''3Below: Tales of Arcadia'' (or simply ''3Below'') is an American computer-animated

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scienti ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

produced by DreamWorks Animation, and is the second installment of

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films '' Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and '' The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for ...

's '' Tales of Arcadia'' trilogy. The series was announced on December 12, 2017 by Netflix and DreamWorks. On October 5, 2018, the premiere date was announced and the first teaser was released. The 13-episode first season was released on December 21, 2018 on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

. The series concluded with the release of the second season on July 12, 2019. A third and final installment of ''Tales of Arcadia'', titled '' Wizards'', was released on August 7, 2020. The full-length feature film, '' Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans'' was released on

on July 21, 2021.

Plot

Two royal

extraterrestrial Extraterrestrial refers to any object or being beyond ( extra-) the planet Earth ( terrestrial). It is derived from the Latin words ''extra'' ("outside", "outwards") and ''terrestris'' ("earthly", "of or relating to the Earth"). It may be abbrevia ...

siblings, Crown

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subs ...

Aja and

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...

Krel of House Tarron, their doglike pet named Luug, and their

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers ...

, Varvatos Vex, escape from their home planet of Akiridion-5 after a coup and crash-land on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

, specifically in the city of Arcadia Oaks,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. There, the aliens adjust to

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

culture and try to fix their spaceship (as well as to restore their nearly-dead parents King Fialkov and Queen Coranda) to return and take back Akiridion-5, which is being taken over by an evil

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in ti ...

known as General Val Morando, who has already sent out a team of intergalactic

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outs ...

s, called the Zeron Brotherhood, to find and catch the alien prince and princess. After investigating a way to stop Val Morando and find the hiding place of Aja and Krel, Zadra, one of the noble protectors of the royals from Akiridion-5, arrives on Earth. Meanwhile, after learning of his involvement in Morando's coup, Aja and Krel decide to exile Vex. During his exile, Vex is captured by the Zeron Brotherhood and imprisoned at a bounty hunter outpost located on Earth's

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

. In Season 2, Aja and Krel learn of his capture and launch a rescue mission. Soon after the rescue, however the gang discovers that Morando is heading for Earth. After successfully defeating him, Aja (now Queen), Vex, Zadra, Luug and the rest finally return home, joined by Eli, who has volunteered to be Earth's ambassador on Akiridion 5. Crown Prince Krel decides that Earth has become his home, and decides to stay with his new human best friends.

Voice cast

Tatiana Maslany Tatiana Gabriele Maslany ( ; born September 22, 1985) is a Canadian actress. She rose to prominence for playing multiple characters in the science fiction thriller television series '' Orphan Black'' (2013–2017), which won her a Primetime Emm ...

as Queen Coranda Akrium-Tarron and Crown Princess Aja Tarron *

Diego Luna Diego Dionisio Luna Alexander (; born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' and the Disney+ series ''Andor''. Following an early ca ...

as Crown Prince Krel Tarron * Nick Offerman as Varvatos Vex * Glenn Close as the Mothership *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Luug *

Alon Aboutboul Alon Moni Abutbul (or Aboutboul, he, אלון מוני אבוטבול; born 28 May 1965) is an Israeli actor. He won the IFFI Best Actor Award (Male) at the 44th International Film Festival of India. Early life Abutbul was born in Kiryat Ata, ...

as Val Morando *

Uzo Aduba Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba (; born February 10, 1981) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series '' Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she won an ...

as Colonel Kubritz * Oscar Nuñez as Sergeant Costas *

Andy Garcia Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

as King Fialkov Ventus-Tarron *

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in '' ...

as Dadblank * Cheryl Hines as Momblank *

Nick Frost Nicholas Jonathan Frost (born 28 March 1972) is a British actor, author, comedian, painter, producer and screenwriter. He has appeared in the ''Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of '' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), '' Hot Fu ...

as Stuart *

Darin De Paul Darin De Paul is an American voice actor known for his video game performances as Dr. Samuel Hayden / Seraphim in '' Doom'' and '' Doom Eternal'', Reinhardt in '' Overwatch'', Ardyn Izunia is a character from the ''Final Fantasy'' franchise. ...

as Zeron Alpha * Ann Dowd as Zeron Omega * Hayley Atwell as Zadra * Jennifer Hale as Izita *

Chris Obi Christopher Obi Ogugua (born September 24, 1970) is an English actor and filmmaker who trained at Drama Centre London and graduated in 2001. He has done a season at the Royal Shakespeare Company where he was directed by Sir Antony Sher in th ...

as Loth Saborian * Danny Trejo as Tronos * Cole Sand as Eli Pepperjack * Steven Yeun as Steve Palchuk * J.B. Smoove as Phil * Tom Wilson as Coach Lawrence * Charlie Saxton as Toby * Fred Tatasciore as AAARRRGGHH!!!, Senior Uhl, Neb, Magmatron * Matthew Waterson as Mr. Johnson * Emile Hirsch as Jim Lake Jr. * Lexi Medrano as Claire Nuñez *

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off '' Frasier'' (1993-2004) ...

as Blinky * Jonathan Hyde as Stricklander *

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British-American actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Pla ...

as Archie * Yara Shahidi as Darci Scott * Colin O'Donoghue as Douxie "Big D" Princess Aja and Crown Prince Krel also appeared in the '' Trollhunters'' episodes "In Good Hands", and "The Eternal Knight Pt. 1" in their borrowed human forms.

Episodes

Season 1 (2018)

Season 2 (2019)

Reception

Critical response

The series currently holds a 100% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

. It has been praised for its depiction of

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

through a sci-fi lens, with Dave Trumbore of '' Collider'' writing, "... the subtext here, which is hard to miss even for younger viewers, is that Aja, Krel, and Vex are stand-ins for immigrants, refugees, and "illegal aliens" ... the show is re-examining the actions of the anti-immigrant government agents and the aliens' allies alike."

Accolades

References

External links

* *
3Below: Tales of Arcadia
' at

* {{Netflix original animated series and films 2010s American animated television series 2018 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American computer-animated television series Animated television series about extraterrestrial life 2010s American LGBT-related animated television series Netflix children's programming Tales of Arcadia Television series by DreamWorks Animation Television series by Universal Television Television series about royalty Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids Fictional shapeshifters Works by Guillermo del Toro Animated television series about teenagers English-language Netflix original programming