9 Amazing Netflix shows for young audiences (and everyone else)
Netflix is a truly formidable platform, currently offering around 1500 shows and over 4000 movies on its digital service. Though it does have its fair share of issues and plenty of original projects that don’t hold up, Netflix’s victories generally outweigh its flaws, and one area I don’t feel gets highlighted enough is the amazing selection of shows for younger audiences. Obviously with over 1500 shows to sift through, it can be difficult to find the gems, so today I thought I’d illuminate a few of my favorite shows that are all reasonably child-friendly. Hopefully, you’ll find yourself watching and enjoying something new in the process.
These are not ranked by quality or any other metric, I just find it easier to keep track of them with a list.
1 - Lost in Space (2018)
The Robinson family helms one of many Jupiter-class ships designed for deep space travel, all with the intent of discovering new living prospects in the Alpha Centauri star system. Something goes wrong mid travel, however, leaving the Robinson’s and the rest of the Jupiter ships stranded on an unknown planet, and they’ll need to use all of their problem solving skills and scientific knowledge to overcome its harsh environment.
Lost in Space tackles the sci-fi genre similarly to classic deep space exploration shows from the 1960’s like Star Trek and…well, the original Lost in Space (1963). When “Space Family Robinson” lands on a mysterious planet, they immediately spring into action…by working out problems logically and using knowledge and discovery to fuel their endeavors. I generally find merit to stories that showcase the value of education and curiosity against the forces of the unknown, and Lost in Space works hard to illuminate that theme every step of the way, keeping the problems of Deus Ex Machina largely on the sidelines.
It also helps that Lost in Space is largely a character driven show, making an effort to show significant growth throughout the cast, with Will learning how to be courageous, Judy learning how to accept and progress through failure, and John learning how to reconnect with his family (to name a few). It’s not quite flawless on this account though, making a few missteps with Penny (what is her character exactly?), and especially by forcing a traditional sort of villain out of Dr. Smith, which largely renders her very shallow when she’s capable of much more. The misuse of Dr. Smith is also problematic in that it detracts attention from the much more captivating antagonist: the planet itself.
That being said, I think Lost in Space is generally a wonderful show and also rather captivating in the best of circumstances (or more accurately, the worst of them). Outside of being well designed visually, the show also firmly lives in a constant environment of story reversals, in which characters are hit with unexpected problems to which they need to create clever solutions, only to be struck by more unexpected problems cyclically until they are able to just barely scrape through. It’s a fun show to watch because it has a reasonably good handle on tension, only relying on brute force for a small handful of occasions.
As of now, there’s only one season, though a second has been confirmed for 2019. Netflix recommends ages 13 and older, but I think with parents it could maybe stretch down to 9 or 10.
2 - Little Witch Academia
Sorry, this the closest I could find to an English trailer.
Maka is a young girl that dreams of becoming a witch after being heavily inspired by a show she saw as a child by her idol “Shiny Chariot.” Now, she’s enrolled in the prestigious Luna Nova Academy and is ready to start her path towards that dream, but she can’t seem to grasp even the most basic of spells. It’s gonna be a long and arduous journey, but Maka proves time and time again that the journey can be wonderful.
Yeah, so I won’t deny Little Witch Academia sounds pretty blase on paper, but there’s magic hiding between the lines. This show comes courtesy of “Trigger Animation”, a hungry new studio in Japan that have made a huge name for themselves with their incredibly fluid, energetic and impacting animation technique. The original short film of the same name actually put them on the map in the first place, but this full 25 episode expedition is really what their colorful and exciting world needed. And while the concepts in the show are not overwhelmingly difficult, it’s in the execution that the show exhales joy and wonder.
Besides, Little Witch Academia proves on many accounts that it’s perfectly capable of being nuanced and original in its own fashion. One of my favorite aspects of the show is how it presents magic as an old institution, having been eclipsed functionally by science and technology and labeled in the modern world as a non-necessity. Part of what’s fun about the show is that the magic society’s primary value, that of tradition, is constantly at odds with the value that Maka believes should be the foundation of magic, that of wonder. It’s an interesting subtext that defends the idealistic against pure practicality, using magic as a real world proxy for art. Much of the show’s theme is around the exploration of “function vs form” and examining the somewhat cold approach we have to these ideas in the modern world. Magic resides not in the head, but in the heart.
Little Witch Academia can be watched in it’s 25 episode entirety on Netflix, as well as some of the earlier versions/OVAs, and is rightly recommended for ages 7 and older (8-10 might be preferable though). While Netflix does give you the option of watching the show in English, the Japanese audio with English subtitles is overall much better.
