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Etta is an animated adventure television series created by Samantha Barnes for the children's programming network Children's Avast Television and produced by Bloxy Animation Productions. It is based on the miniseries Etta and Bob's New Chapter and Etta and Bob's Brand New Chapter, serving as a spin-off to Robloxians. Etta is set in the same universe as its predecessor and follows the adventures of the title character, Bob and her Wither as they travel around the world seeing new locations, making new friends and creatures and learning new powers. The series stars Rebecca Morris and John Holland as the main characters as Etta and Bob, respectively with supporting cast being George Gordon, Dominick Booker, Ricky Patton, Kyson Vargas, Soren Langley, Eden Pollard, Lauren Nicholson, Natasha Bates, Leslie Williams, Perla Garner and Rayna Ruiz; both Charles Harrison and Lara Stone returned to voice the Withers.
The series was first conceived at Bloxy Animation Productions during development on the Etta and Bob's New Chapter miniseries. Development eventually began around the same time as the production of the tenth season, when Launcelot Perry, Milo Trelawney, Paul Kelly, and Abigail Cunningham, who worked as animators for the main series, pitched the idea for a television series centered on Etta and Bob. Production for the spin-off began in early 2022, with Samantha Barnes serving as showrunner for the show, with the animators being credited as producers. The soundtrack for the series was composed by Charles West and Nikolas Edwards, who joined the production in May 2023.
Etta premiered in the United States on Avast Television on January 5, 2024, and the series finale was broadcasted on January 12, 2026. A Spanish-language adaptation of the series was produced and began airing on Robloxian Educational Television, starting on June 22, 2024. The series received critical praise from critics and audiences for its writing, directing, animation, voice acting (both English and Spanish) and its respect to the original series, with many referring the series as one of the greatest spin-off ever produced. Despite having substantially lower ratings on television than its predecessor, the series achieved greater commercial success via streaming services.
Premise
Following the events of "The Final Straw" and "Goodbye," which take place in the 11th season of the Robloxians series, the new series chronicles the adventures of Etta, along with her best friend and new boyfriend that he had met back then, Bob, and her Wither, as they all finally get to travel the world via flying and meet new people that they had never met before, making brand-new friends and creatures and learning new powers that can help the Wither grow a stronger friendship with her owner. Their adventure across the entire world is from a significant break from the rest of the other adventures they had previously undertaken, allowing them to enjoy their new life together and take a break from fighting. Etta and her Wither occasionally travel with other villagers to other locations and are visited by the series' main crew, but only in a few episodes. Because the series is always changing as Etta moves from place to place, there is no specific location where the series takes place; nonetheless, throughout the majority of the series' duration, the episodes take place in plain environments.
The series take place in the Robloxians universe, where humans are referred to as "villagers," and when they are born into the world, they are allocated a random number in addition to their actual name. They live in "villages", which range in size from microscopic to enormous, as well as cities, which are often built of wood or steel, depending on the city's architecture. Furthermore, the series portrays kingdoms as superior to cities, ruled by kings or queens and featuring medieval architecture, but with a limited population due to money and taxes; the kingdoms are frequently visited by other villages on vacation. The series occasionally depicts settlements that are deep beneath or even on water. There are two universes, one called "Nether" and the other "Heaven," with the exception of a few that have yet to be fully explored and are classified as "imaginary worlds." The world is primarily developed around and on huge islands known as "big ones," but 70% are smaller islands with one or more populations. Some locations have distinct ecosystems that differ from one another, such as snow, sand, woodland, or plain environments, the latter being the most common worldwide.
Cast and characters
- Main article: List of characters in Robloxians (TV series)
Production
Development
During the development of the Etta and Bob's New Chapter miniseries, Angus Kennedy, who was then the showrunner for the animated series Robloxians, had the idea to create a television series based on the miniseries' primary characters, Etta and Bob. However, the concept was scrapped early on due to the production crew focusing more on the production of the ninth and tenth seasons of the series, while also working on the miniseries at the same time. The miniseries, which premiered in January 2021, proved to be a huge success during its run, receiving great reviews from television reviewers and a warm reception from local audiences.
