Anyone who has followed Tim Burton's career closely over the years would quickly recognise his hand in the gorgeous stop motion sequence included in Wednesday season 2. The filmmaker's unique character design and love for gothic and horror elements (which echoes previous works like his 1982 animated short Vincent and 2005's film Corpse Bride) is all over the scene, which is featured in the first episode of the new season on Netflix.
"I've always loved the medium, the tactile quality of it, and it's an important element to telling the story, what it's about", Burton said in an amazing behind-the-scenes video about the sequence, which you can see below. "I really enjoyed every day with it, because it was fun and creative, seeing these puppets come to live, there is something very magical about it," he added.
In the show, through a story told by Ajax (played by Georgie Farmer), we are thrown into this black-and-white sequence about a Nevermore Academy student with a fading heart. The boy decides to save himself by creating a mechanical clockwork heart to replace his own, but it's destroyed by one of his own inventions.
In the video below, the team behind the sequence reveals it took eight months, fifteen puppets and ten sets to bring this brief story to life.
"This is the kind of a show where we get to play around with things, and that was special to me," Burton told The Hollywood Reporter this week. "In fact, kind of went old school with it and I ended up designing the puppet. I remember doing Vincent, and [we tried to go] back to the first thing I did. … I kept having to tell the animators, 'No, it's looking too good. No, the animation’s too slick. We need to pretend like I'm back in my student days and do it like I did it in the beginning [of my career].'"
The rest of the team that made this sequence, and the whole Netflix show, possible also talked about their experience, with co-showrunner Miles Millar calling it "a gift".
"All those sets are hand-built, all the puppets are manipulated frame by frame. It's incredibly time intensive. But the attention to detail and the love and care that was put into every single shot really shows on screen and just elevates that episode and that story. I’m so proud of it. It's really beautiful," Millar added.
Wednesday season 2, part 1 is out now, with Part 2 arriving on September 3. For more, check out our Wednesday season 2 part 1 review. You can check out our Wednesday season 2 release schedule for more information, or fill out your watchlist with our guide to the best Netflix shows to stream now.
