Who Is Blippi and Why Is He Always in Idaho?

If your toddler is anything like mine, the television shows that we grew up watching are not the shows that they are growing up watching. It's a whole new world. Sesame Street is now on HBO, many of the PBS Kids shows don't hold their attention, and they can navigate an iPhone, iPad, or other handheld device better than you can. It's a shift we're all experiencing.

The shows kids watch today are often not even on a television network. They're on YouTube. Maybe, like me, you were the parent who wasn't really into letting your kid watch videos on YouTube. I'm still trying to figure out how it happened. One day, my daughter was on the couch with her tablet, watching educational videos on YouTube from people like Miss Rachel, Cocomelon, Dave, and Ava, but her favorite is Blippi.

Who is Blippi? Blippi is an over-the-top, bright, color-wearing guy who is like a cross between Mr. Rogers and Pee-Wee Herman. He is played by his creator, Stevin John, who started making the videos in February 2014 after seeing his nephew watch low-quality shows for children on YouTube and decided he could do better. While he had never been in front of a camera professionally, he did have a background in entertainment, having produced hundreds of television commercials.

It won't take long to see that Blippi is from the Pacific Northwest. Many videos first appearing on YouTube were shot in Washington, Oregon, and even Idaho. He grew up in Washington but moved to Las Vegas when he started having success to the tune of $25 million dollars per year.

Recently, Blippi has undergone a significant transformation. The original Blippi, played by Stevin John, decided to pass the torch. In 2020, he sold the character and the rights to the show to a company called Moonbug for about $120 Million. A new actor is now playing the character that he created. He is now said to be investing in real estate. He and his wife recently had their first child and moved back to Washington State.

As for the company that bought Blippi? A year after acquiring Blippi and another children's YouTube channel, Cocomelon, they sold the company to two former Disney executives for 3 Billion Dollars.

I guess it's time to start my own children's YouTube channel.