Skylanders Academy

I ain't a spring chicken, and next to grueling work my free time is limited. So I don't re-watch shows often. Amongst movies and series that I have re-watched more than twice are the likes of Better Off Ted, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Hot Fuzz and Transformers Animated. But Skylanders Academy came, and I found myself watching it for the third time just last month. And the show only came out half a year ago! Heck, I subscribed to Netflix for a month just to watch it. If you never heard about Skylanders - don't worry. While I love the games, knowing about the universe isn't required for you to enjoy the show. Everything will be explained, the rest are nice easter eggs for us fans. The core characters are expertly chosen - we have the cocky and self-assured dragon Spyro, playful but top of her class Stealth Elf, stickler for rules veteran Jet Vac, dependable but easily angered Eruptor and slightly loopy Pop Fizz. Rounding up the cast are the wise yet quirky Master Eon and his faithful assistant Hugo, and on the villain side, the ever-plotting wannabee supervillain Kaos and his long-suffering butler Glumshanks. Each episode is expertly written and while moving along the main plot, devotes an equal amount of time for a one-episode story and character development. The humor is excellent and has its own style - it isn't typical slapstick or lowbrow stuff you would expect from many kids' cartoon. For example, Kaos berates Glumshanks for collecting colorful stones which are actually his anxiety medication. Or the whole episode dedicated to how a without his beard, Eon cannot hold the attention of anyone for his rousing speeches - when Kaos's spell ends up transplanting the beard as the bald Portal Master's new hair. I honestly can't wait for the second season, and hope that the show comes out on DVD/BR, as this is a series I want to own as a hard-copy.

Can't actually believe there won't be a series 4. Myself & my 8 year old son have really enjoyed watching this together. As well as been visually beautiful the storylines & characters were very enjoyable. Shame.

My husband my son my daughter and I have watched the show from season 1 and we all really look forward to seeing season 4 and more can't stop rewatching have rewatched at least 500 times

I watched this in Hebrew to improve my language skills, so I'm not really their target audience, but I actually ended up quite enjoying it. The voice acting by the Hebrew cast is really good. The animation is solid, better than a lot of modern kids shows. The story keeps the series moving and gradually, although sometimes annoying, I grew to quite like the characters, and some of the plot twists in the show are interesting and keep you watching.

The minor complaint would be that often the story is bit ridiculous, stuff often being 'convenient', but this could be considered as part of the humour of the show, which I think often knows that it's being stupid- it's just a bit of fun.

Decent tv show, especially if you're using it to improve language skills.

I have played all but a few of the Skylanders games (the one I have not played being Superchargers and the mobile entries), but I was surprised when I heard Activision and Netflix were teaming up to do a Skylanders cartoon.

Like most cartoon adaptations of video games, this is a spin-off separate from the games, as it has Spyro, Stealth Elf, and Eruptor, who, under the watchful eye of Master Eon and Jet-Vac, go on various adventures to stop foes like Kaos and the Doom Raiders, while learning important lessons about what it's like to be a Skylander.

The series is a good combination of adventure and comedy. While most of the characters have been recast, they did manage to get some of the VAs from the games to reprise their roles (especially Richard Horvitz, who voices Kaos). And Crash even makes an appearance (although he actually speaks, which can be good or bad for some viewers). It is a Netflix exclusive worth checking out if you are a fan of Skylanders, Spyro, or just want something new to watch.