Despite so many horrible things happening during COVID-19, it’s never been a better time for streaming platforms. The best way to prevent the spread of the virus is to stay home and in order to escape from the realities of our current situation, viewers are logging into their various accounts to take their mind off of things.
When it comes to Netflix in particular, The Willoughbys is turning out to be a runaway hit. The animated film, which came out on April 22nd, has been viewed 37.6 million times in only a month. It should also be noted that Netflix only registers one view per account, meaning those who have watched it multiple times still only count as one view. That’s impressive considering there are no doubt numerous cases where kids watched it three or four times.
The other thing to consider though is that the movie only has to stream for two minutes to register as part of Netflix’s metrics. Not exactly concrete data, then. There’s also the massive caveat that Netflix is a giant company that typically doesn’t share their ratings with the public. So, take anything they do share with a grain of salt.
But the success of The Willoughbys is certainly in line with other recent animated features. Trolls World Tour made more than $100 million for Universal just in digital sales and Disney Pixar’s Onward, which was the last big release before theaters began shutting down, has seen a nice uptick in viewership after landing on Disney Plus.
Between the excitement over Extraction, the continuing fascination with their Top 10 lists and now The Willoughbys, Netflix appears to be thriving during these trying times.