3 - Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia
James "Jim” Lake is a teenager living a pretty normal life, which all changes when he discovers a mysterious amulet on his way home from school. The amulet bestows upon him the power of daylight, manifest in a suit of armor, and the title of “Trollhunter,” a chosen guardian of all things above and below the surface world. Now Jim is stuck balancing out dual lives while learning how to become the next Trollhunter and one day rise to greatness…but it won’t be easy. From Dreamworks Animation and visionary director Guillermo Del Toro comes a good ol’ fashioned coming of age high fantasy adventure about the difficulties of being a hero.
Del Toro has fashioned an impressive filmography of “dark, subtle fantasies,” and while Trollhunters is generally lighter than his previous outings, it’s storytelling is still imbued with a sense of personal struggle. With Trollhunters, Del Toro wanted to create something thrilling, adventurous and utterly earnest, similar to the shows he grew up with (one he cites in particular: Johnny Quest). And he’s paired this time with the talent group at Dreamworks who have created a wonderfully distinct visual identity for the show that matches Del Toro’s vision masterfully. Despite how fantastical everything is shaped, I love that it all carries a real sense of weight to it.
Though honestly, I think Del Toro describes the merits of show better than I ever could:
““What was important for me is to actually give the main character, Jim, a bittersweet journey into what it is to be a hero. I didn’t want it to be just a power fantasy. You can start like that, but you want to go to places that really mean he has to make choices that are hard. That was important for me…I wanted to say ‘Look, you can be in high school and you can have your problems. Then you get all these powers and then you have a different set of problems. There is not such a thing as a final, great outcome.’ That’s seldom the case in this heroic narrative.””
All three seasons of Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia are already released, though the larger part of the Del Toro’s “Tales of Arcadia” continues with a new series called 3 Below in December. Netflix recommends ages 9 and older, I think I’d say 10 to be on the safe side. Trollhunters is great, but it has a habit of not pulling many punches.
4 - Hilda
Based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Luke Pearson, Hilda is about the many adventures of Hilda, a young girl growing up in the wilderness with her mother in a world lightly sprinkled with fantasy. Unfortunate circumstances have recently forced Hilda and her mother to move into the nearly city of Trollberg, which opens up a new chapter of her life full of fantastical encounters and the challenges of city life. While there is a consistent narrative string carefully stitched throughout the season, each episode really is it’s own adventure and with its own discoveries.
Let’s not beat around the bush, Hilda is definitely one of the best shows of 2018. The animation and character design is fantastic and brimming with energy and youthful innocence, the characters are all easily likable and well-grounded while being only barely stereotypical, the stories are imbued with a natural sense of wonder that excellently fits the child-like storytelling they’re focusing on, and most importantly it’s genuine, never forcing itself to dumb down or dull the impact of it’s topics and ideas. From the visual design to the music to the writing to the overall consistency of quality, Hilda is doing literally everything right and deserves all the praise and attention it’s been receiving.
I think it’s also worth highlighting the show’s attention to detail. There is hardly any wasted space narratively speaking, all setups are handily paid off, and the few things that aren’t completely elaborated on actually empower the world with a wonderful sense of mystery. This show truly is a showcase of masterful storytelling, and if you haven’t seen the show yet, I really think you ought to change that.
The series’ first season premiered about a month ago, and likely due to its overwhelming positive feedback, the show just got renewed for a second season. Netflix recommends ages 7 and older, I think you might be able to get away with 5 or 6, but honestly I can’t imagine a lot of audiences that couldn’t fall in love with Hilda.
5 - Wakfu
Wakfu tells a familiar story on the surface. Young kid discovers he has mysterious powers, which prompts his dad to tell him he’s adopted and that his real family’s out there somewhere, which triggers a vast and expansive journey around the world in an attempt to find and understand the secrets of his bloodline (or in this case, species). The main character is accompanied by a band of adventurers from different walks of life that agree to help him for one reason or the other, and oh no there’s also a villain who also wants to find this boy’s family to harness their mysterious power for an evil scheme. Eventually the adventurer’s clash with the main villain at the end of the season — a battle not just of strength but of ideals — and one which the heroes finally triumph. This basically happens for all 3 seasons with different kickoff points…and now I get to tell you why it’s actually super good (at least, after the first 6 or so episodes).
