City of Ghosts
By Amanda Dyer,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Cute animated docuseries teaches the history of Los Angeles.
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City of Ghosts
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Based on 2 parent reviews
This is a rare show that entertains my kids and delights me
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What's the Story?
CITY OF GHOSTS follows a group of young children who meet in the Los Angeles Public Library for their Ghost Club. When someone in the Los Angeles community has trouble with a ghost, they turn to the Ghost Club to investigate. Zelda (voiced by August Nuñez), along with her friends Eva, Thomas, and Peter, coerce the ghosts into doing an interview. Each ghost tells the story of their lives in a documentary format, going deep into the history of their neighborhoods.
Is It Any Good?
Elizabeth Ito uses the same combination of friendly-looking animated characters and realistic dialogue as seen in her 2015 short, Welcome To My Life. In City of Ghosts, the children of the Ghost Club do interviews podcast-style, recording their guests with a toy tape recorder. Behind the cute and occasionally colorful ghosts are the voices of real LA residents sharing the history of their communities. The voice acting is unpolished and often sounds improvised, which gives the series its charm. It's exactly how you would imagine a child interviewing a ghost would sound.
The series makes an excellent watch for the whole family. Younger children may find the mischievous ghosts exciting (although they might get the wrong idea about how to voice disappointment when seeing some ghosts trash restaurants when they are upset.) Older children and even parents may enjoy learning more about the neighborhoods and monuments of Los Angeles. But the crowning jewel of this series is its diverse representation. The members of the Ghost Club are several children of color, and the ghosts they interview often speak to the positive cultural influence many neighborhoods of color have had on Los Angeles.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the Tongva tribe. Had you heard of them before watching this series? Why do you believe it's important to keep their language alive? Do you speak multiple languages?
Some of the ghosts don't like how their neighborhoods have changed over the years. Why are they upset by this? Has your neighborhood changed? In what ways?
Families can also talk about ghosts. Would you join the Ghost Club? If you could interview a ghost, what would you ask?
Families can also talk about curiosity. How do the members of the Ghost Club demonstrate their curiosity? How does being curious help them solve problems?
TV Details
- Premiere date: March 5, 2021
- Cast: Alex Bonifer, Blue Chapman, Kirikou Shai Muldrow
- Network: Netflix
- Genre: Kids' Animation
- Topics: Arts and Dance, Friendship, History, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Character Strengths: Communication, Compassion, Curiosity
- TV rating: TV-PG
- Award: Common Sense Selection
- Last updated: February 18, 2023
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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
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