The Liberator is a Netflix Original limited series like no other. It is a war story with all the action, bloodshed and explosions you would expect but it is entirely animated. This series is inspired by the book The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500 Day Odyssey by Alex Kershaw and was adapted for the small screen by Jeb Stuart.

The story follows the Thunderbird unit out of Oklahoma and their independent commanding officer, Felix Sparkes. Together this unit, made up of misfits and outcasts, fought for over 500 days. They began their European campaign in Italy and finished their mission at the gates of Dachau concentration camp. Along the way they face some of the most difficult battles and conditions of the war and yet they carried on.

The Thunderbirds were an unlikely band of brothers from contrasting life experiences and points of view. The unit was primarily comprised of Mexican Americans, Indigenous people and white cowboys from across the southern United States. Sparkes had his work cut out for him to turn individual men into a fighting unit of soldiers but he was more than up for the task. The truth of this story is far more interesting than the series leaves room for, unfortunately.

While the story may be a bit cliché, especially as it dwindles down the narrative to the sole point of view of the commanding officer, the technology used for this production is interesting and provides a fresh take on animation for adult viewing.

The animation used for this series is a re-imagining of a technique known as rotoscoping that was revolutionary for productions like Lord of the Rings. This technique animates over live action digital recordings allowing the camera to capture the features and expressions of the actors while still leaving room for animated scenes and happenings. This made large explosions and graphic war scenes possibly without breaking the bank on pyrotechnics, sets and actors.

An animated production like this could have opened the door to endless possibilities for storytelling, especially in a war epic. Unfortunately, some key scenes were limited by repetitive bird’s eye view angles and single camera perspectives that seemed like a blurry snap-chat filter was used rather than cutting edge animation technology.

Despite these few hiccups, there are captivating visual moments and elements of the soldiers’ journey that are truly memorable and impactful. Hopefully the producers will build off of this production and come at another story with fresh inspiration and refined techniques as it was intriguing to watch familiar material presented in an unconventional way. It made this viewer wonder at other possibilities, for sure.