3Below: Tales of Arcadia

“Lively” isn’t only the frequent interjection of its main character, it’s a great description for 3Below: Tales of Arcadia, the animated Netflix series from Guillermo del Toro, executive producer Marc Guggenheim and Dreamworks Animation. 3Belowis lively, humorous, fast, and fun.Although the first season of the new show is available now on the streaming platform, 3Below is the second of three chapters of del Toro’s connected universe — which also includes three seasons of Trollhunters, likewise set in the town of Arcadia.3Below: Tales of Arcadia Season 1-2 Download.

But instead of a magical realm of trolls, 3Below focuses on a trio of energy-based aliens from the Tron-esque world of Akiridian-5: Princess Aja (Tatiana Maslany), Prince Krel (Diego Luna), and bodyguard Commander Varvatos Vex (Nick Offerman). After escaping a violent coup, they head to Earth in a damaged ship. As the sentient ship Mother (voiced by Glenn Close) repairs itself, and as the “dead” king and queen regenerate on board, the aliens must go unnoticed on earth, disguised as a Latino boy, young woman, and elderly man. And Mother takes the form of a 1950s surburban home, complete with Ward-and-June Cleaver droids posing as parents. What results is a fish-out-of-water sci-fi action comedy that also serves up light-touch commentary about society, and our treatment in the U.S. of aliens (in this case, it’s extraterrestrial aliens who resemble undocumented people).

While also seeking parts to repair their ship — and evade evil bounty hunters sent from beyond — the alien royalty attempt to assimilate in a new school, and tackle the challenges of being human teens, and outsiders. The metaphor of teenagers as aliens trying to fit in, and discover the kinds of people they want to be, is on the nose. And the theme of grief these two refugees feel, over their lost world and lost family, is touching. But the show doesn’t ruminate too long on the serious messages, which works for family entertainment.