In June 2025, YouTube-born kids’ brand CoComelon announced what was possibly its biggest collab deal yet: A partnership with Sanrio, the Japanese entertainment company responsible for iconic characters like Hello Kitty.
Now, the fruits of that deal are coming to, well, fruition. The duo just announced CoComelon Playdates with Sanrio Friends, a YouTube-first series they said will “[bring] the beloved worlds of CoComelon and Sanrio together for playful adventures filled with music, imagination, and friendship.”
Characters from both franchises–including CoComelon’s JJ and Sanrio’s Hello Kitty and Pompompurin–will meet up in a “cozy and colorful Clubhouse” in the established CoComelon world” they added.
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Playdates will premiere Jan. 24 on CoComelon’s YouTube channel, where the Moonbug-owned brand has over 200 million subscribers and brings in 2+ billion views per month. For those curious, Sanrio also manages a number of YouTube channels for its IPs; its English-language channel Hello Kitty and Friends has over 5 million subscribers and nets around 50 million views a month.
The series consists of three-minute episodes, which is about usual for CoComelon’s other nursery rhyme-style content. But CoComelon and Sanrio say this series will look a little different from CoComelon’s traditional fare, with a “fresh animation style” that is “dreamy” with a “pastel-inspired aesthetic.” Playdates‘ content will also echo Sanrio’s Tokyo origins by wrapping in Japanese nursery rhymes and J-pop-inspired songs.
“CoComelon Playdates with Sanrio Friends brings together two globally loved brands in a way that feels joyful, meaningful, and developmentally thoughtful for young viewers,” Nicole Rivera, CoComelon’s Senior Creative Executive, said in a statement. “By combining music, friendship, and playful learning, the series creates a fresh experience for families while staying true to what makes both CoComelon and Sanrio so special.”
Kosuke Hamasaki, Sanrio’s Executive Director of Character Branding, added, “We are pleased to collaborate with CoComelon to create a joyful learning experience for kids, leveraging each other’s unique expertise in engaging with the audiences. Guided by its vision of ‘One World, Connecting Smiles.’ Sanrio hopes to spread smiles and happiness further afield to families around the world.”
While this is the first official CoComelon x Sanrio production, it won’t the last. Moonbug and Sanrio have struck a multi-year agreement that Deadline reports will include “character line-ups, launch platforms, and future initiatives.”
Those are all very vague premises, but what’s clear from the CoComelon x Sanrio deal and this first series is that both companies are locked in on YouTube distribution, even as CoComelon has a big deal with Disney+. It also shows once again that–as we’ve seen in other areas outside of kids’ content–digital-first brands, creators, and content are constantly securing ever more commanding footholds in traditional entertainment spheres.
