Imagine what would happen if you combined the fantasy elements of Gravity Falls and Over the Garden Wall, and mix them in with both the practical humor of Calvin and Hobbes and the family and friend bonds of Laika's best works. You'd get a simple albeit engaging graphic novel turned cartoon series like Hilda. It's always good to stream new content on Netflix, because then you discover adorably wholesome gems like this.
Set in a world consisting of people and fantasy creatures, the series centers around a kindhearted and adventurous little girl named Hilda, who has lived most of her life in the wilderness, along with her mom Johanna and pet deerfox Twig. Upon moving to the city of Trolberg, she befriends two kids named Frida and David. With that said, a lot of the episodes center around the trio working out a situation regarding their scout activities, and this is where Hilda shines as the show's true star. She always knows the procedure whenever a creature like a giant, troll and even a raven is afloat due to her upbringing, but that does lead to her either screwing up or learning something different each time. It's always neat when children learn something new every day on top of what they already know.
In addition, the other characters all have their own pros and cons that work well with each other. Frida is a highly determined scout always trying to earn badges, but she tends to get too caught up in them and hates to face her own flaws. David can be easily frightened and anxious, but always tries to overcome his worries with the help of his friends. The relationship between the kids really feels genuine, as even when they disagree or even argue, they still work well with each other on their adventures and even develop based on what one thinks of the other. As for the rest, Johanna never minds the surreal creatures Hilda is around, but only when it depends on what Hilda is up to. As she wants what's best for both Hilda and her, the series' heart tends to bloom with their adorable mother-daughter bonding.
The last thing to really talk about is the wonderful animation, as the soothing color scheme helps paint the down-to-Earth feel of both the wilderness and Trolberg in a comforting aesthetic. If one is to recreate a setting with forests, city architecture and other wilderness features, they should definitely create it to resemble the real world, and this show does just that. Not to mention, the characters are designed in a simplistic cartoony style, which makes them look very appealing, even the more macabre ones. I know people get sick of cartoons that resemble the Cal Arts style, but this show presents itself as a breath of fresh air given how monotone the visuals are.
Needless to say, Hilda is a wonderful animated series that captures the innocence of childhood adventure through brisk story telling, relatable and endearing characters, and gorgeous animation. Whether you're a child or an adult, I definitely recommend giving this show a watch. It's one of the few cartoons nowadays that is able to invite its audience to join in the mystery on finding new characters and their curiously strange habits. I think if we can take away anything from this show, it's that like Hilda, we shouldn't put aide our childlike fun just because we are to grow up soon.
