The 10 most-watched Netflix cartoons (January to June 2023)
Netflix has announced plans to start publishing reports on the streaming service’s most watched TV shows and movies. The reports, to be published twice a year, list whether a show’s available globally, its initial release date, and how many hours were watched (versus number of viewers). It’s the hours watched that determines the show’s ranking.
In the first report (covering January to June 2023), the most watched Netflix title is “The Night Agent” (Season 1), with 812,100,000 hours watched. It’s followed by “Ginny & Georgia” (Season 2), “The Glory” (Season 1), “Wednesday” (Season 1), and “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.”
It’s nice to see some semblance of viewership data released by a streaming service, beyond vaguely defined “top 10” shows or viewership estimates from third parties.
Given my interest in animation, I thought I’d look at what the top 10 most watched cartoons on Netflix were during the first half of 2023.
Criteria
I note this is based on global Netflix viewing, so some of the shows might not be available for US viewers. I’m also including anime as well as Western animation, to make things simpler.
I had to scroll through Netflix’s data spreadsheet and do a number of web searches on titles (not being familiar with most of the shows listed) to see if they were cartoons; if I missed a TV show or movie, please let me know.
10 most watched cartoons on Netflix, January-June 2023
Paw Patrol (Season 6); 149,300,000 hours watched
CoComelon (Season 1); 136,200,000 hours watched
Little Angel (Volume 1); 132,100,000 hours watched
Paw Patrol (Season 5); 130,700,000 hours watched
CoComelon (Season 2); 102,300,000 hours watched
Minions: The Rise of Gru; 96,400,000 hours watched
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Tanjiro Kamado, Unwavering Resolve Arc); 95,800,000 hours watched
CoComelon (Season 3); 91,400,000 hours watched
CoComelon (Season 4); 82,500,000 hours watched
Sonic Prime (Season 1); 82,100,000 hours watched
My thoughts
Netflix’s most watched cartoons are, with few exceptions, ones aimed at preschoolers or young grade schoolers. Leading the way globally is “Paw Patrol,” the popular series that airs on Nickelodeon in the US, and is carried on Paramount+ stateside. Meanwhile, “CoComelon” wins for most appearances in the top 10, taking up four slots of the top 10. That’s despite “CoComelon” also being a mainstay on YouTube.
Only one anime series appears on the top 10, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.” I expected a stronger representation of anime, but apparently even demon slayers are no match for rescue dogs.
Also not in the top 10: ‘Big Mouth,” an edgy adult-oriented series Netflix seems to cling to with an iron grip (despite the service’s recent less-than-stellar treatment of animation), a la Fox and “Family Guy.” The highest-ranked “Big Mouth” entry is Season 6, with 15,500,000 hours watched, or fewer viewers than “Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated.”
At #10 is “Sonic Prime,” the speedy hedgehog’s latest TV series, which takes cues from “Into the Spider-Verse.”