(Credits: Netflix)

Netflix reshuffles are as routine as bread and butter for breakfast. Every week, every streaming arc comes with its fair share of highlights. And this week’s top ten global series list enveloped itself with a childlike glow, thanks to 7 Bears, despite being sandwiched between superhero escapades, brooding crime tales, and titles that literally pack punches.

In the week dated July 7th to 13th, Netflix’s latest animated limited series, 7 Bears, climbed up the top ten Netflix global series chart. Currently, ranked fourth on the list, behind The Sandman season two, The Waterfront, and Sullivan’s Crossing season one, 7 Bears is a top ten show in 41 countries this week. The animated comedy has amassed 2.9million views this week alone from 13.3million hours of viewing.

But what is 7 Bears all about? Based on Emile Bravo’s book series Les Contes Palpitants des 7 Ours Nains, Netflix’s latest limited series arrives with a fresh twist on the fairytale of seven grumpy and clumsy sibling bears. According to director Guillaume Rio, who spoke during a presentation at the Annecy Film Festival 2025, the creative team behind 7 Bears is passionate about the original books. However, they had a “little darkness to them” that required dialling back.

The intention was to make the 7 Bears family-friendly. In the process of achieving this, they relied on a shift in perspective from the POV older bears, setting them against a fairy tale realm. 3D animation also helped them achieve that goal to an extent, making the viewers’ experience immersive and relevant. Showrunner Robert Vargas explained that once the tone and characters were in place, the next mission was to make them entertaining.

Subsequently, they drew inspiration from the grumpy Ewoks in order to inculcate goofy humour, fun, and a sense of “optimism.” “The 7 Bears all progress as one, with one brain for all,” Rio added. As the writing process went on, the bunch of furballs started reimagining classic fairytales, “we thought we knew,” like Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood.

7 Bears comes from the award-winning French studio Folivari. But it brings an unusual kind of anticipation with its arrival. It picks up legacy fairy tales, plucks their characters and virtues out of their familiar settings, and puts a unique, fuzzy spin on them. The most important takeaway from the Netflix series is that it questions what’s already been accepted, acknowledging the elements that “were a little weird.”

7 Bears banks on what-ifs, turning the trope of fantasy tales upside down. Although it is itself set in a fantastical world, viewers will find a sense of realism, making its chart-topping performance sensible. And if making it family-friendly was the ultimate goal, they have already hit the bullseye.

The animated series was released on July 10th, 2025, as part of the streamer’s lineup of new releases. Given that it has already made waves on the Netflix charts, only time will reveal what more wins await this comedy gem.