Amazon Unlocks Batch of Kids’ Shows Free to Stream for All Customers

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With millions of kids cooped up at home, Amazon is opening up free streaming access to more than 40 children’s shows — including its original series — to all customers worldwide.

The content, previously available only to Prime Video customers, includes Amazon original series “Just Add Magic,” “Pete the Cat” and “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” and select seasons of PBS Kids shows including “Arthur,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Odd Squad” and “Wild Kratts.” In Europe, third-party content includes “Peppa Pig” and “Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom.”

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To access the free kids’ titles, users must sign in with a valid Amazon account, which is free. The shows are available to the company’s customers worldwide, with availability of titles varying depending on location. Amazon set up a landing page for the free children’s programming at this link.

By dropping the Prime Video paywall for the kids’ programming, Amazon is aiming to generate goodwill with parents looking for ways to keep their kids occupied during the Covid-19 emergency. The company also wants to encourage more people to sign up for the $119-per-year Prime program.

Amazon is providing full access to original kids’ series and specials, including “The Dangerous Book for Boys,” “Lost in Oz,” “Just Add Magic,” “Pete the Cat,” “Costume Quest,” “Tumble Leaf,” “Bug Diaries,” “Creative Galaxy,” “Jessy & Nessy,” “Wishenpoof,” “Annedroids,” “Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street,” “The Snowy Day” and “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”

In the U.S., PBS shows available for free right now on Amazon include “Arthur” season 10, starring the anthropomorphic aardvark, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” (seasons 1-2), “Odd Squad” (seasons 1-3), “Cailou” (season 1), “Cyberchase” (season 1) and “Dinosaur Train” (seasons 1-2). Note that Prime members can subscribe to PBS Kids via Amazon Channels for $4.99/month to get access to even more of the pubcaster’s kidvid catalog.

In addition, through its IMDb subsidiary, the ecommerce giant also curated a list of over 80 family movies that are available watch free — with ads — from IMDb TV.

The free IMDb TV movies include: “Shrek Forever After,” “Scooby-Doo: The Movie,” “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed,” “Stuart Little,” “Stuart Little 2,” “Short Circuit,” “Free Willy: Escape From Pirate’s Cove,” “Rugrats Go Wild,” “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” “Muppets From Space,” “The Nut Job,” “Open Season 2,” “The Smurfs,” “The Smurfs 2,” Aardman’s “Early Man,” “The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland,” “Megamind,” “Little Giants” (1994), “Baby Geniuses and the Mystery of the Crown Jewels,” “Surf’s Up,” “Kangaroo Jack,” “The Care Bears Movie,” and “All Dogs Go to Heaven” and “All Dogs Go to Heaven 2.”

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