Animators Launcelot Perry, Milo Trelawney, Paul Kelly, and Abigail Cunningham were hired to work on Robloxians in March 2021, and the duo began with the episode "You Guess What Week It Is!". Their work was praised by the crew, and they were eventually promoted to serve as producers for the then-upcoming tenth season. Milo, who had previously seen the miniseries earlier in the year, discussed plans to begin work on a television series based on the two characters, which was then planned as a sequel to the animated main series, and after hearing Angus's original pitch, he had originally decided to contact Angus, but the concept was put on hold following Angus' death in December 2021.
Milo discussed the proposal with Launcelot Perry and Abigail Cunningham, and they all started working on the show bible for the new show. To keep the notion a secret from the production staff, as well as because they were working and focused more on the tenth and eleventh seasons, the duo mainly met at Milo's house in Louisburg, Bloxtana, and occasionally used Zoom to make arrangements. The duo had previously honed their talents in drawing figures and movements after months of working on the main series and learning animation from it before joining the company. In a January 2022 interview, Launcelot Perry revealed that "they were working on a very secret project based on the series" and that "it had only just begun." Around that time, Avast Television announced that "active development for a brand new series in the Robloxians franchise had begun," but did not specify which series the studio was making. Later that month, the couple suggested a television series focused on Etta and Bob, and the studio approved the series.
Samantha Barnes and Avast Television revealed on February 1, 2022, that Bloxy Animation Productions was developing a spin-off television series based on Etta, with a broadcast date of 2023. The series, originally titled Etta and Bob and later Etta's Chapter, began development the following month, with Samantha Barnes serving as showrunner; the animators who pitched the series were hired to become producers for the spin-off, and they later decided to become co-directors. Due to the series' development, the production crew was more focused on the Etta series than the main series, resulting in minor production delays and a change in leadership for the episode producers; the eleventh season was also affected, and some animators left to work on the new series. The production crew incorporated references from previous episodes as well as research on the planet Earth to develop the series' worldbuilding, with villages and cities serving as essential building blocks. Because of the series' frequent movement to other villages, the crew used countries such as Neo-Japan, Neo-Korea, Ro-Indi, and Tovokian Republic to begin work on worldbuilding, and many cultures were added to the series; cultures were introduced in the main series' 2021 and 2022 miniseries respectively.
Writing
Etta uses the same writing process as its predecessor; when composing an episode for the series, a pre-printed version of the screenplay is created on paper rather than a computer. Depending on the number of pages or the length and intricacy of the episode, the operation could take two to three weeks. To prevent misunderstandings, the pre-development scripts are called "early scripts" while the main ones are called "the main scripts". During the actual writing process, there are approximately four writers, three of whom are "co-writers" and one of whom is a "primary writer".
The series' writing began in January 2022, with Launcelot Perry, Milo Trelawney, Paul Kelly, and Abigail Cunningham serving as co-writers for the ideas and penning some of the scheduled episodes. Previously, the miniseries were used to direct the writing focus for the Etta and Bob characters, with Milo stating that "the two miniseries was the only way to connect with the characters and get to know them better, while also creating new ideas for them that could be expanded into a full-length series." The series' production team began composing scripts for the first episodes in March with the intention of "creating a fresh structure." Because the series was more focused on the world than on a hamlet, the writing team began exploring fresh ideas for the episodes, some of which would be incorporated in the final scripts.
According to writer Casen Williamson, the series is "doing something that the main series never did, except in the miniseries, which was to travel the world"; he stated: "Since 2013, the Robloxians series had been set in one location, which was Alex Town, and the only places that they went to were kingdoms, forests, mansions, and other houses. That was it. But for Etta, things have changed; the two are now traveling to new areas with very new cultures, new worlds, new towns, and new cities, and we must present the audience to all of the places that we provide them with". To write the cultures for the show, the production crew went to Neo-Japan to research and study the topics and the real meaning of it. The crew also sought to "focus considerably more" on the cultures than the primary issue of the episodes, so that "audiences would not be offended if one of [our] episodes were poorly done."
