The family of two-dimensional pink pigs with protruding snouts, dressed in colorful clothing and speaking with English accents, has gone from a modest British TV show to a global fixture in households with young children.
On Friday, the Peppa Pig brand celebrated its 20th anniversary and continues to top the charts in children’s entertainment.
Today, its influence extends beyond the TV screen. Pepper Pig’s toys, theme parks and games are available in 180 areas. The most recent franchise revenue figures were $1.7 billion in 2022.
“Peppa Pig has already grown into a powerful brand with its own line of toys/merchandise and accessories – even theme parks,” said Benjamin Burroughs, associate professor of emerging media at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Fortune. “Peppa Pig distinguished itself by being a quirky, likeable show.”
The enduring power of the show and its characters has made it one of Britain’s most important cultural exports. Just ask any parent whose children watch the show outside Britain and suddenly sound British, thanks to Peppa, George, Mummy and Daddy Pigs. Even former Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke at length about his love for Peppa Pig World in Hampshire, England, urging people to visit it during a 2021 speech.
Standing out from the herd
The show’s creators – Phil Davies, Mark Baker and Neville Astley – were already working on production and animation when they had the idea for Peppa Pig twenty years ago. They discovered a lack of family-oriented stories in children’s shows. Their answer? A four-year-old female pig with a penchant for jumping in muddy puddles. Peppa can be bossy, but loves her family and friends (some of whom are not pigs), and goes on little outings with them and her teddy bear.
The timing of the show’s popularity also helped: It became popular just like personal electronic gadgets, making it much easier for parents to distract their children with it.
“Peppa Pig came about at a time when parents were using cell phones to transfer their parenting to screens, and children were adapting to using screens as the primary way to interact with content,” Burroughs said.
![Girl watches cartoons online while iPad tablet lies on sofa at home.](https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-521007327-e1717164235976.jpg?w=1440&q=75)
Artur Debate – Getty Images
The episodes of Peppa Pig are not exactly Charles Dickens: they are each just five minutes long and the storyline deals with simple themes in a light-hearted, humorous way, carefully avoiding villains or other sources of conflict. The playfulness and interactions between the characters indeed struck a chord with both children and their parents.
“Peppa is a great example of animals being real people to children, presenting themselves in a positive family unit, doing common activities that all children enjoy, and presenting a playful lifestyle brand with great sound effects (sniff!). That formula has made it stand out from other brands,” said Brenda Bisner, Chief Content Officer of Canadian streaming platform Kidoodle.TV.
Kidoodle.TV, available in 160 countries including the US, UK and Australia, has seen huge traction in offering Peppa Pig on its service, Bisner said.
Things are still going well
With its strong but simple formula, the show grew from an experiment on Britain’s Channel 5 in 2004 to ubiquitous on subscription services and YouTube. It has also been translated into more than 40 languages.
In a more unlikely example of Peppa’s outsized impact, the pigs are seen as something of a counterculture symbol in China, leading to thousands of cartoon videos being censored on the social media site Douyin in 2018. But its character and celebration of Chinese festivals still have great interest in it.
As the brand grew in reach and popularity, it caught the attention of American toy manufacturer Hasbro, which bought the studio behind the show, Entertainment One (eOne), for a hefty $4 billion in 2019. The deal was intended to strengthen Peppa Pig and other eOne companies. the distribution of shows across platforms worldwide.
Last year, Peppa Pig was the fourth most requested children’s show in the world, entertainment consultancy Parrot Analytics said Fortuneand is most popular in the UK, US and France so far this year.
“Peppa Pig is a unique character who resonates strongly with audiences because her courageous, confident personality is allowed to shine. She is a first best friend to preschoolers, encouraging them to work together and explore the world around them with confidence,” said Esra Cafer, Hasbro’s SVP of franchise strategy and management for preschool and fashion. Fortune. Since purchasing Peppa Pig, it has become one of Hasbro’s top franchise brands.
Peppa Pig and her family and friends from the show of the same name are everywhere: from books to toys to rides. Hasbro has licensing agreements with other international brands such as Reebok and Audible to bring themed products and services to an even wider audience.
The first Peppa Pig theme park opened in Florida in 2022, in Legoland. A second opened in Europe earlier this month in Günzburg, Germany, thanks to a €30 million ($32.7 million) investment. In total, the attractions attracted more than 31 million visitors last year, Cafer said Fortune.
There’s more to come, including a new attraction in Texas and the world’s largest Peppa Pig theme park in Shanghai, scheduled to open in 2027.
![George and Peppa Pig characters pose during the media preview of Peppa Pig Theme Park in Florida](https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2153477132-e1717164403554.jpg?w=1440&q=75)
Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda – Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
The next 20 years
Of course, it wasn’t all flowers and sunshine. The franchise has had its fair share of problems as popularity brought more attention.
After the show’s first episodes aired, viewers expressed concerns about the characters not wearing seat belts and bicycle helmets, leading to a change in subsequent episodes. In 2017, an episode in which Daddy Pig says spiders “can’t hurt you” was banned in Australia, where encounters with spiders can be fatal.
Concerns about Daddy Pig being constantly shamed have also increased over the years.
After the franchise was criticized by viewers for not reflecting the reality of different families, except for a four-member unit consisting of a mother and a father, Peppa Pig introduced a same-sex couple in 2022. The couple – made up of two female polar bears named ‘Mummy’ and ‘Doctor’ – sparked a mix of criticism and praise for including LGBTQ+ characters in a preschool show.
Like it or hate it, Peppa Pig isn’t going anywhere. Even if unintentionally, the show has become a British cultural icon. What has captivated audiences all these years will continue to attract new fans in the years to come, Cafer said.
“Peppa Pig is as popular as ever. The first twenty years have been incredible, and 2025 marks the first year of the next twenty years – we have big plans coming,” she said.