Hilda Season 3 Review: The Young Explorer’s Final Enchanting Adventure
Since first picking up a copy of Luke Pearson‘s Hilda and the Troll on one cloudy afternoon from Orbital Comics in London in 2015, the beautiful world of magical creatures and wildlife adventures from the perspective of a young girl named Hilda grabbed my attention and only grew with each new story I picked up. Filled with heart, a unique and endearing art style, and expanding its lore with each book in interesting ways, the graphic novel series has remained one of my, and many others, favourite titles.
And it was one that some at Sony Pictures Entertainment – Kids (formerly known as Silvergate Media) were interested in adapting for Netflix and released the first season in 2018. Meeting high acclaim from critics and creating new fans of the series as well as being able to bring the beautiful panels to life for readers of the original series, it was no surprise that it would lead to a second season as well as the feature-length film, Hilda and the Mountain King.
Recreating the storylines from across Pearson’s five books and creating new ones that expanded the cast of characters and mythical creatures for the show, it was announced in 2021 that the series would have a third and final season. That day has finally arrived and with an ambitious arc and standalone stories to tell across eight episodes, it manages to be a satisfying outing for the young explorer, albeit with a couple of stumbles along the way.
Hilda Season 3 Poster. Image sourced by Hilda Wiki
Taking place a year after the events of Hilda and the Mountain King, Hilda (voiced by Bella Ramsey) and her two best friends, Frida (Ameerah Falzon) and David (Oliver Nelson), are now teenagers and despite their attempts to relax on their summer break and partake in ordinary everyday activities, Hilda remains as curious and susceptible to adventure as ever. During a trip to visit her Great Aunt Astrid (Miriam Margoyles) in Tofoten, an interest in the town’s mystery surrounding fairies opens up an unexpected connection to her own family, explored across a majority of the episodes in one big story arc that hasn’t quite been told before throughout the entire series.
Not only does this allow the audience to explore a new type of fantastical creature in the show and tell a more mature story as a whole but also allows audiences to enjoy the evolving relationship between her friends and family now that Hilda is a teenager. While Frida and David do find themselves dragged into this perilous adventure, the writers have done a great job at showing how much they have grown themselves with this short time skip compared to Hilda while also being ready for whatever help she may need now that they have their fair share of weird and wonderful encounters from past episodes. While the majority of the second season and the film did a great job of testing Hilda’s relationship with her Mum, Johanna (Daisy Haggard), she plays a larger part throughout this ambitious arc and is given more depth to her character giving her a journey as exciting as her own daughter’s.
This particular arc does take a lot of focus across the season and by not featuring as many standalone adventures, it focuses on the chemistry between Hilda and her friends and family and dives into it. With an older Hilda discovering herself and exploring how important her relationship with those closest to her is, it’s a more mature story that offers plenty of different emotional and hard-hitting moments without losing its theme of discovery and curiosity. However, this does slightly impact the few standalone storylines that feature some new characters and mythical monsters that don’t make them as memorable, especially as they offer something new to the already large cast of original and new characters. While the addition of Great Aunt Astrid was given more attention, comedic characters like Eugene the Merman and some of the other one-off characters get a bit lost in the large crowd of characters.
Hilda with a Woff Egg. Image sourced from IGN
As for the animation itself, it remains one of Netflix most beautiful shows with its use of pastel colours, pencil-aesthetic outlines, and brilliant character animation that can make even the most tender and simple exchanges feel intimate and powerful. This has always been the case for the previous seasons and the film and it’s no exception here as the animators have demonstrated their skills through even the simplest of moments that only help to build upon the focus on the core cast of characters and their relationship with one another. Whether it’s a simple exchange around a campfire toasting marshmallows or encountering new dangers, the character animations make every exchange and scene feel alive and exciting which not many shows have accomplished.
And they made some truly memorable and gorgeous high-octane sequences too that live up to the plethora of action scenes featured across the series, making use of the final season to make something new. Whether it’s everyone riding the adorable Woffs as the sun sets on some never-before-seen locations, Mum and Hilda’s initial encounter with a dangerous and ancient creature from long ago, or Hilda and her friends trying to escape the musical and luminescent trap set up by the charismatic and musical Eugene the Merman, the show never shies away from an opportunity to create something beautiful and different to the very end. Even if some of these episodes don’t give a lot of screen time or chances for the new characters to shine, the production team certainly know how to make the most of their limited appearance to create spectacular spectacles that will be as fondly remembered as some of the best moments across the Hilda franchise.
Hilda and the gang with some new faces. Image sourced from What’s on Netflix
Hilda’s third and final season is a brilliant and beautiful sendoff for fans of the series and those looking for more adventures after Luke Pearson’s graphic novels. It may have had a lot of ambitious ideas within its series-stretching story arc, but it mostly sticks the landing with another gorgeous adventure filled with heart and some of the best character-to-character moments seen in the entire series. It will remain one of the best animated productions on Netflix and this season alone demonstrates just why.