YouTube Original Sherwood to Be Available for Free

A series produced by the Irish studio Giant Animation is set to spearhead YouTube’s changing approach to its YouTube Originals content when it is made available for free to all viewers this month.

Sherwood, the first animated series commissioned by YouTube for its YouTube Premium service, is a ten-episode animated series inspired by the legend of Robin Hood and set in a dystopian future where Earth has been destroyed by climate change and is ruled by the evil sheriff of Sherwood. In this modern retelling, Robin is a 14-year-old girl who uses technology and code to hack and do battle with the sheriff.

Other series commissioned for YouTube Premium include Cobra Kai, Impulse and Step Up: High Water. The first episode of Sherwood has over 20 million views.

Sherwood was co-produced by Baby Octopus in New York and Toybox in Auckland, New Zealand.

According to Alex Sherwood, creative director and co-founder at Giant Animation, said: “A key focus of the show is trying to inspire young women and girls to be more interested in technology and to know that they can have an impact on the future of technology. We were very pleased to partner with YouTube to produce Sherwood, which is their first original animated series.”

‘’The response to Sherwood has been truly outstanding and we are thrilled that it already has over 20 million views. We are also delighted that it will be going free to all viewers in February so even more people will get a chance to watch it. More than 120 people worked on Sherwood at our Dublin office and it has a world-class cast, including The Witcher’s Anya Calotra.’’