosy".
- Repetitive Name: TomTom, YoYo, and JJ.
- Sick Episode: The "Sick Song" deals with JJ getting sick and having to be tended to by his parents.
- Toilet Training Plot: The "Potty Training Song" is a song about using the potty. It references what to do when you get a “funny feeling way down low”. In this short episode, J.J. learns from his older brother how to use the potty and J.J. gets a pair of underwear at the end of the episode.
- Token Minority: For example, Cody is African-American, Nina is Mexican-American, Cece is either Chinese or Asian, and Nico, despite not having a stereotypical accent or personality, is rather Scottish-looking (due to his reddish hair and plaid shirt).
- Very Special Episode: There were several segments starring Cody that focused on his mother's pregnancy (which is rarely touched upon in children's shows) and how he learns to deal with it.
