CHICAGO — From a makeshift studio in their Chicago apartment, Dr. Ryan Walter and Abby Lyons costume, choreograph, and record animal figurines, singing whimsical songs for the “Doctor Waffle” TikTok account. The couple’s channel has over 1.6 million followers, with video views in the tens of millions.

“What people are more broadly drawn to are our stories, our melodies, and characters,” said Walter. “And positivity; a place of levity and lightheartedness.”

Walter, aka Doctor Waffle, is not only a lifelong musician but also a psychologist, working in a private practice and day school with youth and children. He gained a large following on TikTok by recording simple, original songs on camera, but his channel took off after he posted a song inspired by a handful of small toy brains.

“I recorded it, not at myself, but looking at the brains,” said Walter. “It was really surprising that it did well so I wanted to do it again,”

With views in the millions, he began posting other songs focused on small toys. The single single shot, acapella videos have gained traction with children and adults alike.

“Some of them are more silly and some of them have a more meaningful message,” said Walter. “People have genuinely seemed to have found them helpful for anxiety and panic attacks.”

Lyons, a freelance musician by day, helps Walter craft lyrics and music in addition to creating the costumes and scenes. She said what started as a creative hobby has now gotten the attention of advertisers and entertainment companies.

“As the channel started to grow more and more, I started to help out more with the creative process,” said Lyons. “We started getting a lot of outreach from talent agencies and book publishers.”

Popular characters for the pair include favorites Drippo The Hippo, The Whale Friends, Petey The Kiwi, and Pierre The Bear. The couple said a song about an axolotl appearing in unusual places has seen airplay in major league baseball stadiums.

“The Axolotl Song took it to a whole other level,” said Walter. “That’s the video that has the most uses of audio from the doctor_waffle account.”

Walter said the positive reactions they’ve received help them stay motivated to create new songs and post them. As a child psychologist, he said he couldn’t ask for anything more than hearing parents say their children are putting down devices to interact with toys after watching his videos.

“Some of the coolest comments are about how now their kids are playing with figurines,” said Walter. “That’s the coolest thing that it encourages kids to play and be imaginative.”

For more information on Ryan Walter, Abby Lyons, and Doctor Waffle, visit the doctor_waffle account on TikTok.