Wakfu originally aired on France3 in…well, France, and was originally designed as a companion/advertisement to the MMO of the same name. One of the series’ goals was to highlight particular locations and stories within the game to make it more interesting and draw in new players, but at the same time they also wanted to tell a larger story that works independently. The creative team found an excellent solution by using an episodic structure for the story, introducing only the basic outlines of its main cast and allowing them to develop fluidly through their behaviors on the adventure rather than through a mountain of flashbacks and exposition (another example of this structure done well — Avatar: The Last Airbender, Season 1). The end result is a show that manages to highlight all the coolest ideas and parts of the World of Twelve, while also developing a (somewhat roughly paced) story with a natural sense of adventure and excitement to it, especially once the larger story fires up about 15 episodes in.
I really don’t want to spoil the story, but I will say that each season follows a few similar rules: a slow enjoyable beginning act, a middle act sprinkled with various hits and misses, and a final act that’s always intense and never unfolds quite like you expect it. Probably the most remarkable quality of Wakfu as a show comes in the characterization of its antagonists and the way they’re deftly handled. All of them are initially presented a bit shallow, but they hold some truly remarkable depth in their motivations, actions and especially in their resolutions. Ankama has mastered the art of the sympathetic villain, and each one vastly empowers the weight of the heroes’ struggle to stop them. All this, mixed with a world absolutely flush with rich visual detail, design and magnificent mythology. Wakfu remains one of my favorite fantasy series not just because of its excellent characters, but because its overall style and animation are so energetic and stylish, with magic bursting from every seam.
The show has a total of 3 seasons, and a subset of OVA’s called Wakfu: The Quest for the Six Eliatrope Dofus. The intended viewing experience is to watch the first 2 seasons, then watch the OVA’s, and finish off with season 3. I know that’s a weird watching order, but the OVA’s were initially made as a way to followup season 2 in a time when “season 3” wasn’t necessarily a guarantee (a situation that season 4 currently finds itself). Additionally, Netflix recommends this show for ages 7 and up, but I would add the unusual caveat that season 3 is probably closer to ages 11 and up. An interesting facet of Wakfu is that the characters and stories mature over time, with the start of season 1 being super childish and goofy with the cast being mostly preteens or teenagers, and season 3 being a much more concentrated and nuanced story with all the characters having reached young adulthood. Maybe Wakfu isn’t a show designed to be simply “binged” with your kids, but it’s still a fantastic show that’s worth watching perhaps at a slower pace. Additionally, while the show’s default setting is full English, I actually prefer/recommend the original French with English subtitles.
6 - A Series of Unfortunate Events
A Series of Unfortunate Events is an expansive mystery focused on a trio of recently orphaned children, the Baudelaire’s, as they seek out answers for the sudden demise of their parents, and concurrently discover the web of secrets their parents had left behind for them. Along the way, they travel across a variety of bizarre locales as they are taken in by a series of new guardians (each of which doesn’t work out for one reason or another) and are constantly preyed upon by the villainous Count Olaf, a man hellbent to acquire the Baudelaire fortune and with seemingly no moral compass to get in his way. As the children are constantly undermined by adults, they often need to pool together their collective wits and skills to outmatch Olaf and his terrible schemes.
This is one of my favorite shows to cite for the mentality of “go big or go home.” The team here works a tremendous effort to instill all of its sets with clear, evocative design and always to a particular tone, the (adult) characters are all mostly ridiculous or eccentric but always play the act straight, and the series’ use of a narrator beautifully straddles the line between diegetic and non-diegetic. The “Lemony Snicket” style of writing is very peculiar to read, explaining its ideas thoroughly and often way too literally (but in a charming sort of way), and the show has taken every effort to really emphasize that particular prose, even visually. It’s an interesting work where everything is handled in this “matter of fact” fashion, no matter how ridiculous the pretense. This is a wonderfully “not dumb” story.
It can also be unfortunately disheartening, depending on how you watch it. The children are always struggling against an unfair advantage on the part of Count Olaf; the allies wear thin while the enemies proliferate, meaning Olaf’s advantage and support grows while the children are given fewer opportunities. This works for storytelling purposes as a simple raising of stakes, but it can weigh heavy on the audience after enough time has gone by. It can also be disheartening to some kids watching characters that act as their proxies be constantly undermined or ignored by adults, especially when those adults continue to be proven wrong over and over again. But I do think there’s still a rigid value to works like A Series of Unfortunate Events, especially to the young viewer, in highlighting the damaging power of ignorance, and showcasing just how valuable education and critical thinking can be in such an ignorant world.
