Hilda (TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hilda |
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| Genre |
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| Created by | Luke Pearson |
| Developed by |
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| Written by |
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| Directed by | Andy Coyle |
| Starring |
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| Theme music composer | Grimes |
| Opening theme | "Hilda (Main Title Theme)" performed by Grimes |
| Ending theme | "Hilda's Theme" composed by Dan Mangan (all seasons) "The Life of Hilda" performed by Bella Ramsey (season 2, episode 7) "The End" performed by Greta Kline (season 2, episode 13) |
| Composer(s) | Dan Mangan (season 1) Ryan Carlson (all seasons) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom Canada United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Editor(s) | John McKinnon |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Netflix Silvergate Media Mercury Filmworks Nobrow Press Atomic Cartoons Flying Eye Books (season 2) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Netflix |
| Picture format | 1080p |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Original release | 21 September 2018 – present |
Hilda is a British-Canadian-American animated urban fantasy drama television series based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Luke Pearson. Produced by Silvergate Media and Mercury Filmworks, the series follows the adventures of fearless Hilda, a young blue-haired girl who, along with her deerfox Twig, moves to the city of Trolberg, where she befriends even the most dangerous monsters.
The series debuted on 21 September 2018 as a Netflix exclusive to critical acclaim. The world premiere of the first two episodes was at the New York International Children's Film Festival on 25 February 2018.
On 8 October 2018, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released on 14 December 2020. A 70-minute movie episode is currently in production, set to release sometime in 2021.
Contents
Premise
Hilda is a young girl who grew up with her mother in a cabin on the edge of the woods. Over the course of the series, she and her deerfox Twig, later accompanied by an elf named Alfur, and friends David and Frida, go on a number of adventures interacting with and befriending the mysterious animals and spirits that live in and around the city of Trolberg.
Cast
Main
- Bella Ramsey – Hilda, an adventurous young Sparrow Scout who loves to explore the unknown lands with her pet deerfox Twig. Born in the wilderness, she soon moves to Trolberg with great reluctance. However, Hilda is quick to adapt to her new home and environs, eventually becoming street smart.
- Daisy Haggard – Johanna (Mum), Hilda's mother who works as a graphic designer as well as a general store employee. While tolerant of her daughter's adventures, Johanna still worries when Hilda gets into danger. She thus moves them from their solitary life in the wilderness to a home in the city to provide Hilda a more conventional upbringing with access to school and friends.
- Ameerah Falzon-Ojo – Frida, Hilda's best friend and one of the top students in their school. She has earned many badges as a Sparrow Scout due to her organization skills. She later trains under Matilda Pilqvist to become a witch.
- Oliver Nelson – David, Hilda's other best friend and fellow Sparrow Scout. He has a phobia of insects and is reluctant to accompany Hilda and Frida on potentially dangerous adventures.
- Ilan Galkoff – David's singing voice
- Rasmus Hardiker – Alfur Aldric, an elf who journeys with Hilda to Trolberg to learn about life in the city.
- John Hopkins – Erik Ahlberg, the incompetent and glory-seeking head of Trolberg's safety patrol. (season 2)
- Lucy Montgomery – Gerda Gustav, Ahlberg's deputy. (season 2)
Recurring
All actors listed here are credited only as "Additional Voices" in the end credits. Information on specific characters comes from other sources, and they may play more characters than are mentioned here.
- Kaisa Hammarlund – Kaisa, a librarian who helps Hilda research her adventures. Kaisa takes a more active role in season two, after she is revealed to be a witch.
- Reece Pockney – Trevor, a local bully.
- Ako Mitchell – Wood Man, a brown, tree-like being who frequently visits Hilda's former home in the forest. He habitually enters uninvited without bothering to knock on the door.
