For the past 30 years, what could be described as the ‘Pixar style’ has dominated animation. Its aesthetic trademarks include computer-generated images of adorable characters with doe eyes that are flawlessly rendered by machines and seamlessly integrated into three-dimensional worlds. A surprising number of movies, including WALL-E, Minions, and The Incredibles, have copied the Toy Story franchise, which debuted in 1995. But everything changed when Netflix released the first season of Arcane in 2021.
The serialised drama is based on the story of League of Legends, a multiplayer online battle arena game created by Riot Games and first released in 2010. Like most forty-somethings, I knew nothing about the game or the company behind it. I grew up during the heyday of video gaming. As a result, my gaming knowledge extends to Mario Kart, Double Dragon, and Midnight Resistance (RIP tape counters and Commodore 64!). All I saw of League of Legends were some teenage boys playing it on PCs while browsing a library looking for a toilet. Remembering my own youth, I half-jokingly said to myself, “Standard nerds,” doing my best Chris Morris I.T. crowd impression. But now, Arcane: League of Legends is my favourite TV show of all time.
I came across the show by accident, with a dash of harassment and trepidation thrown in for good measure. There is no doubt that Netflix offers some excellent shows, but they have also created some of the worst politically correct content that humans can produce. I was desperate to find something enjoyable to balance the cosmic scales of streaming entertainment. So when a few friends suggested—read, persisted for months—that I watch Arcane, a new animated fantasy series on Netflix, I was highly sceptical at first. Oh my god, I’m glad I checked this out. Arcane has to be one of the most exciting, nuanced, and well-written shows I have ever seen.
Since the early days of Donkey Kong and Pac Man, video game-themed animated shows have come a long way. Arcane’s meteoric rise has paved new ground and rewritten the often tarnished legacy of gaming-inspired animated shows. If you’re out of the loop, imagine Akira meets Bladerunner, and you’re halfway there. What really distinguishes it is the way it looks. Damn, is it beautiful.
When it comes to animation, Fortiche is the David to Disney’s Goliath. The fledgling studio in Paris, France, founded in 2009, had only fifteen employees when they were commissioned to work on Arcane. Working with Riot was a natural decision. What they lacked in manpower, they made up for with knowledge. Riot and Fortiche had previously collaborated on the music video ‘Get Jinxed,” which promoted the League and later, Arcane protagonist Jinx. More importantly, its staff had also worked on League of Legends.
Arcane revolves around the tensions between two diametrically opposed cities: the wealthy utopian city of Piltover and the crime-ridden underbelly of Zaun. Since a failed rebellion years ago, a fragile truce has held between the two cities, facilitated by Vander, a former revolutionary turned pacifist. The story centres around Jinx and Vi, two sisters who end up on opposing sides of a war.
While the on-screen revolution moves quickly, things were much more relaxed behind the scenes. Work on Arcane began in 2015, and it would take six years until it was ready to premiere in November 2021. They needed time to figure out how to transform a game into an engaging drama series. The pilot episode alone took two years to create, which is the average length of time it takes to produce a Marvel film. It generated a lot of buzz—C.V’s from interested animators began to flood the inbox, and the number of employees increased. Fortiche currently employs over 300 full-time staff members in offices throughout Europe.
Fortiche’s unique style sets it apart from others. It is both painstakingly hand-painted and computer-generated. The 80-strong animation team created an average of just 0.8 seconds of animation per day. All of the special effects, including explosions and gun smoke, were hand drawn. It gives the show its video game aesthetic—think Streetfighter 2 and Final Fantasy 7. The end result is a show in which every frame resembles an Alphonse Mucha painting that needs to be hung on a wall.
Alexis Wanneroy, Fortiche’s head of animation, claims that they did not use motion capture at all, instead researching live-action movies to help portray movement and capture the characters’ full emotional range. The use of video reference footage gives each frame a handcrafted feel while remaining natural.
All of this would not have been possible without the right to free expression. Riot gave them complete creative freedom beyond the confines of traditional animation production. Unlike many western animation companies, Fortiche was treated as a creative partner—the script was a guideline rather than a rule. Importantly, they were given time to think and experiment. They spent five months working with four storyboard artists to create extremely detailed storyboards that served as the foundation for the 3-D animators.
Fortiche, an independent company, lacks the financial backing of a major film studio—it does not have Disney’s expensive 3D backgrounds. However, they have breathtaking 2D paintings. They may not have the lighting technology of your favourite Pixar film, but they do have texture artists who can create the impression of atmospheric lighting on their own.
The world of Arcane is morally complex—a brutal, uncompromising place where good people can and do die for their beliefs. Where virtue and honour aren’t always rewarded, and deception and manipulation aren’t always punished. Characters are as complex as the world in which they live—villains are not always as evil as they appear, and heroes don’t always act heroically when it matters.
From Machiavellian manoeuvring, unexpected alliances, and bitter betrayals to revenge and reconciliation, Arcane has it all. Nobody is exactly who they appear to be, and everyone has legitimate reasons for doing what they do. Christian Linke and Alex Yee, the writers, spent years developing a script that is both original and thought-provoking.
Some League of Legends fans are angered by the creators’ disrespect for the game’s canon. That’s intentional. It’s a statement of intent by a small company with big, radical ideas.
Arcane draws you in from the first haunting scene and doesn’t let go until the epic finale. Its debut season received glowing reviews and set a record for any Netflix show with a 97 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans absolutely love it. For once, critics agreed. In 2022, the nine-episode series won an Oscar for best game adaptation, followed by an Emmy for best animation, making it the first streaming series to win the award.
Next week, Season 2 will premiere. Will it reach the elusive 100? It seems inevitable with these imaginative minds at work. Pixar, take note: I’ve seen the future, and it looks like Fortiche.
