Hello everyone! Ever since joining the Avocado nine months ago, I have made it my mission to discuss some of my favorite animated series with you all. I started with my weekly Infinity Train series, which just wrapped up in mid-October and was a lot of fun, and with the ongoing collaborative Adventure Time review series, Come Along With Me. Now that my schedule is a bit more open once again, I have decided to start another weekly review series, this time for a series that I feel has been at times sadly overlooked: Netflix’s Hilda.
Based upon a graphic novel series of the same name (starting with Hildafolk, released in 2010) by British illustrator and former Adventure Time storyboarder Luke Pearson, the series debuted on Netflix in 2018. It has since run for two seasons and a movie, with a third and final season set to premiere on December 7. The series follows an 11-year old girl named Hilda (voiced by Game of Thrones and Last of Us actor Bella Ramsey) who, after having spent her whole life in the fantastical countryside of a fictional Scandinavian country with her mom, must adapt to life in the walled city of Trolberg. Along the way she makes new friends and goes on many adventures involving creatures from Scandinavian folklore.
The show has so far managed to walk the difficult tightrope of being adventurous and exciting but at the same time cozy and charming. In that way, it has helped to fill the Steven Universe-shaped hole in my heart. The art style is gorgeous (particularly the environments), with a muted color palette that lends the show a relaxing air. The electronic-tinged music is top-notch and very atmospheric as well. All of this, combined with a cast of fun and well-developed characters, has pushed the show firmly onto my list of favorite animated series. I cannot wait to discuss it with all of you!
My plan, after today, is to review one episode each week. The reviews, at least for now, will drop at 9:30 AM CST/10:30 PM EST on each Saturday. I would like to split the reviews for each episode into sections, similar to my Infinity Train reviews – Synopsis, My Thoughts, Episode MVP (the character who I believe most shined in the episode), Folklore Connections, My Totally Arbitrary Episode Ranking, and Trivia/Stray Observations. I will try my best to avoid including any spoilers for future episodes within the reviews themselves.
Next week we’ll get started with the very first episode, ‘Chapter 1: The Hidden People’. Please share any thoughts about the series below. If you are already familiar with the show, make sure to spoiler tag any references to future events in the series in case anybody is stumbling across the show for the first time. As always, be sure to follow all of the Avocado’s rules and guidelines.
Thanks for reading!