Other "additional voices" with no currently known named characters include:
- Simon Greenall
- Claire Skinner
- Nina Sosanya
- Ólafur Darri Ólafsson
Episodes
Season 1 (2018)
| Overall Chapter | Season Chapter | Title | Written by | Original release date | |
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| 1 | 1 | "The Hidden People" (Part 1) | Stephanie Simpson | 21 September 2018 | |
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Hilda, her mother, Johanna, and their deerfox, Twig, lived in the wilderness ever since she was born. During one of her adventures, she encounters a troll and removes the bell from its nose. Later that day, they face the threat on their house by small, invisible creatures who attack them as a result of them failing to heed the warnings. Johanna insists they move to Trolberg, but Hilda is determined to fix things so they can stay. She later befriends an elf named Alfur, who arranges a meeting with the prime minister. Despite Hilda's efforts, she learned that only the king can turn things around. Hilda feels saddened at first, but soon feels better when Alfur decides to take her to the king even if it violates protocols. Adapted from Hilda and the Troll and Hilda and the Midnight Giant Note: This is the only episode so far to use the full version of the show's ending theme. In addition, this is also, so far, the only episode have a fade-in transition from the final scene to the end credits. |
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| 2 | 2 | "The Midnight Giant" (Part 2) | Stephanie Simpson | 21 September 2018 | |
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That night, Hilda meets the giant from the previous episode, who explains to her that he is waiting for a friend who meets him there. The next day, after a visit to Trolberg, Hilda is still unconvinced about moving. But Johanna tells her to keep an open mind. The Wood Man visits and lends her a book about giants and tells her about a giant hasn't seen in a long time. Hilda learned that the giant she encountered was Jorgen who resides from the highest mountain in the north. The next day, Hilda and Alfur set out to find the Elf King. Unfortunately, to Hilda's anger, he retreats in panic when he sees her. Hilda angrily lashes out causing an avalanche, which is caused by another giant. Hilda catches the royal palace in time and realizes that this giant is who Jorgen is waiting for. The two giants reunite and just as Hilda and Johanna are free to live in the wilderness once more, Jorgen crushes the house as they walk off to space. A horrified Johanna and Hilda realize it's finally time to move to Trolberg now that they knew how hard it is for elves to live by other bigger creatures. Johanna, Hilda, Twig, and Alfur head off to Trolberg and settle to their new home. As Hilda sadly looks at how Trolberg is not like her old home, a mysterious bird flies off into the sky. Adapted from Hilda and the Midnight Giant |
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| 3 | 3 | "The Bird Parade" | Kenny Byerly | 21 September 2018 | |
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As the city prepares for The Bird Parade, in a failed effort to make friends, Hilda helps a bird who gets injured during one of the kids' antics by throwing rocks. The Bird Parade is an annual festival celebrated in the city of Trolberg to honor The Great Raven. The parade has been held every year for the past centuries. Hilda and Alfur try to speak with him but realized that he lost his memory and he can't remember what he's doing. Before heading out to watch the parade, Johanna finds the bird and puts it out. It turns out that the bird that got injured was The Raven whose job is to bring good fortune to Trolberg. As Alfur and Raven try to find the statue, Trevor, who are one of the kids Hilda tried to befriend, captures him and threatens to throw him to the river. Hilda arrives in time and reminds him he's the Great Raven which restores his memories. He reveals to Hilda that years ago, he landed on a statue and people thought it was a messenger of god. When the harvest was surprisingly good that year, the people thought it was his doing and started the festival to worship him. The bad year when he didn't show up was also coincidence. Still, he likes to give people hope, hence why he keeps coming to the town every year. With everything settled and the parade is started up, Johanna takes Hilda to a special place so they can watch the parade together. Hilda comes to terms that she'll like it here at Trolberg after all. Adapted from Hilda and the Bird Parade |
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| 4 | 4 | "The Sparrow Scouts" | Stephanie Simpson | 21 September 2018 | |
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Following Hilda's initiation to the Sparrow Scouts, which includes a game of stingball or dodgeball, the scouts receive their first challenge: a beautification of the Trolberg city park. With her new friends, David and Frida, they get to work removing plants and creating sections for plants. However, overnight, plantlike creatures called vittra ruin their work and calls them out for removing them. Each year, they hibernate to catch sunlight. The vittra steals Frida's stash and Hilda and Frida give chase to underground tunnels where all the vittra live. Hilda manages to stop the vittra that stole it and agrees that Frida will be saved if Hilda saves the vittra's friends. Together the kids and the vittra head off to the mulching machine and manages to save the vittra before they are crushed. Hilda falls off the Big Chipper but Frida and David save her from getting injured. Even though, they didn't get a badge, they still had fun. However as David goes to sleep that night, a rock that he found earlier began to move.
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| 5 | 5 | "The Troll Rock" | Kenny Byerly | 21 September 2018 | |
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Hilda tries to help David capture a baby troll that is running loose in the school during parent-teacher night, since Hilda's school has a strict "no-troll" rule. Until this point, Hilda's behavior had been called "reckless," but that is changed in this episode after her teacher discovers her true motives. An adult troll then breaks into the school, and Hilda discovers that this troll is the baby troll's mother. She gives it back to its mother, thus saving the day. As the troll mother makes it way back to the wilderness, it destroys the school statue, much to the sadness of the school principal.