Writing for the series took longer than normal because the main writers were preoccupied with creating and producing episodes for the Robloxians' 12th season, which was scheduled to be released weekly. To save money, new writers with "experience in producing humor and drama at the same time" were engaged to write scripts for the series while also learning stories from the main series. The series was originally intended to proceed in an educational path, teaching youngsters new concepts for a younger audience. But. Samantha Barnes disagreed, preferring to keep the series' serious and intense tone while maintaining the original lessons for the children.
Casting and voice recording
Many of the voice performers who previously voiced supporting or other characters in the Robloxians series returned to do voices for the new series' characters. Etta featured approximately 500 voice actors in the series. Originally scheduled for March 2022, casting for the new series began in May of that year, with a website dedicated to the casting cell and series details. In the 2021 and 2022 miniseries, Etta and Bob are voiced by Sian Bailey and Lighthammer Jordan, who were first cast around 2020, before the series was ever broadcast, and then returned to do the two characters' voices. After the series' initial announcement, Avast Television revealed that Sian and Lighthammer would not be reprising their roles as Etta and Bob. They both expressed their focus on other projects and expressed hope that the other two actors would enjoy voicing their characters and have a "good time doing the role." Previously, they both declared that the characters Etta and Bob were the "best" that they had "ever done" and expressed their desire for the other actors to have the same wonderful experience as them.
On June 9, 2022, it was reported that voice actor Rebecca Morris was cast for the role of Etta and would begin doing the character's vocals in early 2023, while John Holland was cast for the role of Bob, replacing Sian Bailey and Lighthammer Jordan. When asked about earning the job, Rebecca Morris claimed that she had heard about the project and, after watching the previous actor's performance, became very interested in it and was eventually hired to play the character. John Holland was a "big Robloxians fan" who "frequently went to the Robloxians Meetup back then"; when he heard the roles were being recast, Holland claimed he was "extremely delighted," deciding to join in to the casting cell and send audio of himself performing as Bob. Because he is also an animator, John developed screenplays for him and created storyboards based on his position and Bob's personality in the miniseries, which eventually led to him being hired for the role. In December 2022, it was reported that Rebecca Morris and John Holland had begun recording their voices for a "test" for the first half of the episodes, before the official voice recording officially began, as a way to practice their skills, which was originally planned for January 2023, but production was halted for a couple of days in the middle of the voice recording due to the peak of the flu viruses in the city where they were working.
Production and official voice recording would start on February 9, 2023. Rebecca Morris and John Holland were shown the storyboards before recreating the video, but now they are doing the characters' voices. Samantha Barnes directed the production crew to place them near to one other and in front of both of them in order to give the characters more depth and make them feel like best friends. Bob's role was originally intended to be shorter because of the possibility of limiting Bob's character after a few episodes and the idea that his character was "already finished." However, due to the interest in the friendship between both voice actors during the voice recording studio, Bob was given a much larger role, even though the title was Etta.
Rebecca Morris and John Holland stated that they had already "known their true personality" and that they loved voicing the characters during the broadcast and later production of the series. However, because the production at the time was focused on the eleventh and the then-upcoming twelfth season, which was scheduled for its episode to be released weekly, there was very little time for the other production crew working on Robloxians to come and work on the Etta series. Rebecca Morris and John Holland said that it was a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience for them and that they hoped the team had a good time when the series was confirmed to end around the same time as the Robloxians finale, in which both of them were due to end in January 2026.
Storyboarding and animation
Like Robloxians and with all of its productions at Bloxy Animation Productions, storyboarding begins shortly after a script is finalized. During the process, an announcement would be issued to the "storyboarder," or the person who makes early sketches and drafts of television show episodes. The time for storyboarding lasts two hours less than animation, from 12 a.m. to 5 p.m. In total, at the studio, there have been 200 storyboarders in the studio. Because of the then-ongoing production of the new series, over 50 storyboarders were hired to do the storyboards for numerous episodes. The episodes' animation was directed by William Ross, Jude Jordan, Wayne Blankenship, Fletcher Delacruz, and Elian Snow, who had previously produced the television series Robloxians. The series was originally supposed to be entirely computer-animated, but the "unique vivid drawing of humans" and the idea of integrating 2-D animation became far more popular with the production crew. As development on the series began, it was rumored that it would use the same animation as the television series but would be directed by different people.
