Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is an American animated series that began as a 2015 webcomic called *Kipo*, created by Radford Sechrist. Bill Wolkoff developed it for television, with production handled by DreamWorks Animation Television and South Korean studio Mir. The story centers on a teenage girl, Kipo Oak, who must navigate a post-apocalyptic surface world dominated by mutated animals after being forced to leave her underground home. Her goal is to find her father.

The show has received widespread critical praise for its visual design, character development, music, world-building, animation quality, voice performances, humor, diversity, and action scenes. It stands out for its representation of LGBT characters and characters of color. Netflix removed the series on June 26, 2026, after DreamWorks’ license to stream it expired.

In the plot, animals mutated into anthropomorphic creatures called "mutes" in 2020, driving most humans into underground burrows. By the 23rd century, Los Angeles has become a wasteland known as Las Vistas. During the first season, thirteen-year-old Kipo is separated from her father, Lio, when a giant mutated spider monkey attacks their burrow. She befriends Wolf, a tough survivor raised by wolves; Benson, an upbeat surface dweller; his insect companion Dave; and a mutant pig named Mandu. Together, they search for Kipo’s community. Kipo learns she carries mega jaguar DNA, allowing her to transform parts of her body. They encounter allies and enemies, including Scarlemagne, a mandrill tyrant who uses mind-controlling pheromones to enslave humans and build a mute empire.

In season two, Kipo discovers her parents experimented on her with mute DNA before birth, making her a half-human, half-jaguar hybrid. Her mother, Song, thought dead, is actually the mega monkey that destroyed the burrow—mutated during pregnancy and mind-controlled by Scarlemagne’s pheromones, orchestrated by Dr. Emilia, a former employer of her parents who now leads an anti-mute resistance. Kipo also learns Scarlemagne was once an ordinary mandrill named Hugo, raised secretly by her parents, but abandoned and left bitter. Kipo frees Song and defeats Scarlemagne, while Emilia plots to revert all mutes to normal animals.

The third season sees Kipo form the "Human Mute Ultimate Friendship Alliance" (HMUFA) to fight Emilia, though cooperation between humans and mu