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| 6 | 6 | "The Nightmare Spirit" | Kenny Byerly | 21 September 2018 | |
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David has been having a series of nightmares, and so Hilda and Frida must get to the bottom of all of them. They discover that David is being haunted by a nightmare spirit called a Marra, and the only way to defeat it is for one to face their worst fears. Late at night, Hilda, Alfur, and Frida set a trap for the Marra. In this process, Hilda lets the Marra into her head for a moment, wherein Hilda faces her own fears. At the end of the episode, the Marra leaves David alone after he conquers his fears, saying that he's "not fun to haunt" anymore now that he is not as easy to scare as he used to be.
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| 7 | 7 | "The Lost Clan" | Ben Joseph | 21 September 2018 | |
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While attempting to gather a sample of a rare plant for the Sparrow Scouts, Hilda and her friends discover that elves inhabit the area around it, and they kidnap David to punish him for repeatedly walking over them. To get him back, Hilda and Frida help Alfur with a contract from a being called the Lindworm, which must burn the contract to save David.
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| 8 | 8 | "The Tide Mice" | Stephanie Simpson | 21 September 2018 | |
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Hilda tries her hand at witchcraft to help David with his auditions and Johanna with her art and job. To do this, she creates a magical Tide Mouse by using a tuft of David's hair. Unfortunately it goes awry after a couple days when it starts to possess its hosts and cause her mum and David to develop a blank white stare, which she and Alfur must find a way to undo.
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| 9 | 9 | "The Ghost" | Kenny Byerly | 21 September 2018 | |
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Hilda, David, and Frida investigate why Frida's room isn't staying tidy, and soon find out that a spirit had previously organizing her room in her sleep, and was now neglecting to do so. The friends head to a graveyard to try to talk to the ghosts that had been cleaning up her room, but they find out that the reason that the ghost had been returning to Frida's house, an antique book that the ghost had previously owned, had disappeared. Frida's sense of identity, which had previously revolved around her supposed organization skills, is challenged, and she lashes out at David and Hilda, straining their friendship.
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| 10 | 10 | "The Storm" (Part 1) | Luke Pearson | 21 September 2018 | |
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Hilda is stuck at home during a major storm, and her mum gets stuck in traffic. To try to get the storm to stop, Hilda, David, and Raven visit the local weather woman and discover that Hilda's favorite weatherwoman has stolen a weather spirit's baby for the purposes of manipulating the weather. Hilda is luckily able to bring it back to its parents, but ends up getting lost in the wilderness soon afterwards on her way back home.
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| 11 | 11 | "The House in the Woods" (Part 2) | Ben Joseph | 21 September 2018 | |
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Following the events of the previous episode, Hilda wanders the wilderness trying to find help. Meanwhile Johanna worries about her at home. While she is in the forest, Hilda meets up with the Wood Man again and they both hide in a log cabin after almost getting eaten by a giant. They soon discover that this log cabin can grant any wish they want, but they are not able to leave it. Eventually Hilda wishes to go home, and ends up going back to her house through a door in the cabin.
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| 12 | 12 | "The Nisse" (Part 1) | Luke Pearson | 21 September 2018 | |
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Hilda tries to help a nisse named Tontu, who has been kicked out of his house because the owner of it claims that he has been repeatedly destroying it. Frida spends time with teenage girls. A monster is starting to be seen around Trolberg, which several people believe is just their imagination. Later, Hilda goes on a camping trip with the rest of the Sparrow Scouts, and finds Tontu in the forest while they are there. However a monster called the Black Hound is seen in the forest, which causes the trip to be cut short and everyone is forced to go back home. Hilda also finds out that the girls Frida has been spending time with are Marras, and they are trying to get her to become a Marra too. Luckily, David is able to stand up to them, just before the Black Hound confronts everyone to their horror.