On February 9, 2023, Avast Television stated that animation on Etta had begun and that production was "well along," with a 2024 premiere date. Because of the early development of the 12th season, which was set to be the largest season in the series, over 500 animators were hired to join the production crew, with over 100 animators instead being asked to join the project; animation was affected by the chance because it proved to be difficult and frequently caused production delays for the animators, who often had a limited amount of time to draw. In November 2023, it was reported that a further 300 animators, all of whom were new, were scheduled to join the series' production. Eventually, in February 2024, the new series had 300 animators out of over 2,000 at the studio. The episodes were initially scheduled to be completed two weeks before their original broadcast date, but due to animation delays and a change in the broadcast schedule, they were now expected to be completed more than a month earlier. For example, the first two episodes "The Start of Etta's Adventure" were completed in November 2023. The series brought a much more comedic style, which had been planned for years during its production and duration, with the most notable difference in the animation style and anime design, which had previously been employed in the main series, being added in the middle of season two. The fourth season was intended to be "hardcore," with sophisticated lighting, shadows, and other special effects employed in the main series to make the action scenes seem better than they did previously.
Music
The series' score was composed by Charles West and Nikolas Edwards, who joined the production in May 2023. Both had previously worked on various animated television shows and had planned to join as composers, with "The New Adventure of Etta and Bob" originally planned to served as their first music production. Following the reveal of the new series, they instead join as Etta's composers. The composers collaborated on the five opening songs, holding meetings to pitch project proposals and storyboards. Unlike the main television series, Unlike the main television series, Etta does not feature any songs; instead, the score is fully composed and written; there were plans to include one single song in the series, but the production crew alongside with the composers decided to cut it at the last minute.
Season 2 and other following two seasons maintained the same tone, but added metal music to select moments. The series' general tone was eventually composed as "a soothing series," making it feel "special and unique" when compared to the main series. For each episode in Season 1, around 100 musicians worked on the series, and during each session, they performed the episode's score live in front of a recorder. Later seasons, the same soundtrack, but this time added to a digitized version, was incorporated into episodes and utilized in folders; other piece of music was written. The series' soundtrack, dubbed Etta's Music, was published on November 24, 2024, while another, titled Bob's Music, was released on November 25, 2025.
Tone and sound design
For the score's production, Charles West and Nikolas Edwards wrote each piece of music as its own series and treated it as a different new series for the franchise; for example, Season 1 featured lighthearted, relaxing, and calm music to fit in with the tone of the episodes, and during development, Charles West researched songs related to the "month of summer" and wanted to make the season feel like a show "designed to relax people". For the first and second seasons, the team used classic sound effects, such as the laughing effect and other "cartoon" sounds, to convey a comedic tone.
Spanish-language adaptation
The development of a Spanish-language adaptation for Etta began immediately after the first episode aired in the United States. Avast Television and Samantha Barnes announced in January 2024 that they had contacted the Spanish studio Producciones Cinematográficas de Summerscreen, which was well-known for its Spanish dubs of the main television series and Lovely World. A casting call for Spanish voice actors was advertised beginning in February 2024, and among the new actors, Aitana Catalán was reported to be the new voice actor for Etta, who was set to replace Alma Carreiro, who voiced the title character in the two miniseries, while Markel Giménez, who voiced Bob in the miniseries, was said to be returning to voice Bob in the series. As before, Producciones Cinematográficas de Summerscreen collaborated with the production staff from the English version of the series and used notes to complete the Spanish dubbing of the new series. By March of that year, full production on the series had begun, with the new composers for the dub being Juan Carlos Pérez, Edgar Sastre, Ander Fernández, and Adrian Obrero, who had been confirmed to work on the score. Unlike the main series, where they were "forced" to use the animation from the English introduction, the production crew ordered extra animation and special effects, which began production the following month in April of 2024 and lasted until the end of the third season.
