Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 is rather good. But it isn't a 'Saturday morning cartoon'
By now many of you will have seen the new Netflix animated spin-off show Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85. The show has received a mixed range of reviews.
I’m very into it.
The show functions in a similar way to a season of the live-action show in that it is a serialised single story running over the course of the eight-episode season. The key differences between this show and the original are:
Tales From ‘85 is animated
The voice cast does not include the original actors
It is an entirely new creative team.
The new cartoon lives up to the promise of its conceit, which is to tell stories that slot within the TV show continuity. Tales From ‘85 takes place between the events of seasons two and three, which gives us the best versions of these characters. It’s the kids before they start becoming weird-looking teenagers and keeps the character dynamics pretty simple. The cast hasn’t been expanded out yet to lean so heavily on Steve (who is in the cartoon, just to be clear), with Robin not yet an addition to the show.
When people think about Stranger Things as IP, it is roughly this configuration that comes to mind. The show executes on that well.
Some of the criticism of the new show is that the story comes off as a lot more slight than the live action series, but as an adjunct to the main series, I’d suggest that this is kind-of what we want from the show – just a little something extra that shades in the world of Stranger Things rather than redefining it.
The creative is very much in line with the proposed Buffy: The Vampire Slayer animated series proposed in 2001, while the live action show was still in production. That show was to be set mid-first season, with the show sticking to the basic idea of the series without the baggage of the additional plotting of subsequent seasons.
What Tales From ‘85 isn’t is a “Saturday morning cartoon” version of the TV show. I have seen that line trotted about in a number of articles and reviews for the show and it frustrates me a bit.
I grew up in the 80s and watched the Saturday morning cartoons based on popular movies, TV shows, and big name stars of the time. Coming to mind for me are shows based on Teen Wolf, Rambo, Attack of The Killer Tomatoes, Robocop, The Karate Kid, Back To The Future, and more.
Some of these shows were actually okay (Beetlejuice and The Real Ghostbusters being among the best), but most of those cartoons were cash grab junk.
The Saturday morning cartoons were also weekly episodics. The ambition for Tales From ‘85 is considerably higher, with the show emulating the structure of the TV series (albeit in 30-ish minute chunks rather than an hour or so per episode).
Thanks to the animation style, which mixes the tangible aesthetic that comes from the live action with a cartoon-ish sensibility, the show actually comes across feeling more like the animated cut scenes from a Rockstar game like Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption rather than an old school cartoon. Some will find that off-putting, but it seems necessary to me that this feels like a cartoon rather than being too slavish to what had been accomplished with live actors.
Ultimately, this is a pretty cool way to extend the series out in a way that feels as close as one can get to bringing back the early era of the show. As long as viewers approach this as a fun, diversionary entertainment and don’t place too much weight of expectation on the show, I think they’re going to have a blast with it.
News Desk
Warner Bros Discovery shareholders have approved the deal for the Paramount takeover. 82% of them voted to reject CEO David Zaslav’s $850m+ compensation, but that vote is non-binding, so Zaslav will collect that money and invest further in his collection of ivory backscratchers. Now the future of cinema is in the hands of fedeal and state regulators. Read: Deadline
The Clueless sequel TV series is dead at Peacock. This may be best for all involved. Read: Deadline
Netflix is in development on a series based on The Nanny Diaries. Previously adapted into a film starring Scarlet Johansson, THR says that the proposed plot is different from the film and book. I’ll have to take their word for it. Read: THR
Benedict Cumberbatch will star and produce a new A24 series based on papal conclave heist film White Smoke. Read: Deadline
Paramount ANZ has announced the ensemble cast for the just-wrapped six-episode romantic drama Dalliance: Hugo Weaving, Heather Mitchell, Georgie Parker, and Wayne Blair. Read: If
The 00s-era Battlestar Galactica, spin-off Caprica, and TV movie The Plan are set to start streaming on Paramount+ and Pluto TV in the US. This will include a dedicated linear streaming channel. Read: thefutoncritic
Disney’s 20th Century Studios will get $21.9 million for shooting the new The Simpsons film in LA. Presumably it remains animated. Read: THR
You know when your boss quietly mentions to you that expenditure has already been allocated and that you still have budget left over, so you should find some ways to spend it. That comes to mind as one hears about how Netflix, post its efforts to buy Warner Bros, is set to buy back $25b in stock. Read: Deadline
Jen Glennon games out the future for GTA Online ahead of the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6. She notes that GTA Online still pulls in $1.3 million per day for Rockstar. Read: Polygon
Dubious headline
That’s a lot of Peabody winners.
Trailer Park
Off Campus debuts on Prime Video May 13.
Off Campus follows an elite ice hockey team, and the women in their lives, as they grapple with love, heartbreak, and self-discovery — forging deep friendships and enduring bonds while navigating the complexities that come with transitioning into adulthood.
Star City, the spin-off of For All Mankind, debuts on Apple TV May 29.
"Star City" is a propulsive, paranoid thriller that takes us back to the key moment in the alt-history retelling of the space race - when the Soviet Union became the first nation to put a man on the moon. But this time, we explore the story from behind the Iron Curtain, showing the lives of the cosmonauts, the engineers and the intelligence officers embedded among them in the Soviet space program, and the risks they all took to propel humankind forward.
The Legend of Vox Machina returns to Prime Video June 3 for season four.
The Tribute is streaming now at SkyShowtime.
The Tribute (El Homenaje) tells the story of Adolfo Novak (Eusebio Poncela), patriarch of one of the most powerful families in the country, who gathers his family and close friends to celebrate his 80th birthday. Behind the toasts and smiles lie decades of secrets, betrayals, blind loyalties and a strong desire for revenge. The evening will end up blowing up and revealing a truth that, when finally comes to light, will be much more unexpected and surprising than any previous suspicion.
The WONDERfools debuts on Netflix May 15.
A goofy group of townies stumbles into superpowers and fights rising evil as doomsday panic grows in this wild, turn-of-the-century action comedy.
The Moment, seen in cinemas earlier this year, debuts on HBO Max May 29.
A rising pop star navigates the complexities of fame and industry pressure while preparing for her arena tour debut.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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