MrBeast Lab had a rocky debut in 2025. Now Jimmy Donaldson, known online as MrBeast, is putting $7 million into Season 2. He’s bringing serious talent along. The production includes 250 artists, experienced TV writers and voice actors with Marvel and Star Wars credits.
The short-form experiment that fell flat
When MrBeast Lab first launched, it arrived on YouTube as 10 three-minute animated shorts. The project brought characters from Donaldson’s MrBeast Lab toy line into an animated world.
The shorts pulled in more than 55 million views. Viewers still weren’t impressed. They called out flat characters, a weak story and little emotional depth. Donaldson took the feedback seriously and decided to raise the bar for Season 2.
Moving forward with a bigger vision
The new episodes take viewers beyond the original laboratory setting. Backdrops now include cities, deserts and shopping malls, with car chases mixed in. Donaldson calls the third episode “basically a Mad Max movie.”
He recruited experienced TV writers, including Jameel Saleem, whose credits include “South Park” and “Bob’s Burgers.” Fred Tatasciore, who voiced Marvel’s Hulk for 15 years, joins a cast with talent tied to Star Wars and anime.
MrBeast’s team hired 250 artists from 16 countries. Together they drew more than 140,000 frames by hand across eight episodes. The new season runs more than 100 minutes.
Season 2 premiered on YouTube Nov. 1. New episodes roll out weekly through mid-December.
What we think
For video creators, the budget is the story. Hand-drawn animation at this scale shows how far top YouTubers will push production values past quick, cheap clips.
Smaller channels can take a smaller lesson from Season 1. Big view counts didn’t save it. Story and character mattered more than spectacle.
With $7 million on the line, the real test is whether MrBeast Lab can win over its critics and build a steady audience.