How did CoComelon’s “Baby Shark” take over the world?

Reminding people of the viral hit “Baby Shark” will bring about squeals of joy from kids and groans of dismay from adults. This popular song, originally produced by Pinkfong in the mid-2010s, was impossible to get away from at the time, and five years later, it’s still going strong.

So strong, in fact, that competing kids entertainment company CoComelon got in on the action. In fact, their most popular Baby Shark video, “Baby Shark | CoComelon Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs” has almost 2 billion views just by itself! 

How did this viral sensation turn into such a phenomenon, and where does CoComelon’s version come in? Let’s go over how this happened.

Pinkfong’s Original Hit

Before “Baby Shark” was covered by CoComelon, it was covered by South Korean entertainment establishment Pinkfong in June of 2016. Now, Pinkfong didn’t necessarily create Baby Shark, as the fish family song originated around campfires as a chant, and two other well-known entertainers (Alemuel & Johnny Only) covered it before them.

But Pinkfong’s version was the one that popularized and memed the traditional tune, turning it into a viral hit that entranced kids around the globe. In fact, the South Korean company’s original video now has almost nine and a half billion views, making it the most-watched on all of YouTube, which is where it’s hosted!

From there, Baby Shark turned into a phenomenon, and then a franchise. People were quick to spot the books, bandaids, cereal (yes, cereal) that sprang up based on the song. And now, five years after the original hit, it’s still going strong, and still being sung by kids everywhere.

CoComelon

Before we give into the Baby Shark video CoComelon made, we first need to ask: who exactly are CoComelon?

Well, they are a YouTube channel specializing in 3D animation for kids, making videos mostly based on nursery rhymes and children’s songs. Because of their appeal to such a young demographic, they’re the most viewed channel in the entire United States, and the most subscribed channel in the entire globe!

So it should be no surprise that after Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark” took off, this kid’s company decided to create their own version.

CoComelon’s version

It was released late in 2017, one month before the year ended, which makes sense. 3D animation takes a lot of time, after all. And though it didn’t become the monster hit that Pinkfong’s version was, getting almost two billion views (as stated in the introduction) is nothing to sneeze at.

CoComelon even went on to produce a sequel to their Baby Shark video: “Baby Shark Submarine + More Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs – CoComelon” came out in November of 2019, and has almost half a million views at the time of writing. 

It’s a very different video from their original release: unlike the first Baby Shark animation, which is a brief two and a half minutes, “Baby Shark Submarine” clocks in at over thirty minutes, and covers a variety of different nursery rhymes during its runtime. CoComelon has yet to release another Baby Shark video, but we have a feeling that will change pretty soon . . . .

What’s next for Baby Shark?

As stated earlier, Baby Shark isn’t just a song that got big. It turned into a franchise that kids fell in love with. And now, a movie is slated for release!

Pinkfong and Baby Shark’s Space Adventure is slated for a theatrical run on October 9th & 10th 2021. It was originally released on streaming services in 2019, so it’s exciting to see this film finally hit the big screen.

Will it renew the popularity of the once-viral meme? Perhaps it will persuade CoComelon to give kids some new Baby Shark videos.

No matter what happens, the future looks bright for this popular franchise. Now, if you don’t mind, we’re going to go sing the song once again. “Do do do do do do . . .”