Parents face a significant dilemma on New Year's Eve - do they let their youngsters stay up until midnight, risking the consequences of ignoring the regular routine?
Well, Netflix has a potential solution to the conundrum. For New Year's this year, the streaming site is offering an animated 'on demand' countdown that can be accessed by parents whenever they want.
If the kids are getting restless at 10pm, the three-minute clip can be used to 'trick' them into believing it's actually midnight. Or it can be kept in reserve until 11.57pm, as an alternative to the traditional broadcast countdowns.
The countdown clip features King Julien, a cartoon lemur from the popular Madagascar series. The character is featuring in a new series All Hail King Julien, which is currently being released on Netflix.
While some parents may take issue with tricking their children in this way, a survey conducted by Netflix found 34% of US parents "admitted to starting the party early to fool their kids into thinking it's midnight." With the new clip, the seemingly commonplace parental deception might at least be a little easier this year.