The original book run spans the unluckiest number of volumes (13), and each book is given two full episodes. The first season covers the first 4 books, the second season covers the next 5, and upcoming third season will finish off the last 4 books. Netflix doesn’t list a particular age recommendation (says between 8-12), but I feel the target audience is probably around 10 and older. It’s going to be a bit particular as this story is, as the title implies, rife with misfortune and a growing sense of unfairness the further it goes. Despite all the Baudelaire’s small victories, things always seem to end just a little bit worse for them every story.
7 - The Dragon Prince
The Dragon Prince is a fantasy series in which humans and elves are on the brink of war. Their borders had been long maintained by the dragon king, but the humans used dark magic to slay him, and destroyed his egg, the last heir to the Dragons. As forces gather, the elves attempt to assassinate the human king Harrow and his heir, the young prince Ezran. One among the elves, the young Rayla, along with Ezran and his brother Callum, discover that the dragon king's egg wasn't in fact destroyed, but stolen. Together they undertake to return the egg to the dragons to prevent war, but will they make it in time?
The show structure is very similar to Wakfu and Avatar: the Last Airbender in that it creates a larger task for the characters to follow, chooses to build those characters up through their actions on each step of the journey rather than tons of backstory, and forces them to explore the vast majority of the world throughout said journey (and, unsurprisingly, the show was created by Aaron Ehasz, head writer of Avatar: The Last Airbender). It’s a simple, but effective method of telling a character-driven story that requires a strong cast capable of pulling its weight, and luckily the cast of The Dragon Prince is both earnest and charming enough to do so. This is further boosted by the show’s overall solid visual design and some of the narrative’s more intricate limitations (their party containing an elf forces them to travel secretively and often creatively to avoid drawing unwanted attention).
The animation is probably the only part I have some contention with — not really a fan of the “stuttering” technique they employ to force more of a 2D feeling — but I doubt it will detract the viewership for most audiences. The more important factors, like the show’s general theme of overall acceptance and how we progress more through shared understanding than senseless conflict, and the show’s overall vivid cast of characters with plenty of depth and development, are pulling plenty of weight to overcome whatever technical limitations the show has (which are, honestly, quite few).
The first season just aired last September with it’s premiere season to a fantastic reception, and the second season is set to release sometime next year. Netflix recommends ages 7 and older, and I think that’s pretty accurate.
8 - Voltron: Legendary Defender
Welcome the king of modern adaptations. Voltron was originally a 1984 American adaptation of other “Super Robot” shows from Japan, partnered with Toei Animation. The pitch was that a team of five pilots each manned one of a set of robotic weaponized “lions.” These ships, when assembled correctly, would fuse together to form “Voltron”, a massive robot that would be used to defeat monsters and enemy robots that presented a danger to the people of Earth. This was a “monster of the week” style show that had some slightly larger plot threads involving the primary alien race, “the Galra,” but was largely focused on taking things one episode at a time. The franchise was highly successful and has since spawned a number of remakes and adaptations, but none have been quite as well received as the recent reboot, Voltron: Legendary Defender.
With the limited details of Voltron’s mythos, Dreamworks Animation crafted an impressive vast universe full of possibilities and rich with worlds to explore, and with the help of showrunners Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos (Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: Legend of Korra), created conflicts, stories and characters that felt worthy of such a universe. I think it says a lot about the quality of the show that it’s been around for 7 seasons with a constantly expanding universe, yet never really feels out of scope or out of control. The creative team have done a fantastic job wrangling this show together into a lean, mean fighting machine throughout its run.
And that’s really all I have to say about it. Voltron: Legendary Defender is just a supremely well made show, delivering this huge sprawling space epic that travels across hundreds of planets and stars while never losing too much focus, and making a show that’s full of big ideas and tons of excitement. It really feels like a show where anything is possible, something they prove time and time again. As stories go, this one is awfully engaging.
There are currently 7 seasons of Voltron, though season length varies from 6 episodes (most of the middle seasons) to about 13 (early and late seasons). Season 8 premieres in December and is set to be the finale. Netflix recommends ages 8 and older and I think that’s a fair assessment. While its possible some of the concepts and writing might go over the heads of the youngest viewers, the core concepts and ideas are often handled visually and are easily processed. Voltron: Legendary Defender is not the sort of show I recommend on a factor of nuance, but rather for sheer quality, consistency and engagement.
9 - Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
Also not a lot of great trailers for Ladybug, so here’s the opening.
