Is Guillermo Del Toro’s Tales of Arcadia Worth The Watch?

One of Netflix’s recent original animated shows comes from an unexpected place: the mind of Mexican auteur filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, director of both Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water. It’s also unusual in that it’s not one series but three. Each animated show in the Tales of Arcadia saga is very distinct in genre and tone, but they all concern the many supernatural events that surround the quiet suburban town of Arcadia Oaks, California. 

After a successful run with Trollhunters and 3Below, the Tales of Arcadia saga continues with Wizards, which was released earlier this month. The release was particularly exciting for fans, and it also presented an opportunity for those who are new to the series to get caught up, and for adults and kids alike, the series is well worth the plunge. 

Let’s Hunt Some Trolls

The first entry in the Tales of Arcadia series, Trollhunters, draws on recognizable urban fantasy tropes to create a unique product. Anyone who’s seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer or read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is familiar with the idea of the normal human world existing alongside a secret, supernatural underworld. In Trollhunters, however, the term “underworld” is a bit more literal. 

Under a canal bridge in Arcadia Oaks lies a small town called Trollmarket. It’s inhabited by, as one might guess, trolls, and their existence is entirely unknown to the humans of the world above. They’re mostly friendly, but there is a faction of trolls called Gumm-Gumms who aren’t so benevolent. They’ve been trapped for centuries in an alternate realm called the Darklands, but they’re always trying to claw their way back out. 

One troll at a time is chosen to take up the mantle of “Trollhunter,” wield a magical amulet, and defend trolls and humans alike from the Gumm-Gumm threat. The Trollhunter is always a troll until Jim Lake, a regular teenager, finds the amulet and is chosen to serve as the first human Trollhunter. With the support of new troll allies and some human friends, Jim must navigate the perils of an entirely new world while still dealing with the more mundane challenges of his everyday human existence. If that all seems like a lot, don’t worry: the series does an excellent job conveying its worldbuilding gradually over its long runtime and forming its details into a cohesive whole.

Over its three-season run, Trollhunters has plenty of time to delve into the fascinating challenges of Jim’s double life, both logistical and emotional. What’s more, its other characters all grow into complex, lovable personalities, even those who seem at first to embody tired teenage archetypes taken straight from The Goonies. Meanwhile, most of the trolls have been alive for thousands of years, each having rich histories that make them more multifaceted than one might expect from a kids show. 

The show’s presentation is also excellent. The CG animation, provided by Dreamworks, is nearly indistinguishable from the high-quality rendering one would expect from one of their feature films. The action scenes are especially impressive and feature surprisingly weighty and kinetic maneuvers. In the visual design department, Guillermo del Toro’s whimsical, slightly macabre imagination really comes through. The way that no two trolls quite look the same keeps things interesting, and the fantastical settings are also consistently memorable. Overall, Trollhunters is a real winner, and definitely worth the watch all on its own. 

New, Blue Friends

A secret troll underworld isn’t the only supernatural thing going on in Arcadia Oaks. The next animated series in Tales of Arcadia introduces us to siblings Krel and Aja Taron, extraterrestrial royal heirs from the planet Akaridion-5. After their homeworld is taken over by the dastardly General Morando, they flee on their spaceship and crash land in Arcadia Oaks. Forced to disguise themselves as human teenagers while they work to repair their ship and get back home, they’re the subject of a whole new set of adventures in 3Below. 

The series differentiates itself from Trollhunters in many positive ways. The previous series hinged most of the conflict around Jim and his friends’ fighting prowess. While Aja is a capable fighter, the story more often calls upon her leadership and emotional intelligence, or on her brother Krell’s mastery over technology, which is very refreshing.

The series is also more focused on humor than Trollhunters. There’s a lot of familiar material about aliens not understanding human culture, but there is a twist. Krell and Aja, having come from a privileged background on their homeworld, are used to getting everything they want. So, instead of getting embarrassed or nervous when they commit a social faux-pas or use the wrong word for a situation, they barrel ahead, creating a unique comedic effect.

In other ways, however, 3Below isn’t as solid as its predecessor. Just as often as it’s legitimately hilarious, it relies too heavily on funny-sounding alien words, toilet humor, or catchphrases. The royal bodyguard Varvatos Vex, brought to life by the voice of Parks and Recreations’ Nick Offerman, might particularly test your patience for hearing the same phrases repeated over and over again.

The drama and excellent character writing from Trollhunters is still there, but ends up hidden behind material that isn’t nearly as adult-friendly. What’s more, the series’ two-season run doesn’t give it nearly as much time as Trollhunters had to explore its worldbuilding, and it leaves some interesting questions frustratingly unanswered. For all that though, 3Bellow is still worth watching overall. 

Skipping Around?

After hearing about these two series, you probably want to go ahead and catch both so that you can hop on the Wizards hype train. But maybe you’re more of a sci-fi buff and you only want to watch 3Below. How will you fare? Well, you’ll be fine for a lot of the series, but certain episodes are dense with callbacks to Trollhunters, especially toward the climax. So, skip to 3Below at your own risk: you’ll be pretty lost a decent portion of the time. 

If you’re more into fantasy and don’t care as much about aliens in disguise, maybe you want to catch Trollhunters, then go straight to Wizards. Can you skip 3Below? As of right now, it’s hard to know how much the events of 3Below will bear on Wizards. However, we do know that Diego Luna will be reprising his role as Krell Taron in Wizards, so it might be worth catching 3Below just to know his story for when he shows up. 

Wonderful Wizards

Wizards, the third and final installment in Tales of Arcadia, will bring the series back to its fantasy roots (( SYFY )) and refocus on many concepts introduced in Trollhunters. From what we know so far, the series will center on a new protagonist, the apprentice of the wizard Merlin. He, along with many of the series’ existing heroes, will travel back to medieval Camelot in an all-new, time-twisting adventure.

There’s a lot to look forward to in Wizards, from a deepening of the series lore to the return of many fan-favorite characters. However, Wizards is a limited-run series of only ten episodes. A lot of Trollhunters’ strength came from its ample runtime, so the significantly shorter Wizards might be hard-pressed to fully develop their new concepts, settings, and characters. However, a Netflix original movie called Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans is set to premiere in 2021 and serves as the series’ ultimate finale, so it might fill in any remaining gaps (( Deadline )).

Binge Away!

All things considered, Tales of Arcadia is a unique achievement in television animation, both for bringing Guillermo del Toro’s enigmatic vision to the small screen and for succeeding on its own merits as an epic fantasy/sci-fi romp that’s mostly just as compelling for adults as it is for kids. Do yourself a favor and catch Trollhunters and 3Below on Netflix, and you’ll be right in time to enjoy Wizards alongside seasoned fans.