It’s not just video game adaptations. If you want to drive more viewers to an animated series, the key is to launch a theatrical film. 

That’s one of the takeaways from industry analyst Emily Horgan’s new Netflix Kids Content Performance Report. Released today, it breaks down trends and data on what’s performing well on the streamer, and what the industry can learn from these hits. 

In H1 2025, there were three family-friendly films that drove up viewership for their related animated kids series on Netflix. 

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (released in December) was behind a 23% spike in Sonic Prime viewership; the live-action/animated How to Train Your Dragon (pictured, June) raised Dragons: Race to the Edge views by 29%; and Jurassic World Rebirth (July) generated lifts for both Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (up 8%) and Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous (up 3%). 

There’s an interesting nuance in this pattern, though. While the movie release drove viewership for Dragons: Race to the Edge up, it didn’t for the younger-skewing Dragons: Rescue Riders series. This likely means that the target demo of a film and series are relevant factors, and just putting out a movie won’t necessarily drive increases across all of a brand’s shows. In other words, it’s probably safe to expect that older kids watching a new film aimed at them won’t be checking out the brand’s preschool series, too. 

It remains to be seen what the imminent theatrical release of Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie does for the Netflix series’ viewership.

Horgan’s data gels with another recent report from Ampere Analysis that explored how video games (some of them decades old, like Minecraft) get a boost in players from new films and series. 

Horgan’s report covers the numbers behind the success of several hit series and films, including Gabby’s Dollhouse (the number-one kids series on Netflix in H1 2025), Ms. Rachel and KPop Demon Hunters. Companies interested in accessing the full report can reach out to her at emily@ehorgmedia.com.