Amanda Seyfried, Formula 1, Caterpillar Among New Blippi Partners as Preschool Franchise

Amanda Seyfried has entered the “Blippi“-verse. The Emmy winner (“The Dropout”) and Oscar nominee (“Mank”) is hitting an entirely younger audience with her next project, a collab with Moonbug Entertainment‘s “Blippi” franchise that includes a new music video and a partnership with Seyfried’s Make It Cute brand.

Seyfried appears in a new music video for the hit “Blippi” song “Excavator,” which has been remade into a duet between her and Blippi — and given a Broadway spin. In the video, Blippi and Seyfried discover that they both love excavators, and they perform a song-and-dance number during an excavator-inspired play date.

Seyfried told Variety her kids “think I’m the coolest” in partnering with “Blippi.”

“My kids are absolutely captivated by Blippi,” Seyfried told Variety. “It’s wonderful to see them so entertained while learning. That need for imaginative play is one of the reasons I started my children’s playhouse company, Make It Cute, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Blippi.”

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As part of the collaboration, “Blippi” has also filmed social content featuring Make It Cute playhouses. Additional talent recently working with “Blippi” include former U.S. Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and former NFL player Joe Haden.

“We love the idea of being able to work with celebrities, influencers or organizations that are letting us get under the wheel in a different way than maybe what other people are used to seeing,” said “Blippi” general manager Katelynn Heil. “Amanda Seyfried is a great example where yes, you know her as being an A-list talent, but she also is really into sustainability. And she created a kid’s brand that’s based on sustainability. So, how are we able to showcase the natural curiosity of some of these celebrities and bring that onto the screen in a way that is very natural and plays off of Blippi’s curiosity as well.”

That’s one of several partnerships that Moonbug (owned by Candle Media) has arranged this year, timed to the character’s 10th anniversary. Also on track are deals with Caterpillar (given the “Blippi” love for excavators and other machinery, that partnership was probably a given), Monster Jam and Formula 1, which will tie into the new “Blippi” vehicle-themed series “Go Go Blippi Show.”

As part of that series, which launches in November, Formula 1 will participate in two episodes that it hopes will introduce the sport to younger audiences, while appealing to their parents who might already be into the racing league.

“Blippi has always been synonymous with vehicles, and we know when we do a vehicle show it’s going to hit,” Heil said. “This is really, I think, the beginnings of what we see as a longer term partnership with them. We want to see how our fans react to it. And then we can continue the relationship based on what they love.”

This continues to expand the roster of “Blippi” collaborations that have included other pre-school brands like “Sesame Street” and “The Wiggles,” merchandising partnerships brands like Reebok and Build-A-Bear, as well as deals with orgs like NASA and Wimbledon.

“Blippi” was first created by Stevin John (who also played the character) in 2014; Moonbug acquired both “Blippi” and another YouTube sensation, Cocomelon, in 2020. Since the acquisition, Moonbug grew the distribution of “Blippi” from four to 67 distribution platforms, and tripled the show’s monthly YouTube views. “Blippi” music has also generated more than 300 million music streams annually; and Moonbug said that according to Netflix’s public engagement report, the series generated 230 million global watch hours on the streamer in 2023.

“It’s been a long ride,” said Moonbug chief creative officer Richard Hickey. “The whole genesis of it was around kids being fascinated by a tractor driving across a field. And from there, growing it into the franchise that we’ve got today has been a pleasure and an honor. It’s the gift that keeps giving creatively. The concept of curiosity, you could throw that into any medium, in any format. And at the heart of it is something really great and something that kids naturally buy into, because kids are naturally inquisitive. That combination of learning and curiosity has put stood us in good stead as we tried to grow this as a franchise.”

Beyond what has already been mentioned, the live stage tour “Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour” was added last month to YouTube and Hulu, while an hour-long “Blippi” Halloween special is set for October. The latest “Blippi” live show from Moonbug and Round Room, “Blippi: Join the Band Tour,” launches in the U.S. and Canada in the fall.

Then, also timed to the 10th anniversary, Moonbug is releasing four 15-minute episodes. That includes this Saturday’s “Blippi’s Biggest Ball Pit Challenge,” which features Blippi and his friend Meekah as they make a huge ball pit — with 500,000 foam balls. Real excavators used in the construction were provided via the franchise’s partnership with Caterpillar. That episode is followed by “Blippi and Meekah’s Under the Sea Foam Party” (Aug. 27), “Blippi’s Colorful Dino Dance Party” (Aug. 29) and “Blippi’s Candy Escape Challenge” (Aug. 31).

“What was so beautiful about the brand as it came to us was that it already had this very passionate audience,” Heil said. “And given that it’s a digital brand, we can interact almost in real time with them. So when an upload goes up we know almost immediately how it’s resonating with audiences, whether ton YouTube or on our social channels. What I’m really proud of is that we’ve been able to establish and grow the franchise by using insights from our fans — whether it be picking locations that we go to, celebrities or influencers that we work with, or products that we make.”

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Update: 2024-08-09

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