Episodes
- Main article: List of Etta episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 32 | January 5, 2024 | August 30, 2024 | |
| 2 | 31 | September 6, 2024 | April 4, 2025 | |
| 3 | 17 | April 18, 2025 | August 8, 2025 | |
| 4 | 22 | August 15, 2025 | January 12, 2026 | |
Distribution
Broadcast
Etta began airing in the United States on January 5, 2024.
Etta first premiered on the children's programming network Children's Avast Television in the United States on January 5, 2024, having been planned for a broadcast date around 2023, before being delayed. A behind-the-scenes look at Etta and Robloxians' production was broadcasted on January 4, showcasing the overall production for the episodes, one day before the series began airing, with a special look at the series' first opening song "The Adventure of Etta and Bob"; at the end, a five-minute preview of the first season was shown. The first season ran for a total 32 episodes, making it the longest season in the series' history, broadcasting from January 5 to August 30 of that year.
Before the first season aired in the United States, a second season was announced to be in development on December 3, 2023, and it premiered on September 6, 2024, being the second-longest in the show and lasting until April 4, 2025, with a one-hour special as the season's finale. The third season was announced on January 10, 2025, and premiered on April 18, with the season ending on August 5, same year. A fourth and final season was announced on March 5, 2025, and premiered in the United States on August 15, 2025. The series finale aired on January 12, 2026, two days before the finale of Robloxians, its parent series. As part of the Robloxians marathon, which ran from January 1 to 14, 2026, another marathon for the new series dubbed "Etta's Final Time" began airing in the United States from January 5 to 10, 2026. In total, over 102 episodes of the series was aired within a span of four seasons throughout a period of two years. The Spanish-language adaption of Etta premiered on the Spanish network Robloxian Educational Television on June 22, 2024 as a "special series" to Robloxians, and officially ended on April 11, 2026, one week after the Spanish dub of the original series and four months after the English version had ended.
Streaming and digital
Etta began streaming and was released for digital release, beginning on January 6, 2024 on the official Avast Television Kids website, which was originally titled as "Etta: The Series", being being renamed to "Etta: The First Season" for following other seasons. Previously, the agreement for the rights to stream the main series would end on January 1, 2021, and a new company, RoStudios, would begin broadcasting other television shows, on that date; the official Avast Television Kid website removed the series in early-2024. The series originally began streaming on RoStudios, following the release of its first episode. The Avast Television website stated that Etta and the main series would return on March 9, 2025. On November 9, 2025, Avast announced that Sahara Corporation had been awarded another five-year contract, which was later extended to ten or more years the following month. The series began running on the streaming service and website on January 1, 2026, with seasons dubbed "The Second Season," "The Third Season," and "The Fourth Season"; the final two episodes were released immediately after the broadcast of them finished on television. As of 2026, Sahara Corporation and the Avast Television website both provide free broadcasting of Etta
Home media
The series' four seasons, which share the same titles as the streaming releases, were released on December 2, 2024, October 26, 2025, March 13, 2026, and June 9, 2026, respectively.
International distribution
In December 2023, Spanish audiovisual content distribution company Luk Internacional (the same company that also distributed Robloxians internationally) gained the international licensing and distribution rights of the series. All merchandise and international home media releases were licensed by Luk Internacional while the series was distributed to TV networks outside of North America by the company. The series is still distributed and licensed in North America by Avast Television.
Reception
Ratings and audience viewership
Despite being the spin-off to the series and its level of popularity before the broadcast, Etta was met with over 4.43 million viewers, still becoming the highest-viewed animated show for Avast Television for the weekend, but compare to the previous years and with the rise of streaming services, although it was seen as a success in that more audiences watched the broadcast on television than other shows within a period of four years, Avast Television ranked it "as a low-audience ratings; they eventually stated that they sought a "Robloxians-type viewership". Ratings plummeted from over three million to two million, with some shows or specials receiving more than one and a half million people. However, its series conclusion drew over eight million viewers, making it Avast Television's second most-watched animated show, trailing only the series finale of its flagship series, which was owing to "The Great Robloxians Marathon" running at the time. Throughout its two-year run, each episode averaged more than two million viewers.
