Plot: In the winter of 1985, snow blankets the town, and the horrors of the Upside Down are finally fading. Our heroes Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max have settled back into a normal life of D&D, snowball fights, and quiet days. But beneath the ice, something terrifying has awakened. Could it be from the Upside Down? From the depths of Hawkins Lab? Or from somewhere else entirely?
Review: Just four months ago, Stranger Things went out with an epic series finale that had the world talking on New Year’s Eve. After a documentary chronicling the end of the hit show and cryptic teases of upcoming spin-offs, the sci-fi series created by Matt and Ross Duffer is already back with a new show. Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 may be an animated series, but it is an official part of the series canon. Taking place between the second and third seasons, Tales From ’85 introduces a new story featuring the main characters from Stranger Things as they embark on another showdown with the monstrous denizens of the Upside Down. While it does not feature any of the actors from the live-action Stranger Things, Tales From ’85 is an enjoyable expansion of the series mythology that features the same pop culture references and sense of nostalgia that made the original series such a hit with audiences.
Before Stranger Things became the massive, CGI spectacle of our ragtag heroes facing off against Vecna in alternate dimensions, the series was smaller and more in the vein of classic Amblin films by Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Tobe Hooper. After the first and second seasons gave us a small-town vibe, the residents of Hawkins, Indiana, got a mall, which was the first expansion into the bigger world around them. Tales From ’85 returns to those halcyon days where the main characters were still middle school geeks who kept the secrets they knew about the Upside Down to themselves. Tales From ’85 picks up with Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt) still living in Hopper’s cabin and staying out of sight. Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) is on the crew, and the kids are still planning D&D campaigns. With snow on the ground and the seasons changing, Mike (Luca Diaz) and his friends discover a new threat in Hawkins in the form of monster vines that begin attacking people through pumpkins. Knowing that supernatural challenges are usually up to them, the kids begin their own investigation.
Tales From ’85 focuses primarily on the younger characters from Stranger Things, with Karen Wheeler and Jim Hopper making only minor appearances. The series instead introduces new characters, such as Mrs. Baxter (Janeane Garofalo), the new science teacher who takes over for Mr. Clarke during his sabbatical. There is also local shop owner Daniel Fischer (Lou Diamond Phillips) and horror icon Robert Englund joining as Cosmo. New teen characters include Rosario (Valeria Rodriguez), who has an adversarial relationship with Dustin (Braxton Quinney), and mohawk-sporting newcomer Nikki (Odessa A’zion), who becomes the newest member of the ensemble. Because this season is sandwiched between two live-action entries in Stranger Things, it’s pretty apparent that these new characters will not last past this season, as we never hear about them in the main series. But they fit nicely into the show’s dynamic and the flow of a typical Stranger Things storyline. But even knowing they don’t affect the larger mythology, both Odessa A’zion and Janeane Garofalo are fun additions who feel at home in Hawkins.
Each half-hour episode of Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 opens with the new credit sequence and variation of the iconic theme song before using the same chapter structure as the main series. With the episodes running half the time as the live-action show, Tales From ’85 moves along briskly without losing the darker edge of Stranger Things. The animation follows a similar style to that of the Spider-Verse films and K-Pop Demon Hunters, with an exaggerated, slightly cel-shaded appearance. The characters all look and sound like their live-action counterparts, while the Upside Down monsters are much more cartoony than Demogorgons. Because the series is animated, it allows more action in each episode than a live-action series, but the stakes remain just as tangible. People do die in animated form, and there is a bit of blood, but the neon-hued monsters and their glowing gore give this series a Saturday-morning-cartoon feel rather than the original series’s realistic, cinematic tone. Tales From ’85 keeps the profanity at a minimum and has the characters act their age, but it has a cleaner, slightly more family-friendly feel. That does not make it any less enjoyable for long-time fans while offering an entry point for younger viewers.
The series references many of the creative designs from Stranger Things, with composer Brad Breeck taking over for Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Prometheus creature designer Carlos Huante consulting on the new monsters’ designs. Matt and Ross Duffer, along with Shawn Levy, serve as executive producers on Tales From ’85, with Eric Robles as showrunner. The team of writers and animators at Flying Bark Productions balances the feel of 1980s cartoons like The Real Ghostbusters and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe with the advanced technology at their disposal. The story’s focus on the kids rather than the adults keeps it moving and provides additional development for the core cast. The series offers a chance to deepen our understanding of Will, Lucas, and the rest of the characters, including new teases about the relationship between Lucas and Max, the burgeoning romance between Eleven and Mike, and even the bromance between Steve Harrington (Jeremy Jordan) and Dustin. The voice cast does solid impressions of the original actors while also embodying the characters themselves.
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is saddled with fitting a story worth investing in between the major events of the second and third seasons of the live-action show, and it mostly pulls it off. Any retcons to the mythology limit how much this series can expand on Stranger Things’ mythology without causing continuity issues, but the Duffer Brothers’ creation remains intact while giving fans another avenue to learn more about the world below Hawkins. Like reading an official novel that adds to the franchise, Tales From ’85 is a nice sidequest, but one that neither adds to nor detracts from the main series. I would definitely tune in for more volumes of animated Stranger Things, but it will always be limited by the seasons we have already invested in. Fun but ultimately not required viewing, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is well animated and solidly made, making for an entertaining return to the beloved franchise.
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 premieres on Netflix on April 23rd.