The kids are alright. Is Hollywood?
Kids content is huge on both streaming and in theaters. Does Hollywood know that?
The Gist
“Bluey” and “Moana” were the most-streamed show and movie of 2024, and “Inside Out 2” dominated the year’s box office.
Now 2025 is kicking off with an impressive box-office showing from “Dog Man.”
But Hollywood’s investment in kids TV content has slowed in recent years, and there are often wide gaps between kids movies in theaters.
“Dog Man,” the animated movie based on the top-selling graphic book series, topped the box office over the weekend with $36 million domestically. It’s the second-biggest January debut for an animated movie, after 2016’s “Kung Fu Panda 3.”
Anyone who pays attention to graphic novel sales (like me) probably saw this coming. “Dog Man” books accounted for 13 of the 20 best-selling kids graphic novels of 2023. And last year, the twelth book in the series was the third best-selling book of the year. Not third graphic novel. Book. Period.
With a reported budget of $40 million, the movie’s opening is a strong showing for Universal, which has given Disney a run for its money in animated kids movies in recent years. But more so, it further demonstrates the power in kids content.
Animated family movies were the top movies at both the box office (“Inside Out 2”) and on streaming in the US (“Moana”) last year. “Bluey,” the Australian animated kids program, was the most-streamed TV show last year. That’s a lot of Disney content, but the top 10 most-streamed movies of the year (of which nine were animated) were pretty well spread out across streamers, from “Paw Patrol” on Paramount+ to Universal movies on Netflix.
Last year wasn’t a fluke. In 2023, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was the No. 2 biggest movie of the year in theaters, and “Moana” topped Nielsen’s streaming charts — followed by a bunch of animated movies.
And yet, Hollywood’s investment in kids content is slowing. I recently wrote at my actual job, that actually pays me for doing this, that kids content was among the hardest hit by the end of peak TV; commissions for kids programming dropped 13% from the first half of last year compared to 2023, according to Ampere Analysis.
And looking at theatrically released movies, “Dog Man” is the first kids-focused movie in six weeks, since “Sonic 3,” and the first fully animated movie aimed at young children since “Moana 2” was released over Thanksgiving nine weeks ago. Before that, it was “The Wild Robot” another nine weeks prior.
On that note, “Dog Man” will probably enjoy a healthy run in theaters with little competition, as there’s not really another straight-forward kids movie on the horizon. I don’t see that being “Paddington in Peru;” Disney’s “Snow White” movie could appeal to moms and their daughters, but I wouldn’t call it a kids movie; and “Minecraft” in April could capture a family audience but it will likely more appeal to the younger teen crowd. After that, the “Lilo and Stitch” remake doesn’t hit theaters until May, and then Pixar’s “Elio” in mid-June, the only fully animated movie I’ve mentioned after “Dog Man.”
What gives? The thinking based on people I’ve spoken to, when it comes to streaming at least, seems to be that while kids content retains subscribers for streaming services — which these companies see as their future — it doesn’t necessarily go far in adding them. But neither do overly expensive and mediocre Marvel and Star Wars shows. As for theatrical movies, there’s always a fear of over saturation, and you don’t want to put too much pressure on parents’ wallets.
But the value of kids content should obviously not go underestimated. That audience is the future. And as the Nielsen numbers show, theatrical movies create a pretty potent flywheel for streaming strategies. When “Dog Man” eventually lands on Netflix, as part of Universal’s deal with the streamer, it will blow up the charts.
When kids shows and movies hit, they really hit. That’s because kids are Hollywood’s most loyal and least toxic fans: they will watch their favorite stuff countless times, they’ll force their parents to go along with them, and they won’t make any YouTube videos about what should or shouldn’t be considered “canon.”
Beyond the Traverse
🦸♂️ The estate of the co-creator of Superman is suing to stop Warner Bros. from releasing the upcoming movie in markets it claims the studio doesn’t own the rights.
⏳ Netflix’s “Sandman” will end with season two after Neil Gaiman was accused of sexual misconduct.
This is not at all surprising, even without the knowledge of the Gaiman accusations, considering Netflix had already given the show a half-assed “renewal” without calling it a second season.
🦁 Amazon will begin exclusively streaming Lionsgate movies after their theatrical and Starz windows starting in 2026, just in time for a new “Hunger Games” movie.
🤼♂️ Netflix gained exclusive rights to “WWE 2K” mobile games.