Baby Shark being made into animated TV show by Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon is creating an animated series targeted at preschoolers based on the immensely popular YouTube song “Baby Shark”.

The Viacom-owned company has teamed up with SmartStudy, the entertainment company that owns the children’s content brand Pinkfong, to create the television series for global distribution.

“Baby Shark” became a viral sensation in November 2015, when the catchy tune launched on YouTube, eventually amassing more than 2.8m views.

In addition to becoming the ninth most-watched video in YouTube’s history, the jingle also made it to the Billboard Hot 100 list.

The song also prompted the creation of the #BabySharkChallenge, which generated more than 700,000 cover videos around the globe, according to Nickelodeon.

“’Baby Shark’ has captured the imagination of millions of fans around the world, so it’s no surprise it’s one of the top 10 most-viewed videos on YouTube ever,” said Ramsey Naito, executive vice president of Nickelodeon Animation. “At the heart of any popular piece of content is a terrific character, and we have a great opportunity to further explore the world of Baby Shark and follow this family through some great animated adventures on Nickelodeon.”

Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products will be managing the consumer products licensing worldwide, excluding Asia, for the property.

“Baby Shark is a multiplatform phenomenon, and appetite for more content and products is strong around the world,” said Pam Kaufman, president of Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products. “Our outstanding creative teams are moving fast to get more Baby Shark product across multiple categories to retailers, and our content team is excited to develop a terrific original animated series that will bring this property to new heights and even more fans.”

By: Chelsea Ritschel