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| 13 | 13 | "The Black Hound" (Part 2) | Stephanie Simpson | 21 September 2018 | |
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Amidst Hilda and David's reconciliation with Frida, the city becomes worried about the Black Hound, which has been running loose all throughout it. Hilda devotes her time to helping her Tontu, after she finds out that the Black Hound was actually its pet, and was originally named Jelly Bean. Hilda then finds out that it was actually Jelly Bean that had been messing up everyone's apartments, not Tontu. After finding out that Jelly Bean is innocent, Hilda, her mum, and Tontu try to save him from the rest of the city. While driving out of Trolberg, the Black Hound briefly sends their car into a pocket dimension, but then knocks them back out, destroying Hilda's car. Tontu then reunites with Jelly Bean, and things go back to normal. Adapted from Hilda and the Black Hound |
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Season 2 (2020)
| Overall Chapter | Season Chapter | Title | Written by | Original release date | |
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| 14 | 1 | "The Troll Circle" (Part 1) | Stephanie Simpson | 14 December 2020 | |
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Hilda gets to spend time with Erik Ahlberg, head of the safety patrol in the town of Trolberg, after her essay on trolls wins a contest, traveling in a dirigible above the town, But Hilda eventually learned that the safety patrol not is not making the town safe. When she returns home, she decides to try and expose Ahlberg's true colors.
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| 15 | 2 | "The Draugen" (Part 2) | Ben Joseph | 14 December 2020 | |
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Following the previous episode, in an attempt to learn more about Ahlberg, Hilda going to the Rat King than meet woodman in the harbor go a wild adventure.
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| 16 | 3 | "The Witch" | Stephanie Simpson & Luke Pearson | 14 December 2020 | |
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Hilda and Frida travel to the library and stumble secret library that lead to a witch library. In the process, they have to work with the librarian to find a missing book before time runs out.
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| 17 | 4 | "The Eternal Warriors" | Kenny Byerly | 14 December 2020 | |
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David confronts his fears on a trip of the Sparrow Scouts into the wilderness. He ends up joining in a never-ending battle between two clans of Vikings, who repeatedly slaughter each other over a magical fear-removing amulet and then are reincarnated by a swamp monster. David helps the Blue clan win back the amulet, but after touching it becomes reckless.
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| 18 | 5 | "The Windmill" | Luke Pearson | 14 December 2020 | |
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Hilda, David, and Frida stumble upon an abandoned windmill run by former meteorologist Victoria Van Gale. While Frida and Hilda are willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, David remains skeptical about her. In the end, it was revealed that Victoria never changed. While Hilda is distraught about it, Frida and David comforts her with a hug assuring her that she'll be OK.
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| 19 | 6 | "The Old Bells of Trolberg" | Bryan Korn & Gabe Pulliam | 14 December 2020 | |
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Trolberg is thrown into chaos when the bells begin to ring every hour that the safety patrol put a robotic machine at every tower. Hilda, David, and Frida hatch a plan to stop the noise.
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| 20 | 7 | "The Beast of Cauldron Island" (Part 1) | Tim McKeon | 14 December 2020 | |
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Hilda and Frida investigate what is causing a wave of boat attacks blamed on the fire-breathing dragon on Cauldron Island. Note: For this episode, the song heard in the credits is "The Life of Hilda" by Bella Ramsey (Hilda's voice actress). |
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| 21 | 8 | "The Fifty Year Night" (Part 2) | Kenny Byerly | 14 December 2020 | |
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Hilda learns of time travel after she discovers an enchanted magazine, making changes to the past to help a friend and suffering the consequences.
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| 22 | 9 | "The Deerfox" | Luke Pearson | 14 December 2020 | |
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Twig leaves home for his own misadventure leading Hilda and her mum on a frenzied search. Along the way, they encounter moments from the past and learn about Twig's origins.
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| 23 | 10 | "The Yule Lads" | Todd Casey | 14 December 2020 | |
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Naughty kids beware because The Yule Lads are on the search. During the Trolberg's winter festival, Hilda and her friends help these mischievous little lads in more ways than one. Guest-starring Andy Serkis as Kertasnikir.
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| 24 | 11 | "The Jorts Incident" | Emily Brundige | 14 December 2020 | |
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Hilda and her friends get ready for a mission to reverse a magical enchantment from tide mice that has taken over the headquarters of Jorts, a local snack food company on Trollberg.
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| 25 | 12 | "The Replacement" | Todd Casey | 14 December 2020 | |
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Alfur is questioned by the Elf Kingdom about his reports from Trolberg and another elf is sent to replace him.
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| 26 | 13 | "The Stone Forest" (Part 1) | Stephanie Simpson | 14 December 2020 | |
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Hilda and her mom try to escape a troll-filled forest, while Frida and David leave Trollberg to try and find them. Adapted from Hilda and the Stone Forest Note: The song heard in the credits for this episode is "The End" performed by Frankie Cosmos. |
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Production
Conception
Luke Pearson had previously worked in the animation industry beforehand, serving as a storyboarder on several Adventure Time episodes. Early on in the Hilda series, he never seriously considered an animated adaptation of the books, though he did have a few thoughts about how the character could work in animation even before he worked on the first comic.
