Storytime Animation is a style of short video in which the animator is the main character, typically telling stories from their life. Many videos recount childhood experiences, which can be a starting point for meaningful dialogues about relationships, identity, and education.

The genre of Storytime Animation rose to prominence in 2016 when JaidenAnimations and TheOdd1sOut produced what were essentially animated vlogs, near the height of vlogging’s popularity. 2016 is the year that Emma Chamberlin burst onto the scene, and early YouTube success PewDiePie was breaking records at 15 million subscribers (before his controversies took him down a few pegs).

It’s easy to determine how you feel about your child watching these channels based on a couple of videos and then scanning their other titles. Out Think Newsletter subscribers can access an Out Think-curated playlist of good starter videos to help you understand the topics these animators cover and whether they fit with your families.

• Haminations, real name Bryson (he/him), started his YouTube channel in 2017 when he was 16 years old. Now, with over 6 million subscribers, his stories are truly funny and often have a heartwarming moral at the center.
• Although he started animating everything himself, in the last few years, Bryson has hired a team of animators. This is common among Storytime Animators who become popular and can’t keep up with the demand themselves.
• His family are recurring guests on his channel, telling stories of their childhood and how their relationships evolved. He and his brothers also designed a card game called Hoard the Hams.
• Although he rarely goes into dark territory, Bryson does portray violence in his animations, specifically toward pets in some earlier videos (he doesn’t commit the violence).

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• illymations, real name Ilyssa Levy (she/they) is known for tackling silly and serious topics. Since 2018, she has entertained her now over 2 million viewers with funny and moving tales from Drama Club, how she learned she is autistic, and her 3-part series on her abusive ex-boyfriend.
• Although some of her subjects are dark, her content can be a good dialogue starter when you need to talk to your child about heavier themes like domestic violence and bullying or being overweight as a child.
• Levy doesn’t just talk about these childhood and young adulthood experiences. She uses her platform to create personal narratives that are also researched and offers advice on how to handle some of the hardest parts of growing up.

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• Jaiden is one of the best Storytime Animators out there. She covers everything from games of all shapes and sizes, to her journey to learn she is aromantic-asexual. She is very private and has a good grasp on the difference between her personal and online lives.
• Jaiden also describes her journey to become an animator, the choice between working for a corporation or building her own business. She offers great insight into the business of animation and how hers has grown.
• Overall, her videos are pure joy, insightful introspection, and often quite deep.
• Shipping is when fans imagine and sometimes write two of their favorite characters/people in a relationship. Jaiden and James (TheOdd1sOut) are often shipped together, sometimes in animated form. The algorithm may show you those channels if you watch these animators, so stay on alert or use an app like Safevision to curate specific channels or playlists [not an ad].

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• Rebecca Parhan is an incredible force in the Storytime Animation industry. She remains her own studio, although she outsources some of the storyboarding work to other animators.
• She started by emulating New Grounds animators until the YouTube algorithm changed to benefit longer-form videos. Parhan learned how to boil a story down to its barest elements out of necessity and took on more help when needed.
• A lot of her videos revolve around drama club, and she does a great job of making her own stories universal. Like illymations, she gets pretty deep in some of her videos and is honestly a fabulous influence on younger artists.

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• TheOdd1sout (known as James) is, again, one of the original YouTube Storytime Animators. He announced in 2002 that Netflix hopes his (now 19.7 million) subscribers will follow him to their streaming service. Oddballs is categorized in Kids Netflix and already has two seasons available to watch.
• TheOdd1sout is one of those rare channels where, ultimately, he is a great creator and has both silly and thoughtful content. However, something intangible stops me from giving him full approval. It isn’t the long-running and overblown controversy asking if he is a Furry (which he’s never confirmed nor denied, but truly, who cares? Being a Furry isn’t always about sex parties in costume).
• James has extremely fun and interesting content. Although I hold back from a full recommendation, it really depends on your family. I especially enjoy his “Thoughts on Bluey” (how we started watching him) and “Animation Before Computers” is a great historical look at the topic that helps viewers who have only known computer animation.

Photo/Image Credit: Canva, Instagram, Shutterstock, & YouTube

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Sources:

• Pappis Konstantinos, “TheOdd1stout: The Rise of YouTube Animation,” Animation Studios, https://journal.animationstudies.org/konstantinos-pappis-the-odd-ones-out-the-rise-of-youtube-storytime-animation/, 5 December 2020.
• “I spent a day with LET ME EXPLAIN STUDIOS,” uploaded by Anthony Padilla, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ_FJHnJhnM&list=PLNCNnKY8nNMGQYwnDllvHkao21IUXH4tC&index=1.
• Matthews, Dylan, “9 questions about furries you were too embarassed to ask,” Vox , 27 March 2015, https://www.vox.com/2014/12/10/7362321/9-questions-about-furries-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask.

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