Gummibär, Beloved Internet Cartoon Character, Receives Diamond Play Button for 10 Million YouTube Subscribers

YouTube has awarded legendary animated gummy bear character Gummibär with the Diamond Play Button, the most prestigious award that a creator can receive. ‘Play Buttons’ are awards that were created by YouTube to honor creators for reaching various milestones, and the ‘Diamond’ Play Button is bestowed upon channels who have reached or surpassed 10 million YouTube subscribers. This is no easy feat, as Gummibär joins over 2,800 YouTube creators out of 10 million that have been gifted with Diamond Play Buttons. Gummybear International, the company founded by the co-creators of Gummibär, is proud to be recognized for this achievement, and looks forward to reaching 10 million more subscribers.

In a brand new video uploaded to the Gummibär YouTube channel, Gummibär himself narrates the opening of his Diamond Play Button at the New York Gummybear International headquarters as staff unveil the box contents. You can watch the unboxing video here:

First breaking out in 2006 with the viral track “I’m a Gummy Bear,” the character quickly became one of YouTube’s earliest global success stories, amassing billions of views and spawning versions in more than 45 languages. Gummibär’s partnership with Jamba, also known as Jamster in some regions, bolstered his popularity that same year. TV commercials that ran on channels such as MTV prompted people to purchase the “I’m a Gummy Bear” ringtone by texting the phone number shown on their screen. A string of follow-up singles and albums turned Gummibär into a Gold and Platinum-certified music superstar as his popularity surged across all continents.

Gummibär quickly moved beyond digital virality into a globally-licensed property, with video content, music, and consumer products rolling out across new markets in rapid succession and that early international success laid the foundation for what would become a full-fledged franchise. Licensing deals across key markets helped establish Gummibär as a recognizable kids’ brand, while the character’s distinct personality and music-driven appeal translated naturally into merchandising, opening up opportunities across toys, publishing, digital products and lifestyle categories. 

A key inflection point in the property’s evolution came in 2012, when Gummybear International produced the animated Christmas Special “Yummy Gummy Search For Santa” and released the program via Lionsgate Pictures. This established GB’s acting ability and also introduced Gummibär and Friends to his myriad of fans.

Based on the reaction of his fans to the Special and the resulting ever growing fame and popularity of the brand GBI entered into a production deal with Toonz Media Group for a digital-first animated series Gummibär & Friends and more recently for a full length feature film planned for 2027. Conceived for YouTube at a time when streaming-native kids’ content was still emerging, the show ran for two seasons (each 39 x 7’) and was distributed and licensed globally on multiple platforms helping cement the character’s transition from short-form virality into a scalable franchise ecosystem.

“Gummibär showed early on that digital-first storytelling can travel globally at scale,” said Viswanath Rao of Toonz Media Group. “With Gummibär & Friends, we saw how a character born online could successfully evolve into a global animated franchise reaching audiences in over 100 countries.”

“Gummibär is not just a character, it is a cross-generational phenomenon,” said Debi Rosenfeld, Head of Licensing and Merchandising at Toonz. “Its ability to translate across cultures, platforms and products has made it a natural fit for sustained licensing and merchandising growth worldwide.”

Today, Gummibär continues to perform across YouTube, FAST channels and multiple AVOD platform as well as linear broadcasting channels, beating its own record in terms of views and engagement year after year, with both nostalgic audiences and first-time viewers. As the brand hits a 20-year milestone since its introduction on the world stage via the launch of the viral music video, it stands as an early blueprint for digital-native IP that successfully scaled into a global entertainment franchise spanning content, licensing and consumer products.