Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Hilda’ On Netflix, An Animated Series About A Girl Who Loves (And Has To Leave) The Wilderness

If your kids are looking for something to watch that’s visually interesting with a fascinating story, Hilda might fill the bill. Based on a series of graphic novels, the series dropped on Netflix last week. Read on to find out about the adventures of the blue-haired explorer…

HILDA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A bird flies from a town over the hills and wilderness; we see a lone house in the woods. Then the bird flies over a waterfall, where we pan down and see a little girl and her pet skipping rocks.

The Gist: The girl is Hilda (Bella Ramsey), who lives with her mum Johanna (Daisy Haggard) in that house in the middle of the wilderness. She explores the wilderness with her antler-clad wolf pet Twig, and in what’s essentially a cold open that shows us what she does, she finds a rock form that she knows turns into a troll at night. Sure enough, the troll comes to life and chases them back to her house, where she realizes the bell she tied around its nose is irritating him.

As the story begins, Hilda and her mum are getting tiny notes from “little people” telling them to leave their home or there will be grave consequences. After the little ones wage an attack on the house, breaking windows and tossing bookshelves, sofas and the TV, Hilda is unbowed; Mum wants to move to Trollberg but Hilda wants to stay in the only house she’s ever known. So she writes a note to the little ones to show themselves.

One of them does, in the form of Alfur (Rasmus Hardiker), an elf who is there as a peacemaker. After filling out the requisite paperwork, he shows himself and his entire world to Hilda, who had never seen it before. Alfur tells Hilda that the prime minister made it a campaign promise to rid their nation of the scourge that is the big family who has “occupied” their land for generations. She demands to be taken to the prime minister, but Alfur takes him to the mayor, who says “it’s out of my hands… And I don’t even have hands!” Then she goes to the Prime Minister who insists that he has to go forward with this plan.

Our Take: Hilda is based on Luke Pearson’s graphic novel series of the same name, and the Canadian-British import definitely has a UK flair to it. It’s sophisticated and whimsical, with everyone being unfailingly polite despite the war that’s going on between the elves and Hilda’s family. It’s beautiful, hand-drawn look, closely resembling Pearson’s novels, and evokes a classic feel that adds a gravity to Hilda’s adventures.

One of the best aspects of the series is that it doesn’t try to dumb down the adventure Hilda will be undertaking. It’s a continuing story, and director Andy Coyle and the series’ writers don’t try to accelerate its pace for TV. We know that eventually Hilda will be forced to move to Trollberg, she’ll make new friends, and face even more dangerous adventures. But for now, she’s dealing with the elves, and despite her insistence that she doesn’t want to harm anyone and just wants to live in peace, it looks like they’re not going to listen to her.

What Age Group Is This For?: There’s definitely a lot of moments that really little ones would find scary. Also, the continuing storyline is more suitable for older kids. It’s rated TV-Y7, but we think that this is more suitable for kids 9 and up.

Parting Shot: Arfur agrees with Hilda to meet the king. Alfur needs a couple of days to make the arrangements.

Sleeper Star: Twig the deer-wolf is pretty badass, as we she when he protects Hilda from the prime minister’s attack.

Our Call: STREAM IT. A fun story that’s gorgeous to look at.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Watch Hilda on Netflix