Mechanisms and Strategies of Youth Audience Expansion for Hollywood Animated IPs on Social Media in the Streaming Era

In the streaming era, young audiences' film consumption decisions are increasingly dependent on social media. Hollywood animated IPs need to reconstruct childhood memories into symbolic markers of youth identity to achieve breakout among new audiences. This work investigates how this type of identity transformation comes into being. Drawing on case studies such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and the Minions franchise, the present paper unpacks social media communication pathways through brand equity and Uses and Gratifications Theory. The research identifies four core forces powering IP spread: visual meme formation, cross-platform exchanges, fan-made creative outputs, and childhood memory attachment. Yet these same dynamics bring about four notable contradictions: weakened narrative coherence, disconnect between audience engagement and consumption behaviours, audience group polarisation, and conflicting commercial monetisation goals. To address these issues, the research puts forward four actionable tactics: tiered meme creation, coordinated content coupling, dual-track operational frameworks, and balanced revenue generation. Results show that reviving well-established animation IPs over the long run depends on more than gaining viral online exposure. Creators must carefully strike a balance between meme-based diffusion, intact storylines, and commercial transformation. This analysis clarifies how classic cartoon IPs can refresh their image for new generations, supplying theoretical perspectives and practical guidance for social media management and brand building within the animation sector.