Netflix Original (2021) – Season One

Trailer available here

Aimed at children, specifically seven and older, City of Ghosts (a Netflix original) focusses on a school ghost club that goes around doing mini interviews with people that had ghost problems and then found ways to ‘interact’ with them to learn more about the history of their area.

It is a brilliant piece of animation; The way they incorporate ‘toys’ to be able to explain things in simple understandable ways is great and also brings an added bit of fun to it all. It is the sort of thing that we actually witness children doing as part of the creative process of them doing alone-time activities of transforming toys and everyday objects into some ‘special’ thing.

Beyond that City of Ghosts teaches children how to think more about the things and people around them. It highlights how actions can cause certain responses and stir up memories for people, create emotions and how to deal with a collection of different problems that often come up in life but in a fun and subtle way.

As an adult viewing it I seen everything on a bit of a different level. It reminds us to appreciate how something basic, a building or an item, can hold a lot of social or cultural meaning. It doesn’t have to be something of great political or historic significance to the world but that sometimes to one person a singular thing can mean a lot; Think about that tatty old bear you still have from your childhood – it has absolutely no value to anybody but you and seeing it lost, changed, disrespected etc would stir up a lot of feelings.

In the first episode they meet a ghost that used to spend a lot of time on a block of stores and specifically in a café. A new person was taking over and doing things completely differently and whilst the ‘new ways’ weren’t necessarily worse it just wasn’t the same or valuing tradition. In the end they find a way to merge the old with the new to keep everybody happy and they discover ways to value tradition, sharing it with the neighborhood and creating another generation of locals that will have memories of the establishment, without holding anybody back from the present day needs.

Watching it is not too intense, I binged it all in one sitting, especially as the six episodes are only around 20-25 minutes each and they are all absolutely delightful. Elizabeth Ito, involved heavily in creating Adventure Time, did an absolutely fantastic job here. If you want something that gives you a little something to ponder, perhaps make you think about a variety of places and people that spark joy from your past, then this could be a good late rainy winter night suggestion for you.