Disney is about to get a healthy dose of Houston. The entertainment giant has just acquired the rights to Gracie’s Corner, the ultra-popular children’s web series created by a Houston family.
Gracie’s Corner will be available on Disney+ starting June 15 and will premiere on Disney Jr. the same day at 7 a.m. ET, beginning with 120 shorts and 18 themed compilations. More shorts and compilations will continue to premiere through the rest of 2026. The family will also develop new content with Disney.
“When we started Gracie’s Corner six years ago, we never imagined this journey would lead to collaborating with Disney on original content, and we certainly never imagined seeing our work on Disney Jr. and Disney+,” Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth and Javoris Hollingsworth, co-creators of Gracie’s Corner, said in a statement. “What began as our family’s passion for creating fun, educational content has grown beyond our wildest dreams … We’re excited about what we can build together and the impact these stories can have on the next generation.”
Houston parents Arlene and Javoris created the sing-along YouTube series in 2021, noticing the shows their children were watching during the pandemic lacked characters that represented them.
“We have three kids, Graceyn and her sister and brother, who at the time were a lot younger,” Arlene told KHOU in 2024. “And so, we had to find a way to keep them occupied so we could work. And during that time, our children were watching shows on TV, and we noticed that a lot of the things they were watching, educational things they were watching, did not have a lot of characters that look like them.”
Gracie’s Corner, which stars Graceyn Hollingsworth, debuted in 2021 and now has more than 6.3 million YouTube subscribers and has amassed nearly 10 billion views total. It has also spawned a sold-out national tour, a book deal with HarperCollins and four NAACP Image Awards.
The series blends educational lessons with contemporary music, including hip-hop and R&B. Artists Snoop Dogg, Charlie Wilson, 2Rare, Big Freedia and fellow Houston celebrity Paul Wall have appeared on the show.
Javoris told the Associated Press that the deal will allow him and Arlene to create new Gracie’s Corner content alongside Disney, while also keeping the show available on YouTube.
“We 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,” he said. “Disney respected that.”