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (Miraculous for short) chronicles the everyday adventures of Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste, two Parisian teenagers with superheroic alter egos “Ladybug” and “Cat Noir.” Together, they fight to keep Paris safe from the evildoings of the evil Hawk Moth, a mysterious man that transforms everyday citizens into supervillains by corrupting them with akumas, small evil creatures shaped like butterflies. Ladybug and Cat Noir must use their unique powers and their wits to separate the akumas from the hosts and purify them. Every episode is structured in two parts, the first of which follows traditional high school slice of life conventions, and escalates into an action packed second part, finally concluding with a return to normality and hopefully with some lessons learned. There’s also a few general details that persist throughout the series, mainly that both characters are tasked with hiding their identities (even from each other) and that each has a one way crush on the other (Marinette likes Adrien, Cat Noir likes Ladybug, hilarity ensues).
Structurally speaking, Miraculous follows a lot of the same beats as other magical girl shows, especially Sailor Moon, but it’s also more lighthearted and better appealing to general audiences. What surprises me is that it manages to be more universal without really losing much in the process; the characters act a bit predictably but they’re earnest and effective, and most individual stories aren’t terribly nuanced but they serve the goals of the show. The one thing that actually does stand out is the impressive range of character design the show employs with its “monster of the week” setup. They actually take the biggest advantage of 3D (namely the ability to recycle assets and animations) and actively disregard it in favor of more varied design and ideas, which is noteworthy and impressive, especially since most of the animation in the show is actually quite good.
I think what also goes a bit unremarked is the show’s overall theme of the escalation of small evils. Every episode, Hawk Moth makes villains out of ordinary people by channeling strong (negative) emotions those people are feeling, often frustrations, fears and peaks of anger. In a way, the show highlights how easy it can be for small actions like teasing or even misunderstanding to escalate into big, emotional problems, and that we’re at our best when we’re honest and kind with one another. The show also starts making nods to this mentality and observation later in the show, as the repeated triumphs of Ladybug and Cat Noir ultimately leave Paris a kinder, better city in the long run, and as people become more aware of what sort of behaviors and actions lead to the akumatization of its citizens. As core themes for young audiences go, “be honest, and be kind” is not a terrible one.
I’ll admit Miraculous is a bit of an oddball pick here because while you can watch most of the show on Netflix, it also airs on pretty much every other kid’s programming channel. Nickelodeon handles the show in the US, but in other countries it’s often shown on Disney channel or Cartoon Network, and the show itself currently spans an impressive 120 countries, which I’d say highlights the series’ near universal appeal. As of now, the first season and a half are available on Netflix, with the second half of season 2 set to release this December. Netflix recommends an age of 7 and older, but I think this show is completely fine for all ages (maybe minimum 5 for actually understanding it though). Also, while I think the English is completely acceptable, I do prefer the original French version.
A Coda
I figure most of you reading this have probably been exposed to other “lists” in the past. It’s a good format for rapidly imparting information, categorizing it neatly and orderly, and the articles happen to be fairly easy to write since the writer isn’t required to have a unifying thesis or idea that ties everything together outside of the most basic thing in the title: Here is a list of “9 Amazing Netflix shows for young audiences (and everyone else).” But I think we can do better, so here’s a coda, a finishing piece, on “why did I make this?”
Netflix and other streaming services are quickly changing the way we approach storytelling in television and film, and included in that net is children’s television and film. Lots of us grew up in the age of the weekly story, in which the format of shows was largely built on individual narratives that “might” build into something bigger but were largely self-contained, and I think that’s mostly gone now. We now live in the world of the large story, where adventures pile up, consequences add up, stakes build up, and the characters within them grow up. I think we’re moving away from the purely non-consequential episodic story, from the simple “list”, into something a bit more meaningful, and that generally excites me.
I earnestly love the direction television has been traveling lately, with the willingness to tackle longer narratives and deeper ideas, and we can see the positive elements of it all the way down to children’s media. My hopes in writing this article aren’t especially complicated: I think most everyone should watch these shows, I picked the shows I knew that just about everyone could watch. It’s possible that some of you have kids, and it would bring me absolute joy to know you picked up one of these stories with them and all had a wonderful time, or even just watched one of these alone and got something important out of it. After all, I love sharing things that I feel have contributed to my creative identity in a positive way, hoping it will either do the same for someone else or maybe that it may help them understand what sort of stories I value.
So there you have it. Here are 9 Amazing shows that you can find on Netflix that are age appropriate for pretty much everyone, and all embrace the modern trend of the larger story. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them and hope you will as well.
