Despite being five months into 2019, it seems as though we’ve only just managed to get the annoyingly catchy Baby Shark out of our heads.
Disclaimer: I apologise in advance for even writing this article because you’re no doubt going to have the nearly-forgotten ‘do do do do do do’ tune stuck in your head once more.
Anyway, forget about the singing for a moment (if you can) and focus on the fact the song is now making the transformation from viral sensation to television show – and it’s all thanks to Nickelodeon.
The children’s network announced earlier today (June 5) it’s partnering with SmartStudy’s Pinkfong to turn Baby Shark into a TV show for pre-school children.
As per ComicBook, Nickelodeon said in a statement:
With music, characters, story and dance all combined together, Baby Shark took the world by storm, amassing 2.9 billion YouTube views and becoming the ninth most-watched video in the platform’s history.
Not content with simply staying on your TV screen though, Baby Shark will also be swimming its way onto t-shirts, toys, and pretty much anything else you can think of – due to Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products managing licensing around the world.
Pam Kaufman, president of Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products, described Baby Shark as a ‘multi-platform phenomenon’ and so this was the obvious next step.
Kaufman explained:
Baby Shark is a multi-platform phenomenon, and appetite for more content and products is strong around the world.
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.
Ramsey Naito, executive vice president of Nickelodeon Animation, said this step was a ‘great opportunity to further explore the world of Baby Shark and follow this family through some great animated adventures on Nickelodeon’.
The latest version of the now-viral song, courtesy of Pinkfong, was released in 2016 but became popular worldwide last year, when K-pop groups started performing versions of it.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Baby Shark took on a life of its own and has since racked up nearly 2.9 billion views on YouTube alone. Impressive, right?
These are the only details that have been released about the new show, so you’ll just have to keep treading water until we know a release date.
For now, you’ll just have to make do with singing ‘do do do do do do’ on repeat. Sorry.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com
A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).