Over the Garden Wall Probably Should Have Been “Stop-Motion All Along,” Creator Says

In late September, just as Over the Garden Wall fans around the world prepared to revisit the animated classic in a yearly autumnal tradition, Cartoon Network teased something new. A full decade after the original miniseries from Patrick McHale made its debut, the studio would return to the dark, magical realm of the Unknown and its unusual inhabitants for a new stop-motion short from the legendary Aardman Studios.

Now, the time has finally arrived. To celebrate the occasion, Inverse spoke to McHale (via email) to ask about this new Over the Garden Wall short, including how it came about and where it slots into the original story (he wouldn’t reveal the answer to that one). And because we’re fans of McHale, we also asked about a few other projects, including that Netflix Redwall adaptation that never happened, which he says would have evoked the feeling of the original book covers.

Watch the new stop-motion short here and then check out the full interview below.

How did this partnership with Aardman come about? Who approached who?

It was a wonderful experience! When we decided to do stop-motion, the first people I reached out to were Mikey and Dan (the directors) because Robin Robin was my favorite animated film in years and I knew they liked OTGW. But I didn't realize they were full-time at Aardman, and I'm sure I never would have had the gall to reach out to Aardman to do a 2-minute OTGW short, haha. When I was growing up and getting interested in animation, Aardman was like the pinnacle to me, so working with them and getting to visit their studio has been pretty magical. And, of course, Dan and Mikey knocked it out of the park with this short.

You were able to get back all of the core actors to voice their characters for the short. Was that difficult at all? Were there any voice actors you tried to get but couldn’t? Did you approach Christopher Lloyd?

I believe everybody was on board right away! I would have loved to work with Jack Jones again, who did the narration for the series, but he wasn't feeling well enough to record and sadly passed away recently. I'm such a huge fan of his, and he was so so so lovely to work with. Frank Fairfield (who voiced the Toymaker in the series) came back to do our narration for this short instead, and it works really perfectly in a different way. I certainly would have loved to work with Christopher Lloyd again too, but our short is only about 2 minutes so there was only so much we were able to include.

You previously worked on Guillermo Del Toro’s stop-motion movie Pinocchio. Did that inspire or encourage you to do a stop-motion version of Over the Garden Wall?

Not directly. I've always loved stop motion. But seeing all those beautiful puppets for Pinocchio definitely made me yearn to, like, hold the OTGW characters in my hands and move their little arms and legs around!

What’s your preference between hand-drawn animation or stop-motion? Are there times you prefer one or the other?

It depends on the mood you're trying to evoke. In some ways, it seems like Over the Garden Wall probably should have been realized in stop-motion all along — it just feels kind of right for that world. But I love hand-drawn animation just as much as stop-motion.

This is a very canon-y question, but when exactly within the story of Over the Garden Wall does this short take place?

I don't think I can answer this question, unfortunately. I think people will just have to decide that for themselves.

Has returning to this world for the short inspired you to keep telling Over the Garden Wall stories? Would you consider expanding the franchise in any format?

I wouldn't want to mess with it. But there are other projects I'd love to make that have a similar vibe!

Watching this short made me curious what Over the Garden Wall would look like in the hands of other famous animation studios. Are there any studios you’d want to work with on something similar? Maybe Studio Ghibli?

Maybe for the 20th anniversary???

Besides Over the Garden Wall, are there any shows or movies you personally like to rewatch every October?

For some reason, I don't often rewatch movies these days. I like seeing something I haven't seen before. I guess I mostly just watch old horror movies around this time of year.

Growing up, I'd rewatch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Garfield's Halloween Adventure, and Will Vinton's Claymation Comedy of Horrors. And all the other Halloween specials that would play on TV.

Are you interested in collaborating with Guillermo Del Toro again after Pinocchio?

Of course!! Yes, certainly. I'd absolutely love to work with him again.

Your adaptation of Redwall never happened and the Netflix project has seemingly stalled out. Can you tell me anything about what your vision was for Redwall?

I probably can't tell you many details, but I think it would have been really beautiful! I was basically trying to make it look and feel like the book covers. It's a shame we didn't get to make it, but I'm really proud of the work we did. I learned a lot too.

There’s a lot of talk recently about generative AI as a tool for creating entertainment and animation in particular. As someone who’s spent a lot of time working in animation, what are your thoughts on the technology? Do you see it as a potential animation tool or something that should be avoided and pushed back against?

I have so many thoughts about AI that I don't even know where to begin. I think we're in for a whole lot of growing pains. I daydream a lot about just getting rid of my internet access completely. Maybe someday I will, if it gets really bad.