By Dan Skip Allen

Stranger Things has been one of my favorite shows this past century. It captured everything I loved about the 1980s. The kids on bikes, genres, and the angst of kids have always been something I’ve liked ever since I was a kid, go figure. This series had an incredible ending, but it’s the various crazy monsters and adventures that led to that amazing ending of the series last year. Now, there is a new season of Stranger Things. It’s called “Stranger Things: Tales of 1985”. It is an animated series that takes place between seasons 2 and 3 of the show. It’s a winter adventure that has a lot of what made the live-action show so popular in the first place.

Early on in the series Chapter 1: Welcome to Hawkins, which is an apt name for the first episode, but as a fan of the live-action show, I don’t need an introduction to Hawkins, Indiana. New fans may, though. It starts out with the same old vibe as the live-action series. Kids on bikes doing their things. Getting into trouble with teachers and other students in their middle school and having moments of banter with each other as always. It’s just an animated version of what I’ve come to love about the main show. The only other difference is that it takes place between season 2 and 3, so they go backward in time. These versions of the characters are some of my favorites from the show. They were more innocent than in the context of the series.

In episode 2, there is a new kid at school, and this is when the story starts kicking into gear. Nikki (Odessa Azion) and her mother, Mrs Baxter (Janeane Garofalo), who is also a new teacher at the school.  They bring a new layer to the series similar to other new characters in the liv-action show. Nikki becomes a friend of the main group of kids that includes Will, Mike, Dustin, Sam, Eleven, and Lucas. All voiced by new actors. This dynamic between the kids is terrific. They form a group called the HIC (Hawkins Investigative Club) led by Dustin, but they all serve their own agendas within the group. Once an evil monster shows up, they all have to figure out what it is. Why it’s in their town and where it came from. So they do what they always do and split up, and eventually, they come together in the end to beat the bad guy or, in this case, a big giant monster created by science.

A few things about this series stood out for me, and one of those are as follows. Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 (2026) features a high-quality, 3D computer-generated (CG) animation style with a 2D painterly, “retro” aesthetic. Handled by Flying Bark Productions, the show blends 1980s cartoon influences (like The Real Ghostbusters) with modern stylized animation techniques similar to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse The animation in the show is gorgeous. Each of the characters look just like their live-action counterparts. The vibrant colors jump off the screen. It helps that neon green ooze plays a part in the story. I absolutely loved this style of animation. I can’t wait to see more movies and / or shows from these animators in the near future.

A second thing is the soundtrack and score. The music in the show as a whole. Songs from artists such as Billy Idol, “Rebel Yell”, Kim Wilde “Were the Kids in America” and the Go Go’s “We Got the Beat” just to name a few songs. Just like the main series, the music is a big part of this one. It helps give the show its identity. The score is very noticeable as a key element as well. The score from the regular series is iconic by now. It’s been implemented into this show as well. Also, other new themes have been added to give this show its own original new sound. 

The aesthetic of the series is so similar to the live- action series. The chapter titles and the font of the series are very noticeable here as well. When that iconic theme pops on the screen, you know you’re back in this place you have come to know so well, created by the Duffer Brothers. The showrunner, Eric Robles, knew what he was doing. He and the writers get the jist of what this show needed to be about. It had to capitalize on what had come before, and it does just that. It’s like an added season to what has come before. It fits in nicely right between seasons 2 and 3 in the winter of 1985. 

 What most people will enjoy about this series is it is an animated version of the main show. It has some gruesome monsters and a mystery at its center, just like each season of the original series. It doesn’t shy away from what everybody who loves the live-action knows what it’s about. The adventure and action are here in this series, just like the various seasons of the main show. The best thing is that there is more character development with each of the characters fans like myself have fallen in love with. The nostalgic factor is also here. As soon as I started watching this show, I got what it was trying to do, and it brought me right back to Hawkins, Indiana, in 1985. 

4 ½ stars