Netflix unveiled the first footage of its new Stranger Things CG-animated series during its animation slate presentation at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival yesterday. 

Titled Stranger Things: Tales of ’85, the franchise’s first-ever animated entry will take place between seasons two and three of the live-action series. The new toon will see Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max and Eleven team up with a new character named Nikki Baxter, who will help the team defeat an evil monster summoned from the Upside Down. 

Netflix confirmed during its presentation that the series—which will premiere on the streamer’s platform sometime next year—draws inspiration from a wide range of nostalgic Saturday morning cartoons, including The Real Ghostbusters and 1989’s Beetlejuice. 

Meanwhile, the fifth and final season of the live-action series will launch on November 26 with an initial drop of four episodes.

The animated spin-off was first announced in 2023 and is helmed by series creators Matt and Ross Duffer through their Upside Down Pictures banner. Australia’s Flying Bark Productions is providing the animation, with American animator Eric Robles (Glitch Techs, Fanboy and Chum Chum) attached as an executive producer.