Photographs

by Mike Belleme for TIME

Story

by

Updated: May 29, 2026 8:13 PM CUT

Published: May 29, 2026 5:14 PM CUT

The Danny Go! team with Daniel Coleman (center) set up to film a new video in their studio in North Carolina on April 24, 2026. Danny Go! is a popular kids YouTube show with high-energy dancing and songs.

Not long ago, a man in an aviator cap began appearing on screens around the world. A slender fellow in a teal short-suit, he grooves against computer-generated backdrops—a pirate ship, a gemstone mine, an island guarded by sinister flamingoes—inviting his viewers, with intense cheerfulness, to mimic his dance moves. “Hey!” he calls out to the kids watching on YouTube.…