Stranger Things: Tales From 1985, the animated series: story, release date and what we know
Spin-off · Animated series · Tales From 1985
After the series ending, the group came back as animation: “Tales From 1985,” released on April 23, 2026, is set in winter 1985, between the season 2 Snow Ball and the summer of Starcourt, in the style of Saturday-morning cartoons. Ten episodes, a season 2 already dated. Here is what you need to know.
The essentials
- Original title: Stranger Things: Tales From '85
- Period: winter 1985, between seasons 2 and 3
- Format: animated series, ten episodes of 27 to 32 minutes
- Release: April 23, 2026; Season 2 on September 17, 2026
Contents
The story of Tales From '85
Winter 1985. The gate has been closed for two months, Will is free, Eleven is still hiding in Hopper's cabin, and the town is under snow. The show follows the group, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max and Eleven, facing new monsters and a paranormal mystery that threatens the town, between two days of middle school, with a newcomer, Nikki Baxter. Nothing that happens there changes what comes next: it is a parenthesis, written to sit between two seasons without contradicting them.
The creators described it as “the show the group would have watched on Saturday morning”: a lighter tone, creatures, adventure, and the 80s in saturated colors, without giving up fear.
The kids' T-shirt, for future fans.
In the shopKids' green Will Power T-shirt24,90 €See the product
The style and the team
The animation, made by the Australian studio Flying Bark, imitates American cartoons of the 80s: thick outlines, bold colors, a title sequence that picks up the show's theme in a cartoon version, signed by Brad Breeck. The showrunner is Eric Robles; the Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Hilary Leavitt produce. The monsters are new: mutant creatures, zombie pumpkins, tentacles, and an enemy that works as a hive.
| What we know | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title | Stranger Things: Tales From '85; in France, Tales From 1985 |
| Period | Winter 1985, between seasons 2 and 3 |
| Episodes | Ten, from 27 to 32 minutes |
| Studio | Flying Bark Productions, Sydney |
| Showrunner | Eric Robles |
| Release | April 23, 2026 |
| Season 2 | Renewed on April 28, 2026, slated for September 17, 2026 |
The voices
The voices are not those of the original actors: Eleven is voiced by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt, Mike by Luca Diaz, Will by Ben Plessala, Dustin by Braxton Quinney, Lucas by Elisha "EJ" Williams and Max by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport. Brett Gipson voices Hopper, Jeremy Jordan Steve, and Odessa A'zion Nikki Baxter, the new character. In France, the series is dubbed, like the main show.
Why 1985Winter 1985 is the only hole in the timeline: two months between the Snow Ball and the opening of Starcourt where nothing happens on screen. That is where the animated series settles, without disturbing anything.
The reception, and Season 2
Reviews were split: a faithful, generous cartoon for some, a too-tame recess for others. The audience, for its part, answered: the series was renewed five days after release, on April 28, 2026, and Season 2 is announced for September 17, 2026, less than five months after the first. It is the first project in the universe to continue after the end of the show.
For whom
For kids too young for the show, to whom it offers a way in without the scenes that scare them; and for adult fans, who find the party there at twelve, the age when it all started. It is not the sequel some hoped for: it is a recess, owned as such, and it continues.
The Will figure, 1985 version.
In the shopLego Will Byers mini figure on skateboard14,90 €See the product
Where to place it, and what it assumes you know
The animated series is set during the winter of 1985, between the Snow Ball of December 1984 and the opening of the mall in the summer of 1985. It therefore assumes the first two seasons are known: the gate closed again by Eleven, Bob's death, Max's arrival, Steve become the group's babysitter. For a viewer discovering the show, the right time to watch it is after Season 2; for a fan, it slips naturally into a full rewatch.
It explains nothing of the ending: neither Henry, nor the Upside Down, nor the briefcase. It is a parallel story, with the group in middle school, and not a missing chapter. The Duffers, who produce it without directing it, wanted it to be watchable without a risk of spoilers on seasons 3 to 5.
What animation allows, that the show no longer could
The choice of animation answers a problem the show dragged for ten years: the actors grew faster than their characters. In 2026, the 1983 group is between twenty and twenty-four; impossible to have them play thirteen-year-old middle-schoolers. Animation gives Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Eleven, and Max back the age they had in 1985, and lets you tell stories the show never had time to show: a winter in Hawkins, with no end-of-season monster.
It also allows a lighter tone, closer to the 80s cartoons the group watched, and creatures that the budget of a live-action season would not have justified. It is the first project in the universe that is neither a distant prequel nor an epilogue: an interstitial season, at a child's height.
Season 2 of the animated series
The second season arrives on September 17, 2026, less than five months after the first, which is a rare pace for an animated production and signals that the two seasons were made in parallel. It stays in the same period, before the Starcourt summer, with the same group and the same team.
For the shop, it is also the confirmation that the universe continues after the December 2025 finale: the 1985 characters, in animated form, are the new faces of the merch, beside the cult objects the live-action show fixed, the bikes, the walkie-talkies, the waffles.
The Season 2 poster.
In the shop44 mm pin, Will's drawing9,90 €See the product
TakeawayWinter 1985, between seasons 2 and 3. Ten episodes, released April 23, 2026. Flying Bark on animation, Eric Robles in charge, new voices. Season 2 on September 17, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is Tales From 1985?
The universe's animated series, set in the winter of 1985 between Seasons 2 and 3, with the group in a Saturday-morning-80s cartoon style. Ten episodes, released on April 23, 2026.
When does season 2 of the animated series come out?
On September 17, 2026, after a renewal announced on April 28, 2026.
Do the actors lend their voices?
No. Eleven is voiced by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt, Mike by Luca Diaz, Will by Ben Plessala; Jeremy Jordan voices Steve.
Do you need to have seen the show?
No: the animated series is meant as a way in, including for the youngest.
Do you have to have seen season 3 before the animated series?
No: the animated series is set before the summer of 1985 and reveals nothing of seasons 3 to 5. The first two seasons are enough.
Why an animated series rather than a new season?
Because the actors have grown up: animation gives the party back the age of 1985, and allows stories the show never had time to tell.
How many episodes does the animated series have?
Ten episodes of 27 to 32 minutes for the first season, released on April 23, 2026; the second season arrives on September 17, 2026.
Who produces the animated series?
The Duffer Brothers, through Upside Down Pictures, with Flying Bark studio on animation and Eric Robles as showrunner.