Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia 2016

I am unqualified to speak about this genre which seems to be somewhere between Child and Young Adult Fantasy, but I can give you my perspective. The draw for me was Guillermo del Toro's storytelling skills. I am just discovering his work and find him to be a master storyteller and will continue to follow his projects across genres. The animation for this is beautiful. The voice talent is good, pulling in some pretty big names. As an adult the story telling sometimes gets bogged down in the silly, but I think if I were a child the humour and the silly characters may be appealing. As a Star Trek fan I think it is sad that this was Anton Yelchin final project (he played Chekov in the 2009 reboot) before he died tragically in a freak accident when his car slipped its hand break in his driveway, suffocating him, as he was pinned to the wall. If this series continues to a third season, as it seems to be set up to do, they will find it hard to replace him - he perfectly inhabited Jim Lake, Jr. I binged this series and give it a 7 (entertaining) out of 10. For a young audience it may be an 8 or an 8.5 out of 10. [Children, Action, Adventure, Animated Fantasy].

"Destiny is a gift. Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor. That to strive and triumph in the face of fear is what it means to be a hero. Don't think. Become."

As of lately, DreamWorks has been putting out hit after hit content. From the A-tier How To Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda trilogies, to the excellent assortment of Netflix programming, they haven't disappointed me thus far. But when I first heard about Trollhunters, the first of a three-part original 3D-animated series, I was expecting a character-focused/filler-present romp like Race to the Edge.
Wow, I was wrong. Very wrong.

An adaptation of his own children's book series, Trollhunters is, in a sense, a hero's journey created by Guillermo Del Toro. It's like a mix of the lore-heavy Lord of the Rings and the mystery-driven Gravity Falls, and it clearly shows how much nerd culture and love that Del Toro dedicates to his work. We have the high school nobody, the comedic best friend, and the smart love interest teaming up to ward off evil from another world. I think the best thing about Trollhunters, much like other similar "small-town" stories I've seen (i.e. "Gravity Falls") is its excellent variety of characters! Not only are these three main antagonists full of depth and emotion, but so are the rest of the reoccurring townsfolk met during this story. You may just think these minor characters are just existing to drive the plot, but as you get closer to the story's finale, you begin to notice they ALL play important roles.

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia is like watching a borderline A-tier DreamWorks trilogy, but instead is expanded into a 20-hour series rather than a 6-hour set of films. It even has some gorgeous art direction and incredibly unique character designs. I can't recommend it to just anybody, although I definitely encourage taking a look if the genre interests you at all. This really is Del Toro's love letter to the fantasy genre, and it's a non-stop joyride! As for the rest of the Tales of Arcadia trilogy...well, that remains to be seen (for now).

9/10