Picture: Netflix
The Stranger Things universe is expanding, with Netflix today announcing a brand new animated spin-off set in the world of one of Netflix’s biggest shows.
The Duffer Brothers, on behalf of Upside Down Pictures, are involved as executive producers on the new untitled animated series alongside Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen on behalf of 21 Laps.
In a statement on the new project, The Duffer Brothers said:
“We’ve always dreamed of an animated Stranger Things in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling. We couldn’t be more blown away by what Eric Robles and his team have come up with — the scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can’t wait to share more with you! The adventure continues…”
Netflix first announced spin-offs alongside the renewal of season 5 last year. Since then, there’s been plenty of guesses about what’s to come including many rumors surrounding an Eleven spinoff.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Matt Duffer said the spin-off would be “1,000% different” from the original and added it’d be a “story that connects to the Stranger Things world, but it really is more about how we’re telling that story.”
Who’s the animated studio behind the new Stranger Things Animated Series?
Flying Bark Productions’ recent projects
The animation studio Flying Bark Productions is behind the new series, boasting offices in Syndey and Los Angeles, and was founded 55 years ago in 1967.
Flying Bark’s previous TV credits include:
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Glitch Techs
- Marvel’s What If…?
- Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
- Monkie Kid
Among the movie projects the studio has worked on include:
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (2022)
- 100% Wolf
- Blinky Bill the Movie
- Maya the Bee Movie
Eric Robles will be spearheading the project for Netflix. The well-known writer and animator is best known for being the creator of Nickelodeon’s Fanboy and Chum Chum, plus the co-creator of the Nickelodeon/Netflix Original series Glitch Techs, which ran for two seasons.
Robles will also serve as executive producer on the project.
Is this Stranger Things: Tokyo?
What’s currently unclear is whether the newly announced animated series is the same animated title we got word of in late 2022.
We’d been hearing the project referred to as an anime at that point, and given we’ve had no plot information, it’s unclear whether the two are separate projects or not.
As a reminder, here’s what we heard about the plot of the project, which we learned would be a six-hour series:
“An encounter with the Upside Down evolves into a grand adventure for video game-loving twin brothers living on the outskirts of 1980s Tokyo.”
Of course, a lot is happening elsewhere for Stranger Things right now.
Season 5, the final season of the mothership series, will be entering production in the summer and is expected to release in 2024 at the earliest. However, we are getting some Stranger Things goodness this year through a new VR game developed by Tender Claws aiming for a winter 2023 release.
That’s all in addition to the Stranger Things play, titled Stranger Things: The First Shadow, hitting theaters in London in late 2023 into 2024 with tickets on sale now.
When it eventually lands on Netflix, will you check out the new animated Stranger Things series? Let us know in the comments down below.
Rating: TV-14