Before being approached by Silvergate, there had been some interest from a few production companies about making a Hilda adaptation, though nothing had ever been agreed to. Pearson felt as if those other proposals skewed the idea of what the Hilda series is supposed to be, and that they felt off, only leaving the outer shell of the idea and changing other fundamental things.
In 2014, Silvergate producer Kurt Mueller found Hildafolk, the first book in the Hilda series, at an indie bookstore in Brooklyn, NY. Producers at Silvergate loved the book, and were interested in bringing it to television.
Later that year, Luke Pearson received a proposal for a Hilda animated series from Silvergate through his mail. The proposal pitch was styled as a book from Hilda's satchel in Hilda and the Bird Parade, even coming with a Trollberg library card and a small elf letter inside, as well as a wooden USB stick that contained the actual pitch. At that point, three books in the Hilda series had been published, with the 4th one, Hilda and the Black Hound, being worked on at the time. Pearson enjoyed the proposal, and soon discussions began with Silvergate.
When Pearson and Silvergate started working together on a pitch, they wanted to build upon the original books while simultaneously keeping the general feel that the series had. Luke was specifically concerned in making sure the show didn't feel "too TV and formulaic."
Pitch
With help from head writer Stephanie Simpson, Luke and Silvergate created a pitch bible that would be used to pitch the show to various broadcasters. Some elements from the books were expanded upon to help fill out the show. For example, the characters of David and Frida were originally minor characters that appeared in The Black Hound. Simpson specifically picked those characters out and expanded on them so they could fill out roles as Hilda's friends. Netflix eventually picked up and greenlit the series in 2016.
Announcement
Development of the series was first briefly mentioned on 15 June 2016, in The New Yorker, stating that Netflix was planning a "twelve-episode animated series, based on the first four books, for early 2018." On 21 June 2016, Luke Pearson and Sam Arthur (co-founder of Nobrow Press) announced on Nobrow Press' official blog that Silvergate Media would also partake in the series' production, with Pearson saying:
I'm obviously very excited to be able to finally say this is happening. Alongside drawing a new book I've been working with Silvergate on this for a while now and can confirm that it's in unbelievably good hands. An inordinate amount of love and attention to detail is going into this thing and I'm looking forward to sharing the result in a couple of years' time.
Animation
Mercury Filmworks, an animation studio known for working on various animated Disney television shows, came on board early in development. A minute-and a half animation test was created to figure out how the show would move and look. There were various experiments with the show's design and art style to see what would work best for the adaptation. Additional animation was provided by Atomic Cartoons, who helped animate 8 episodes.
Design
When it came to designing background characters for the show, Luke would usually create preliminary sketches for a character, and it would then be translated into a finished design by Mercury. Some characters were given dot eyes as to help make characters like David better blend in to the style of the show.
The creatures in the show, as well as the book series, are heavily based on Scandinavian folklore. One of the biggest inspirations used for the show was Scandinavian Folk-Lore: Illustrations of the Traditional Beliefs of the Northern Peoples, written by William Alexander Craigie. Many creatures in the show were taken directly from these tales.
Release
The first two episodes of seasone one premiered at the New York International Children's Film Festival on 25 February 2018. The first and third episode of season two premiered at the NYICFF on 22 February 2020.
The first season was released as a Netflix exclusive, on 21 September 2018. The second season was released on 14 December 2020.
Tie-in material
Mobile game
A mobile game based on the series titled Hilda Creatures was released on the App Store on 18 October 2018. The game was developed by British developer BIGUMAKU. An Android version was released on 6 December 2018.
Novelizations
Hilda and the Hidden People, a novel based on the first two episodes of the series, was released on 4 September 2018. The book was authored by Stephen Davies and illustrated by Seaerra Miller. Two more books based on the first season were released, titled Hilda and the Great Parade and Hilda and the Nowhere Space. They were respectively released on 22 January 2019, and 21 May 2019. Both were also penned by Davies and Miller.
Three more novels based on the series, specifically the second season, titled Hilda and the Time Worm, Hilda and the Ghost Ship, and Hilda and the White Woff were all released on 17 November 2020. The books were once again written by Davies, and all three were illustrated by Victoria Evans.
See also
In Spanish: Hilda (serie de televisión) para niños
