Each fall, a tradition many look forward to is the annual rewatch of Over the Garden Wall. As the leaves change color and pumpkins appear, fans often find themselves thinking of embarking on a journey into the Unknown with Wirt and Greg. The anticipation is shared by many, especially this year, which marks the 10-year anniversary of the miniseries’ debut on Cartoon Network. To celebrate, a new stop-motion short has been released. This short, a collaboration between Cartoon Network and Aardman Animations, includes the original voice actors such as Elijah Wood as Wirt, Collin Dean as Greg, and Melanie Lynskey as Beatrice.
The creator of Over the Garden Wall, Patrick McHale, pitched the concept for the stop-motion special to directors Mikey Please and Dan Ojari earlier in the year, as Ojari mentioned in an interview. The production features hand-carved wooden puppets and was filmed on miniature sets, including a 10-by-10 square meter forest, which took two months to construct. According to Please, the only digital aspect involved is the facial animation.
The resulting short is described as visually captivating and serves as an ideal introduction for the annual revisiting of the peculiar world of Over the Garden Wall. It is currently available for viewing online.
