Extolling the popularity of Redwall books is all well and good but it’s easy to hope that Netflix will be the big boost that this series will need since it’s very true that the books have been popular for a while now, but when asking anyone just off the street about them it’s also easy to think that a lot of people won’t know what you’re talking about. This is the thing about entertainment in any form, it’s not always going to be universal knowledge to every person, but there are likely to be some folks meandering around that might have heard about, or read the Redwall series. The fantasy series is going to become a project that will hopefully encompass as many books in the series since the last time this idea made it to animation it was only utilized for three books. This time around it might be far more extensive even if it’s still going to focus, apparently, on the main character Martin the Warrior. Like many animated series that utilize anthropomorphized animals, this project will feature the same characters from the books taking on vicious and cunning predators that are out to harm them or take over their lands. As a fantasy story, it’s fairly simplistic since there isn’t a lot of magic to it, at least not that much as one might see in other movies and shows, but it’s remained endearing to readers for many years now.
There’s definitely hope that this series will please and inspire those that have read the books and are ready to see them in the animated form again, this time in a more complete manner, but one has to remember that with so much animated material out there this is bound to need a pretty heavy push to be counted as something worth watching. Otherwise, it could very well be thrust to the back of the pack not too long after its release since with so much content Netflix kind of has to cycle through its shows and movies as much as possible in order to give them all the attention they need in order to be seen as much as possible. It’s likely that those who are paying attention to this development will be able to drum up enough notice to make it worthwhile since watching one’s favorite story become an actual show is often enough to get many people on board, and seeing something that was confined to the page for so long get up and move about is also a good way to get people on board with such an idea.
One of the only impediments to this idea, and it’s no so much an impediment as it an obstacle to be worked around, is the fact that shows featuring animal characters that dominate the story has been done quite a bit throughout the years, and everyone thinks that they have something unique and different to add. The truth is that every story is just a bit different but the overall gist becomes the same after a while and it’s up to the viewer to attribute more meaning to one movie or show than the next. This is the obstacle that needs to be accounted for since if the show is going to come off as something new and exciting it’s going to have to take the idea and really run with it in a manner that clings to the source material but steps just wide enough to make certain that it hits upon various points that people want to see and won’t be troubled by in a number of ways. This is the dilemma of pretty much any episodic show since keeping the audience entertained and sticking to the story are two elements that don’t always run neck and neck with each other, as many movies and other TV shows can attest to. But given that it already did have an animated series back in the 90s it feels that there is some sort of framework to go by that might help pinpoint just where the series might need help and what strengths it can build from. While the original series obviously didn’t do as well as it could have since it was taken off the air, it’s easy to think that it can provide a great base to work from in order to get this idea off the ground and make it work.
Fans of Redwall are no doubt going to be at least a little excited to think of what’s coming and will possibly tune into Netflix once the series does appear and enjoy what they see. Likely as not we’ll be talking more about it in the days to come and will be gauging just what people think about the series when it does arrive.
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