The Natural Way

The Natural Way is a computer-animated fantasy television series created by Jeremy Zag along with Anthony Roux while mainly produced by French companies Zagtoon,, Method Animation and Australian company Flying Bark Productions in co-production with , TF1 and Pictanovo with the participation of Telegael (on addition-distributor, co-financing, and broadcasting partnering), PGS Entertainment (for global distribution and licensing rights), and in association with , with investment funding by Screen Australia of the principal investor. The character design is directed by Xavier "Xa" Houssin and Kim "Tcho" Etinoff, who also previously worked on Wakfu. The series uses a serial format with an ongoing storyline.

The series sets in a magical yet urban modern fictional world of Naturalis where people can have powers over the elements. It mainly follows a middle-aged plant elemental named Fern Trueroots and his quirky group of his quintuplets: Winter, Zephyr, Marine, and Alexandrite, who all have elemental powers like him, matching up their own personalities while navigating their own lives and making new friends along the way, as well as discovering more of the world, learning the various histories of it, and what lies beneath what their powers are while improving them, on making them more powerful.

It made its premiere in France on September 20, 2026, on TF1's TFOU block, and later in France 4 in November 19, 2026. The show later made its English debut in Australia on ABC Me on October 1, 2026, becoming a ratings success in the respective country. In the United States, the series premiered on November 6, 2026, on Nickelodeon. After 18 months on pay-TV, The Natural Way is now available to stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime in most countries. Clips, promos, trailers and sometimes full episode would often be uploaded by the show, ABC Me, Nickelodeon and some the series international broadcasting partners (such as CBBC) official YouTube channels.

The showow reached high popularity not only in France but around the world, being praised by a lot of television critics and a global audience for the writing, animation, and characters, which soon spawned a fandom and a media franchise with several products tied to it, including various comic books, merchandise, novels, and video games. It later became one of Zagtoon's much more popular works, alongside Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. The possibility of a film adaptation based on the series was in the works.

Plot
The show is set of the mystical world of Measseran (which is similar to Earth) — people and creatures can inherit the respective main particular elemental powers, abilities, spells, and subclasses: Plant, Ice, Wind, Water, Rock, Fire and Magic, which have been passed down for many generations until today in modern times. It has always been this way in a wide range of cultures, from the most primitive ones on the planet to those that are more refined — Now taking place in the city of Dawntopia, one of Measseran regions (Plant, Ice, Wind, Water and Earth were the most common elements there while considered 'natural' hence the name Naturalis), following the adventures of a Plant elemental, Fern Trueroots, a laid-back, mellow yet lazy man who lives in the more rural side of the city and his younger quintuplets who all have different powers — the shy, distant and timid yet kind Ice elemental Winter, the smug and pompous but enthusiastic, excitable, creative, resourceful and smart Wind elemental Zephyr, the adventurous, bold, and fearless but calm, calm, chill, fair, compassionate and level-headed Water elemental and the aggressive, hostile, tough but overall loyal as well friendly Rock elemental Alexandrite. Joined by their Fire elemental cousins — Flaris, Fuegis, Spark and Magical elemental friends/allies Soleis, Nafsia, Draíocht, Hueso and Shenqi.

Critical reception
The Natural Way received positive critical reception. Ella Anders of BSC Kids wrote that The Natural Way "mashes fantasy, dramedy and slice-of-life right, while giving important messages of the importance of family, friends and self-discovery, in adulthood." Writing for , reviewer Emily Ashby gave an overall positive review on 4 stars, praising the plot, characters, animation and some of the humor, but warned parents of elements potentially unsuitable for younger kids, calling it "A light-hearted but story-focused show on magic, family and friends, geared towards tween audiences and older." Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times described the show as "clever, fun, interesting and something new to the fantasy genre of cartoons. He found the characters to "charming, hilarious, and enjoyable to watch complete with their amazing creative designs on the beautiful CGI, looking like their age." Ara Wagoner of Android Central asserted, praised the depiction of positive messages, citing teamwork of family and friends across the characters, writing, humor while not feeling like a show for boys nor girls, as for both genders. Also reviewing the premiere, Jacqueline Cutler of The New York Times stated the series succeeds to emphasize the importance of familyhood and friendships between adults without any children as the main characters.

Critics responded positively to the series' characters, messages, sibling relationships and morals such as self-discovery, acceptance, growth, learning, social skills and the character development. Heather Newman of Forbes magazine described the series as "A French-Australian fantasy, dramedy, slice-of-life animated series about quintuplets who have magical elemental powers with an interesting lore behind it." After four seasons, the show had reached over 130 countries and was met with enthusiasm among ages 11–16 that included both girls and boys. In 2026, TV Week listed The Natural Way at number 96 in its list of the 101 greatest Australian television shows of all time. The series received praise from adults as well, for not only the fantasy themes, writing, world-building, humor, action and characters, but for having retable solutions in adulthood, especially since no one of the main characters (aside from minor recurring or one-time ones) are not children. The visual CGI designs have also been praised, though some compared the animation to Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie.

The show has a rating of 8.1 on IMDb, premiered with an average viewership of 1.4 million per month in France and 1.2 million in the United States. It also has a rather huge fanbase, across the internet. In 2026, the program has won it first award, Logie Awards for Most Outstanding Children's Program as well as a Teen Choice Award in the same year.

Viewership
The Natural Way has received consistently high viewership on ABC Me in Australia and TF1 in France, becoming the most watched children's program across all channels on broadcast television, with an average viewership of 1.4 million per month in France and 1.2 million in the United States. The highest-rating live broadcast of the program, the final episode of the first series, to 607,000 viewers.