\u201cBluey,\u201d<\/a> \u201cMarvel\u2019s Spidey and his Amazing Friends,\u201d \u201cMickey Mouse Clubhouse,\u201d \u201cSuperKitties\u201d and the recently launched \u201cSofia the First: Royal Magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201c\u2018Gracie\u2019s Corner\u2019 has made a real connection with families by meeting kids where they are, while still delivering the kind of joyful, enriching experience parents are looking for,\u201d said Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television. \u201cIt feels very at home alongside the Disney characters and stories families already love, bringing together music, learning and participation in a way that really resonates with today\u2019s preschoolers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The inspiration for \u2018Gracie\u2019s Corner’<\/p>\n
The journey began in 2020 when the Hollingsworths, both university professors, were juggling virtual work and parenting from home during the early days of COVID-19. Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth, a licensed clinical psychologist, and her husband were teaching classes remotely while helping their children navigate online learning.<\/p>\n
Like many parents, they relied on educational videos to keep their children entertained and engaged. But they quickly realized many of the characters their children watched did not reflect their own experiences.<\/p>\n
At the time, Graceyn was in elementary school. The couple\u2019s younger children were toddlers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were like every other parent, putting them in front of what we could to entertain them,\u201d Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth said.<\/p>\n
The conversation sparked an idea that would eventually become a family business.<\/p>\n
Sing-along show blends hip-hop, R&B and learning<\/p>\n
The Hollingsworths created \u201cGracie\u2019s Corner,\u201d an animated sing-along series that reimagines nursery rhymes while blending literacy, math, science and social-emotional lessons with music inspired by hip-hop, R&B and other contemporary sounds. It features animated versions of Graceyn and her family. The show is designed to provide educational content that children can enjoy while also giving parents something they won’t mind hearing repeatedly.<\/p>\n
Success did not come overnight.<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s earliest videos attracted only a few hundred views, mostly from relatives and friends. But a phonics-focused song helped the channel gain traction, eventually transforming the project into one of YouTube\u2019s most successful educational brands.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn’t always look like it would be successful in the beginning,\u201d Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth said. \u201cWhat we set out to do, we\u2019re seeing it\u2019s important for other families too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The channel\u2019s growth eventually attracted attention from across the entertainment industry including Disney.<\/p>\n
Javoris Hollingsworth recalled receiving a LinkedIn message several years ago from a Disney executive expressing interest in the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was a prank,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way Disney is reaching out to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The partnership marks another milestone for a family-built brand that has won four NAACP Image Awards, landed a book deal with HarperCollins and expanded into live entertainment through its sold-out national tour.<\/p>\n
Why \u2018Gracie\u2019s Corner’ appealed to Disney<\/p>\n
For Disney, the deal also reflects the growing influence of creator-led programming in children\u2019s entertainment and the ways young audiences increasingly discover content outside traditional television channels.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisney has always created stories and characters that families trust, and kids genuinely connect with,\u201d Davis said. \u201cAs the ways preschool audiences engage with content continue to evolve, we see an opportunity to work with creators who understand the kinds of music-driven, participatory experiences kids return to again and again, and bring those voices into the Disney ecosystem in a way that is thoughtful, curated and true to our brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike many traditional acquisitions, \u201cGracie\u2019s Corner\u201d will continue to live on YouTube while expanding to Disney\u2019s platforms.<\/p>\n
Javoris Hollingsworth said maintaining ownership of the brand and ensuring its accessibility were important considerations as discussions moved forward. The arrangement also includes a development agreement that will allow Disney and the Hollingsworth family to create new original content together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always wanted to make sure that our content is accessible and available to those who may not have access to some of the things that others have,\u201d he said. \u201cDisney respected that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.news4jax.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2013 When Javoris Hollingsworth looked over his children\u2019s shoulders during the pandemic, he noticed something missing from the educational videos keeping them occupied: Black characters who reflected families like his own. \u201cDid you realize that none of the characters look like our children?\u201d he asked his wife, Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth. Instead of simply pointing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2454737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[482469,21741,21818],"class_list":["post-2454736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-arlene-gordon","tag-entertainment","tag-lifestyle"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/From-YouTube-to-Disney-Preschool-hit-Gracies-Corner-lands-streaming.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454736"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2454738,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454736\/revisions\/2454738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2454737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}