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Given that it's set between seasons 2 and 3 of Stranger Things, it was kind of a necessity that upcoming spin-off Tales From '85 be animated. It's been nine whole years since the flagship series' second chapter premiered on Netflix and, well, the actors who played Eleven, Will, and co. have had serious growth spurts since then.
Another big benefit of ditching live-action though, says showrunner Eric Robles, is that the creative team were "able to do things that are so fun, so extreme, so big". Things, in short, they wouldn't have been able to do if they were having to film them for real...
"When we were talking about the development of this thing, it really was like, 'why animation?' Like, if we're going to do it, why animation? And the proof is in the pudding, as they say, right? It's because we're able to do things that are so fun, so extreme, so big in a way that you probably couldn't do in the live action – and the budget would probably be insane if we did it in that way," he laughs in an exclusive interview with GamesRadar+.
"There's an art to what we're doing here. There's a different style of art, right? And it really is. Every animator, every artist that's involved in this is literally fans of the [flagship] show, and we're all putting so much love into it for that reason."
With the likes of Hopper, Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve merely cameoing in the show, Stranger Things: Tales From '85 revolves almost entirely around The Party; Eleven (voiced by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Mike (Luca Diaz), Will (Ben Plessala), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Lucas (Elisha Williams), and Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport).
Fresh from their Christmas holidays (and El closing the gate to the Upside Down), the youngsters are excited for snow ball fights, pizza nights, and kicking off their next D&D session. But their dreams of getting back to regular smalltown-kid activities are cut short when strange new monsters start terrorizing the town.
According to Robles, none of the Stranger Things cast have seen the show yet, but thanks to a fleeting visit to the studio during production, Dustin Henderson actor Gaten Matarazzo has already given it his seal of approval.
"He was having such a blast seeing all the likenesses of the characters," Robles recalls. "We showed him a scene with Braxton, who plays Dustin in the show, in it and he was like, 'Is that my voice?' We were like, 'No, that's the voice actor'. He was just like, 'Oh my gosh, that sounds like me.' It was great to hear that he, you know, gave us the thumbs up on that."
Stranger Things: Tales From '85 premieres on April 23. While we wait, check out our picks of the best Netflix shows for some watchlist inspiration.
