Netflix and Madagascar's King Julien can trick your children into going to bed early on New Year's Eve

Madagascar's King Julian hosts a countdown to help parents trick their kids into seeing in the New Year

It’s an age-old parenting quandary - do you let the kids stay up for New Year’s Eve, fuelled by sweets, or put the clocks forward a few hours to trick them into thinking they’ve witnessed the arrival of a new date line?

Netflix is looking to provide harried parents with a third option.

The video streaming service will be giving families and frustrated babysitters some New Year’s respite in the form of a New Year's Eve countdown hosted by the animated ring-tailed lemur King Julien of DreamWork's Madagascar fame.

The star of the Netflix Original Series spinoff All Hail King Julien, Julien's pre-recorded three-minute countdown video will allow families to welcome in the new year at a time of their own choosing.

Research carried out by the streaming service and Wakefield Research suggests that 34 per cent of parents “fool” their children into thinking they’ve seen in the midnight hour. By way of response, the new animated short sees King Julien announce that he has “changed the rules” to allow children to join in the celebrations.

"Move over, Ryan Seacrest, I've got my very own on-demand countdown party on Netflix," King Julien "said" in a statement.