Johny Johny Yes Papa, one of the best-known children’s songs in YouTube history, celebrates its 10th anniversary today. Released on October 8, 2016, on the LooLoo Kids YouTube channel, the animation produced in Iași, Romania, has grown into a global phenomenon, generating more than 17 billion views across its various versions and becoming a childhood favorite for generations of children around the world.

From a Classic Nursery Rhyme to a Global Phenomenon

Johny Johny Yes Papa is based on a traditional nursery rhyme familiar to parents and educators around the world. Its story is simple and playful: little Johny is caught by his father secretly eating sugar and amusingly tries to deny it.

The LooLoo Kids team transformed the rhyme into a colorful 3D animation featuring friendly characters and an instantly memorable melody, created especially for preschool children aged 0–3. The formula quickly resonated with young audiences worldwide, and by 2018, the song had also become an internet phenomenon, inspiring countless interpretations and user-generated versions.

Among YouTube’s Top 3 Most-Viewed Videos of All Time

Over the past decade, Johny Johny Yes Papa has climbed into the very top tier of YouTube history. For several years, the original video held the No. 3 position among the most-viewed YouTube videos of all time, a ranking reflected in global charts from 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Only two global phenomena ranked ahead of it: Baby Shark Dance and Despacito.

In doing so, the LooLoo Kids song surpassed some of the biggest international music hits on YouTube, including Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, See You Again by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth and Gangnam Style by PSY.

The original Johny Johny Yes Papa video alone has now accumulated more than 7.2 billion views, while all versions of the song combined have generated more than 17 billion views.

Johny Johny Yes Papa has become one of the defining songs of the LooLoo Kids universe, the English-language children’s brand developed by the team in Iași. LooLoo Kids has received YouTube’s Diamond Creator Award, while its content is now adapted into more than 26 languages and distributed across approximately 80 YouTube channels.

Beyond the millions of families who watch the animations every day, LooLoo Kids characters have also made their way into the real world through toys available in markets including Brazil, the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. The brand’s ecosystem also includes television channels in Romania, the United States, Spain and the Czech Republic.

Ten years after its release, Johny Johny Yes Papa remains proof that a simple song, carefully created for young children, can begin in Iași and find its way into homes across every continent.