The animated educational series Gracie’s Corner does numbers many kids’ shows would envy. Its YouTube channel boasts four million subscribers, with 100 million-plus monthly views and over 2.1 billion lifetime views. But to judge its success simply by its ratings is missing the point, say husband-and-wife creators Javoris “Jay” Hollingsworth and Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth ( new additions to this year’s Kids Entertainment Power List ). After all, even those impressive metrics are barely a blip compared to Cocomelon-Nursery Rhymes , which leads all kid-themed YouTube channels with 172 million subscribers worldwide, according to Statista.com. But where Gracie’s Corner stands out is in the need that it fills, as the Hollingworths discovered with their own three kids.
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As the Houston-based couple turned to children’s programming to occupy the shut-in time of the pandemic, the lack of diversity alarmed them. The landscape, they found, had relatively few shows led by Black children or others of color. With rare exceptions like Netflix’s Motown Magic and the Tanzanian show Akili and Me , there just weren’t enough programs teaching kids to count, spell or just be kind featuring characters with diverse faces, and they rarely incorporated the rhythms of Black music or leaned on those unique cultural cues.
“We didn’t know it was this bad, especially with the learning content for children under six, toddlers and preschoolers,” recalls Arlene who is a licensed clinical psychologist. When Jay, then a college chemistry professor, proposed they launch their own YouTube channel of entertaining diverse educational content, Arlene was all in.
Four years later, Gracie’s Corner , with its main character modeled off — and voiced by — their eldest daughter, Graceyn, is thriving. Earlier this year, the show won the NAACP Image a ward for outstanding children’s program , beating out such stalwarts as Netflix’s Ada Twist, Scientist and Alma’s Way from PBS Kids. That recognition, Jay says, “is such an invaluable award because it affirms that we are doing work that positively impacts and resonates with our community.”
As with most kids programming, music is a huge component of Gracie ’s Corner . Jay, who grew up playing music in church and creates Gracie’s Corner ’s songs, believes there is a notable difference between their approach and other music-centric children’s shows.
“A lot of times when people think of children’s music, they think of traditional music,” he says. “The children who we’re really targeting, when they hear it, they can actually vibe to it because it’s along the lines of stuff they may hear in the car while riding with mom or dad.”
The familiarity of various styles of music like the go-go music in the remix to “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” the Afrobeat remix to “Twinkle Little Star ,” and the reggae-infused “Colors” grabs more than the kids. “When the parents hear it, they actually enjoy it,” he says. “When they enjoy it, now they’re dancing and singing along with their kids.”
Or with their grandkids, as rapper Snoop Dogg did before he and his own kid-friendly Doggyland YouTube channel teamed with Gracie ’s Corner last year for the catchy and empowering song “Girl Power,” which generated 13 million views. That intergenerational touch isn’t unique to Snoop and his family. It’s a theme that runs throughout Gracie ’s Corner . Both parents and grandparents take center stage in Bounce queen Big Freedia’s energetic “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” remix (37 million views). And many of the videos also feature an adorable baby sister mirroring Graceyn’s own.
Gracie ’s Corner aims to address key childhood issues and instill core values and habits. “There are a lot of skills that are very important to introduce to children very early on [such as] how to face your fears, positive self-talk, [and] affirmations,” says Arlene.
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One of Gracie ’s Corner ’s early hits, the powerful and affirming “I Love My Hair,” was inspired by a painful memory. “I was being bullied at school because of how my hair looked,” says Graceyn, now 11, “and my parents thought it would be good to make a song about loving your hair the way it is.”
Making “I Love My Hair,” says Graceyn, was also a personal turning point. “It gave me the courage to make more songs and just be me while doing those songs.”
Gracie ’s Corner depicts Gracie as a radiant brown girl with afro puffs, big eyes, button nose and a bright white smile. She also changes outfits frequently, donning anything from an ancient Egyptian sheath dress in the “Phonics Song” (164 million views) to a full HBCU marching band uniform in “Count to 100.”
The animation is usually as bouncy as the music. In last year’s “Happy Dance Song,” Gracie leads her friend in various moves, from doing the cha-cha-cha to waving their hands over their heads, or dancing alongside Philly rapper 2Rare in the recent “Veggie Dance Remix .”
The man responsible for that distinctive style is Victor Emerenini, a Nigeria-based animator Jay found through a website for freelancers. Gracie ’s Corner ’s success has helped him expand from a one-man shop to a full-on studio in Abuja with a team dedicated to Gracie’s Corner .
Like Jay, Emerenini believes in Gracie ’s Corner’ s global appeal. “Having a Black leading character in an animated song is a feature most celebrated by Nigerians,” he says. “The sound is definitely relatable and the messages in each song are also the same as encouraged in Nigeria.”
During the summer, the family tries to keep the same pace as throughout the school year, recording only once a week. That doesn’t mean they don’t have any surprises in store, including “multiple collaborative projects with iconic music artists.” Themed birthday favors, backpacks, hoodies, t-shirts, pillows, blankets and other merch are currently available for purchase through Walmart and Amazon as well as on their website GraciesCornerTV.com.
While the target audience of Gracie’s Corner is children, perhaps the most important lesson is directed at fellow creators: “You don’t have to be a large multibillion-dollar production company to make a lasting impact,” says Jay.
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