Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is The Duffer Brothers’ attempt to take the world of Hawkins, Indiana and place it firmly into a Saturday morning cartoon format.
In many ways the men behind The Upside have succeeded in their quest to recreate these millennial childhood staples. Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, like Beetlejuice, The Real Ghostbusters, and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures before it, transitions from live-action to animation by developing a wrinkle in the original storyline, casting voice actors who sound eerily like the live cast, and jazzing up the works with high-energy action and super silly moments.
And, just like these bygone animated adaptations, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is an ultimately unnecessary exercise in trying to get a little more juice out of an IP that never asked to be animated in the first place.
This is not to say the series is bad. The animation, especially the monster animation, is terrific. There are moments in the finale of Season 1 (yes, this has been renewed by Netflix) that are absolutely jaw-dropping. The animation, particularly The Upside Down and The Gate, is stunning in its grandiose and gothic execution.
Also, as stated, the voice cast is impeccable. You’d think the entire cast – minus Hopper (who very obviously is not David Harbour) – has all come back for one last rodeo. This vocal proximity allows for ease in viewing, as you’re never taken out of the moment because characters sound so radically different.
And there are moments throughout the 10-episode first season that capture the original essence of the live-action series. The focus on the kids allows for amiable goofy moments (usually perpetrated by Dustin) as well as that throwback Goonies vibe that made Season 1 so beloved.
However, the ultimate issue with this entire series boils down to one simple question: Who asked for this?
Tales from ’85 dropped nearly four months after the series’ finale. Audiences spent a decade following this ragtag group of kids and adults from literal hell and back. We’ve seen them in alternate universes, in firefights with shady government organizations, and beloved characters murdered brutally in front of our very eyes. So why on earth would we care about this story that happened between Season 2 and 3?
And it’s not like this series has low stakes either. This isn’t some silly little romp where characters encounter weird happenings around Hawkins. The crux of the plot revolves around various monsters from the Upside Down snatching kids and feeding upon their essence to fuel the reopening of The Gate. So, yeah, the stakes are quite high.
However, the main problem with all of this is that none of it will ever matter. These high stakes, coupled with an epic finale where the kids have to go to all out war with a head monster and its minions, are something that should have impacted Season 3… but it never does. So, who cares? The same thing happens with the new character Nikki (Odessa A’zion, I Love LA). She is a vital part of the plot. She sees Eleven’s powers. And she even remains in Hawkins after the events of the finale … yet she matters not. The entire premise of the live-action series is that almost no one knows about what’s happening in Hawkins outside of the military and our main characters. So unless she moves or is killed in the second season of this series, there’s no reason for her to even have been created. Tales from ’85 doesn’t go the Andor/Rogue One route of dramatizing something that directly impacts A New Hope. It’s just Stranger Things content, nothing more.
If we’re being honest with our nostalgia, weren’t so many of our favorite Saturday morning cartoons promotional vehicles for toy lines (this series is the Happy Meal toy for the month btw), selling breakfast cereal or promoting video games? So yes, The Duffer Brothers did succeed in their quest in recreating the Saturday morning cartoon — it’s a fun, but ultimately forgettable way to squeeze every cent out of a very popular piece of pop culture.
