''City of Ghosts'' is a hybrid French-American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series developed by Elizabeth Ito for

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 fil ...

. Co-produced by

TeamTO TeamTO is an independent French animation studio that produces TV series and film projects. Headquartered in Paris, it has a second production facility in Bourg-les-Valence, with offices in Los Angeles, California, U.S., Beijing, China and Lond ...

and

Netflix Animation Netflix Animation is an American animation studio and a subsidiary of Netflix. The studio primarily produces and develops animated programs and feature films. History When Netflix began to produce original animated content in 2013, all of them ...

, the series premiered on March 5, 2021. In 2022, the series won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

for Children & Youth Programming. Episode 4 of the show references the

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...

homelands of Tovaangar.

Premise

A group of kids, in this hybrid animated mockumentary series, discover stories around

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

by directly communicating with ghosts who inhabit the city.

Characters

Ghost Club

* Zelda (voiced by August Nuñez), a young child and lead detective of the Ghost Club. * Thomas (voiced by Blue Chapman), a 7-year-old

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

child who uses they/them pronouns, and member of the Ghost Club. Thomas mentions their pronouns briefly at the beginning of the second episode. * Eva (voiced by Kirikou S'hai Muldrow), a 5-year-old child and member of the Ghost Club. * Peter (voiced by Michael Ren), a 6-year-old child and member of the Ghost Club with Eva, Zelda, and Thomas. * Jasper (voiced by Honor Calderon), a 7-year-old child and member of the Ghost Club with Eva, Zelda,Thomas and Peter. His first appearance is in episode four "Tovangaar", where he is a child who asks the Ghost Club for help and reconnects to his

roots.

Supporting characters

* Chef Jo (voiced by Isa Fabro), a

Filipina Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...

chef who owns a café in

Boyle Heights Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

. * Mariko (voiced by Kuniko Yagi), friend of Chef Jo who contacts Zelda and asks them for help in tracking down a

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

in the café. * Jordan (voiced by Angel Chipagua) is Zelda's brother and operates a

hand-held camera Hand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a filmmaking and video production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator's hands as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base. Hand-held cameras are used because they are conve ...

which records the Ghost Club's activities. * Janet (voiced by Judy Hayashi), a ghost living in Jo's café. * Sam (voiced by Teagan Meza), an eight-year-old skateboarder who is spending time with a ghost. *John "JP" P. (voiced by John Pham), the owner of a skate shop in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed b ...

, and a friend of Sam. * Sonya (voiced by Tomeicko Hawkins), owns a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

café in

Leimert Park Leimert Park (; ) is a neighborhood in the South Los Angeles region of Los Angeles, California. Developed in the 1920s as a mainly residential community, it features Spanish Colonial Revival homes and tree-lined streets. The Life Magazine/Lei ...

. * Jasper (voiced by Honor Calderon), a child who asks the Ghost Club for help and reconnects to his

roots. * Zelda's Mom (voiced by Sandra Equihua) is the mother of Zelda. * Nancy Sekizawa (voiced by herself) is a former punk rocker and mother of Zen. * Yulissa (voiced by Yulissa Maqueos) is a teacher of Oaxacan music, looking for her friend Chepe who communicates with people by

whistling Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...

. * Colton (voiced by Gage Fensler) * Josh "Bagel" Klassman (voiced by himself), a professional skater, surfer, and photographer. * Aawkut (voiced by L. Frank Manrique) is a ghost in a form of a crow who appears in the episode "Tovaangar". * Walter (voiced by

Adam Muto Adam Muto (born July 19, 1980) is an American writer, director, storyboard artist, animator, and producer known for his work as the executive producer and showrunner of the animated television series ''Adventure Time''. Career Muto was a classma ...

) * Lena (voiced by Gala Parras-Kim)

Episodes

Production

The series was announced by Netflix in May 2019, with ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' writer Elizabeth Ito as showrunner. The show's backgrounds come from photographs taken by Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin, then painted over at the Los Angeles studio of Chromosphere Studio and the character animation is by the French company,

. The animation supervisor of TeamTo, Mariah Luna, said that they talked with Ito and Luis Grane, supervising director, of the show, informing their animation. The production manager, Jaimy Nikijuluw, adding that they were often in contact with Ito and Grane until the end of production of each episode. Guillaume Hellouin, president/co-founder of TeamTO said that only a small team worked on the show, one of the smallest they've "ever worked with" while Nikijuluw added they had weekly calls with those at

and Chromosphere Studio.

Release

The series was released on March 5, 2021 on Netflix. A trailer was released on February 4. Selections from the series will be presented at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

's Schools at the Festival program in April 2021.

Reception

The series was positively received. ''

Mashable Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2005. Early iterations of the site were a ...

'' called the show a "warm, sunny, and soft" and praised the show's pacing, wittiness, humor, and the voice cast. They also said it makes topics like

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

and historical erasure understandable for those at a young age. ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' praised the series as a "lovely and refreshing vision for children’s entertainment" that adults can enjoy which is crafted like a

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

production. ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'' described the series as "full of big emotional wallops and...narrative specificity" and called it delightful, arguing that it proposes a new way of thinking "about cities, ethnicity, and history," geared toward kids. Wired also called the show a "multicultural melange." ''

The Capital Times ''The Capital Times'' (or ''Cap Times'') is a digital-first newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by The Capital Times Company. The company also owns 50 percent of Capital Newspapers, which now does business as Madison Media Partners. The ot ...

'' called the show "warm and huggable" and for all ages. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called the series a "gentle love letter" to Los Angeles and the diverse communities within the city, accessible to kids and adults. ''

Animation World Network Animation World Network (often just "AWN") is an online publishing group that specializes in resources for animators, with an extensive website offering news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. Specifically, AWN cov ...

'' praised the animation style and background, saying the latter has "the aesthetic of a pop-up book." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' recommended the series to fans of '' Bluey'', ''

Molly of Denali ''Molly of Denali'' (stylized as ''MOLLY of DENALI'') is an animated children's television series produced by Atomic Cartoons in association with WGBH Kids, created by Dorothea Gillim and Kathy Waugh for PBS Kids and CBC Kids.

'',

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

podcasts and ''

Vida Vida means “life” in Spanish and Portuguese. It may refer to: Geography * Vida (Gradačac), village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Lake Vida, Victoria Valley, Antarctica * U.S. settled places: ** Vida, Montana ** Vida, Oregon ** Vida, Missour ...

''. The series got nominated for 4

Children's and Family Emmy Awards The Children's and Family Emmy Awards, or Children's and Family Emmys, are a part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts a ...

including Outstanding Animated Series at the 1st Children's and Family Emmy Awards and won 2 awards for Outstanding Directing for an Animated Program and Outstanding Animated Series.‘The Quest,’ ‘Heartstopper,’ ‘Maya and the Three’ among 2022 Children’s & Family Creative Arts Emmy winners - AwardsWatch
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original animated series and films 2021 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings 2020s American animated television series 2021 French television series debuts 2021 French television series endings 2020s French animated television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series American computer-animated television series American mockumentary television series Animated television series about children English-language Netflix original programming French children's animated comedy television series French children's animated fantasy television series French computer-animated television series 2020s American LGBT-related animated television series Netflix children's programming Television series by Netflix Animation Television series about ghosts Television shows set in Los Angeles Peabody Award-winning television programs