Skylanders Academy Is Coming to Netflix
The Skylanders franchise is finally going to expand into the world of television with an episodic TV series. Activion Blizzard and Netflix officially announced today that the previously announced new animated series, Skylanders Academy, which will mark the first production by Activision Blizzard Studios, the TV and film studio for the company will be distributed by Netflix. The show will be exclusive to Netflix, and it’s slated to launch later this fall.
Speaking on the news, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated: “Over the last five years, millions of families around the world have welcomed Skylanders characters into their homes. Now, they’ll be able to watch their favorite characters come to life on Netflix. We couldn’t have found a better home for ‘Skylanders Academy’ and look forward to sharing our extraordinary characters with Netflix audiences around the world.”
The show will follow the adventures of the Skylanders team, a group of heroes who has unique elemental skills and personalities who travel the Skylands universe to protect it from evil-doers. Now the team has to show the next wave of Academy Cadets how to become elite Skylanders and do things the “Skylander way.” Since it was created by Toys For Bob, Skylanders has become a $3 billion franchise that has sold more than 250 million toys since 2011.
Activision Blizzard Studios Co-President Stacey Sher added: “‘Skylanders Academy’ gives us the opportunity to approach narrative storytelling with the same level of quality and excellence that millions of Skylanders fans have come to expect from the game. We’re inspired by our fans’ excitement for these characters and have worked hard to bring these characters to life with stories our fans will love.”
The new show is being produced by Eric Rogers (Futurama), who is serving as the showrunner. It features the voices of Justin Long as Spyro, Ashley Tisdale as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks as Eruptor, and Norm MacDonald as Glumshanks. Other cast members include The Diamond Minecart, Susan Sarandon, Daniel Wu, Parker Posey, James Hetfield, Catherine O’Hara, Bobcat Goldthwait, Chris Diamantopoulos, Jonny Rees, Harland Williams and Richard Horvitz. Hopefully, that means Horvitz will reprise his role of Kaos.
You can also check out the first image for the show, featuring Spyro, below.