Thread by @sethhahne

RONJA, A THREAD.
Ronja The Robber's Daughter is the best animated children's television show I've ever seen. 1/30

Likely better than Avatar The Last Airbender even—and I love ATLA, except for some of the mid-season doldrums in s2—better than Belle & Sebastian, better than Mysterious Cities Of Gold, better than Duck Tales and Batman and Voltron and He-Man and yes, even better than Caillou 2/

With viewing it myself, showing it to the kids, watching it with my wife, then showing it to my parents, and then watching through it time after time with our 2yo, I've seen the complete series over ten times. It doesn't get old. It wows me consistently. 3/

WHAT IS IT?
Ronja The Robber's Daughter is a Ghibli-animated tv show comprising 26 episodes that adapts Astrid Lindgren's 1981 children's fantasy novel Ronja Rövardotter,published in the US as Ronia The Robber's Daughter. Lindgren is the author of Pippi Longstocking. 4/

The series is directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of Hayao Miyazaki and director of From Up On Poppy Hill (among my favourite of the Studio Ghibli films). 5/

RTRD concerns how two children—each from warring robber clans—become friends and grow up over the space of 2 years. All this occurs in a sort of early-Medieval Scandinavian forest filled with creatures of fable like grey dwarves, murk trolls, rumphobs, unearthly ones, harpies 6/

The show is currently available in the US on Amazon Prime Video and DVD/Blu-Ray. The English dubbing is beautiful. 7/

WHAT MAKES IT GOOD?
1) The show breathes and leaves room for the contemplative.

It may not appeal to the common American Sensibility in that it doesn't bash you in the face with plot development after plot development in quick-cut succession. 8/

This isn't a Pixar show and it isn't Transformers. In faithfully adapting the story of the book, it allows itself room to breathe and tells a single story over nearly 7 hours—instead of 26 smaller stories, each with their own distinct moral (which is the American way). 9/

In an episode for instance, Ronja may take three minutes to simply wander in her forest, taking the time to exult in its wonder. The characters don't speak in a rush. They aren't walking all over each other to bust out their snappy lines and their witty repartee. 10/

Instead, characters often speak with careful deliberation. Even their movement is deliberate, packed with intent and meaning. 11/

2) bc the show often flows at a more deliberate pace, viewers are better able to grow comfortable and accustomed to the environments in which Ronja spends her days. When she speaks of the warmth and safety of her home in the fort, she isn't just telling us something abstract 12/

We've seen the fort and are well able to imagine it. We come to recognize particular landmarks in her forest. The fallen tree, the large moss covered tree, what my daughter called Grey Drawf Rock, Greedy Falls, the meadow, the road leading to Wolf Pass, the bear's cave. 13/

Ronja spends time in these places and so they become comfortable to us—even when they're dangerous. And when she's in one place, we have a proximate sense of how far away it is from other landmarks. 14/

3) The show is thematically rich. Despite being one story, the show isn't about just one thing—unless you just give up and say its about life and therefore about all the wonder and terror and everything else that life comprises. 15/

The show navigates from light-hearted meditation on why life is so neat and fun to Holy Cats Things Just Got So Real and back again and back again and all around in between. 16/

It's about birth and family, and seeing Ronja nursing while her father and the whole robber clan watch thoroughly smitten is one of the most warming moments of television I've seen. 17/

We see Ronja's utter trust in her father Mattis and then we see her gradual disillusionment as she comes to understand more of her world. We see the value of familial bonds. We see fear and bravery and courage and despair in the face of dangers and trials. 18/

We see honest sacrifice for the welfare of others. We see strength of character and pettiness of character and sometimes we get to see the reason for the pettiness and our judgment softens. We see conflict and we see resolution. 19/

We see both the terrors and joys of the changing seasons. We see estrangement and reunion. We see death and passion and rage and life and whimsy and joy. We see what it means, broadly, to grow up. 20/

4) The creature design is awesome. The harpies are dreadful and chilling. They way they move and look is uncanny and make for some of the most harrowing moments in the show. The grey dwarves are cute and sinister and some strange mix of cuddly and fearsome. 21/

And not just the creatures but everything. I came to love the robbers and their unique designs—I particularly loved wide-eyed Joen. And Borka and Lovis are both phenomenal in design—Lovis' keys!! 22/

5) Ronja is an amazingly wrought character. She is both entirely her own person BUT also built of the qualities of both Lovis and Mattis. She has Mattis' passion and zeal and brashness, but... 23/

...that is tempered and sometimes at war with what she gets from Lovis, namely deliberation, wisdom, and strength of character. Watching her grow into and accommodate these traits is a treat. 24/

And watching as Birk's influence plays into and sometimes against the direction Ronja grows is also a treat. 25/

WHO WILL LIKE IT?
Ostensibly, everybody. It's a great show. Well-drawn, well-animated, well-composed. It's meaningful in a way that most shows aren't. It's thoughtful and patient. It's imaginative and thoroughly human. It satisfies. /26

WHO WON'T LIKE IT?
Honestly, this isn't plot-driven/action-oriented in the way that a superhero show is. In one episode, we mostly see Ronja and Birk collecting food and wood so they can survive in a cave, or maybe we spend five minutes watching them try to tame some horses. 27/

There is no villain, no bad guy. This is a show where the conflicts are all man vs nature and man vs human nature—and mostly the latter. 28/

ALSO! If you're expecting hand-drawn Ghibli animation that resembles what you'll see in the films, the first episode or two might throw you. The animation uses computer models extensively. It looks really good BUT it looks different from what you may be accustomed to. 29/

It's most noticeable in the hair (which I think looks amazing, esp Lovis'), in the mouths and teeth, and in the way shadows fall across characters' skin. But that's all just a thing to get used to. It's like RWBY but with way more talented animators. 30/36

If you can get used to the dopey way that Pixar models human characters, you can handle this. 😅 31/36

WHAT AGE IS THIS SUITABLE FOR?
Hard to say. My kids at 5yo and 7yo loved it. There are some pretty harrowing moments. Episode 10 could be straight-up terrifying for a kid. My daughter was scared but stuck with it. 32/

Episode 12 deals with the idea of starvation in a very real way, but it may be over kids head a bit. Episode 16 had some intense father/daughter conflict that had me agitated and on seat's edge. 33/

And episode 24 has a UFC-style match between the robber chiefs that was too brutal for my daughter (think the fistfight from Porco Rosso for apt comparison). 34/

SO I WATCHED 3 EPISODES AND I DON'T GET THE APPEAL—IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME?
Probably. I mean, the show will probably grow on you? But yeah, those episodes you saw were great too. 35/36

So yeah, you're likely just broken inside. But don't worry, we grade on a curve and at least you're not mixed up with quid pro quos and Ukraine. 36/36