Meanwhile, Etta was a huge commercial success on streaming platforms, particularly on the Avast Television website, where it was reported that the website received 90% more visits than for the month of December 2023 and the segment of the series received 400% more views than the months preceding its airing. When the series debuted on Sahara Corporation, the streaming service had over 50% more views, propelling Etta to the top spot for most watched television series in January 2026.
Critical reception
Like its predecessor, Etta received critical acclaim from television critics, local audiences and fans of the original series. Upon its premiere, Anthony Lawrence of RoCity News Network's entertainment section rated the show "one of the greatest that he had seen" and "that despite having only two episodes," the series was on par with "some of the best seasons in the Robloxians series." On the the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season had a 97% approval rating as of March 2024 according to over 107 critic reviews, which was higher than some of the "best seasons" in the original series. The second season had a 95% approval rating from over 96 critics, while the third season received a 99% approval rating from over 243 critics reviews and the fourth season had a 98% approval rating, respectively.
Georgina Murphy praised the show's writing, comedy, character development, and music, stating that "this series had everything right about the original series, but this time made it 10x better to become a very fun adventure show that makes kids love the characters, with even adults liking the show." Critics appreciated the series' animation quality, with some describing it as "realistic" and "beautiful." Freddie Davidson, a CNN artist and reviewer, commended the style, calling it "among of the greatest that the show had to offer audiences, and I hope it will inspire those who appreciate the series for its animation style and listed it as the best from any animated television series." Graham Mooney described the animation as "beautiful" and "colorful," adding that "the animation would for sure provide young kids a memorable experience watching it." Ryann Holcomb praised the narrative and animation, calling it "the greatest that he has seen" and hoping that people of all ages will like the new series.
The writing and storylines was met with very positive reviews. Edward Johnson of RNN wrote: "Each episode has its own story, and for some reason, those stories get better and better. So much better that it seems like nothing is wrong with the episode, or perhaps the entire show. That's how good the series is as a whole". Kora Anderson appreciated the episodes' direction and overall story, adding, "They are able to teach youngsters and even adults to be good in themselves. The stories made by the studio are well-written and draw you into the overall concept of the episode, making you want to know what happened to the characters and what will happen in the story; will something good or bad happen, something weird or something so wild. "These stories are what make this series wonderful". Russell Santiago commended the series' writing and character development, stating that "despite them being presented far back years ago, characters are already some of the best fictional persons that" he had seen and hoped "to learn more about them in the near future".
The comedy and character development had been praised by both critics and audiences for their personality, charm and had been seen as "great" as the comedy in the original series. Riley Chapman praised the series' representation of feminism and the character of Etta, saying, "The series had if not made me weep many times because I related to Etta. She is quite relatable to me." He also noted that the Bob character was "as wonderful as her" and that "all characters got their fair share of screentime," and applauded the episodes for presenting them "in the best way imaginable". Sam Wilkinson commended the series for its "gags and humor," noting that "99% of the jokes in the series made him laugh a lot, to the point that [I] had to stop watching to calm himself down, and only 1% was to roll over his eyes, although in very few cases." Melissa Campbell praised the series' writing and comedy, stating that "the series proved that all jokes can be amusing and, oddly, tragic at the time if [you] watch more of the show and understand more about the characters".
In subsequent reviews, some critics and many spectators complimented Etta to the point where it was a "far better and greater program than Robloxians," but others noted that while "excellent," the series did not "reach the same degree of buzz and energizing of the original series".
Controversies
During its two-year run, the series, like the main television series, was heavily met by controversies for its message and deception of black people, some of which were so severe that the English version of the episodes was not released until the following year and the episodes were not dubbed in other languages, including the Spanish dub.
| Robloxians by Angus Kennedy |
|---|
| Television shows: Robloxians (2013–2026), Etta (2024–2026) Fictional characters: Reuben Willis, Sophie, Amelia, List of Robloxians characters, Sheep |