Looks like my first Entertainment post will be a review of a kids’ show.
Not just any kids’ show, however: as far as I know, it’s Guillermo del Toro’s only TV show, and it’s on Netflix: Trollhunters.
The good:
- Amazing, movie-quality animation. It has a gorgeous, colorful 3D look, used to good effect on the non-human characters.
- A fantasy world that seemed like a nice blend of del Toro’s usual penchant for the grotesque and the safer world of children’s cartoons.
- Great comic timing. Lots of throwaway pratfalls and one-liners that made me think of Pratchett (high praise from me).
- Some really fun writing and voice acting. Kelsey Grammer stole every scene he was in (and he was in a lot), as did Jimmie Wood as “Not-Enrique”.
- Some nice character growth and a few notable turns. Not Shakespeare, but fun to watch.
The bad:
- I disliked that “the girl” was just “the girl,” i.e. the romantic target of “the boy,” for maybe half or two-third of the episodes. We didn’t see much of anything from her side for far too long — though to their credit they eventually changed that.
- One very very bad episode that was trying to skewer tropes about the tropical island Natives but really just ended up repeating them. Ugh.
- Some sexist jokes involving a Barbie doll. Also ugh.
So yeah, there was some racism and sexism. I can understand if that’s a deal-breaker. I would hope they do better next season, if there is a next season.
They want to (the last episode ends on a cliffhanger), but here’s possibly the most interesting thing about the show: its lead voice actor was Anton Yelchin, who died in an accident in June of 2016. del Toro chose specifically to keep him in the show because he fulfilled his vision of the part so well.
But now they’ll need someone new.
Weaponized Fluff 