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Watch Tim Burton’s Animated Fable for ‘Wednesday’ S2

Last week, Netflix launched Season 2 of its hit live-action series Wednesday, dropping the four-episode Part 1 on August 6. Based on the world of the creepy, kooky Addams Family created by Charles Addams, the gothic coming-of age comedy/mystery is produced for Netflix by Tim Burton Productions, Millar Gough Ink, Toluca Pictures and MGM Television. Part 2 will arrive on September 3.

The series centers on Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) as she navigates the halls of the supernatural school Nevermore Academy and seeks to unravel its mysteries. In Season 2, our morbid heroine tangles with a new principal, a campus stalker and complications with her psychic powers.

Wednesday "The Tale of the Skull Tree" concept sketches by Tim Burton
Wednesday “The Tale of the Skull Tree” concept sketches by Tim Burton [c/o Netflix/TUDUM]
A highlight of S2P1 is an episode featuring original stop-motion animation created by executive producer Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie). The black-and-white piece is true to Burton’s signature style, with Dutch angles, scribbly intricacies, hints of German Expressionism and uncanny mannequin-like figures, and hearkens back to his 1982 short, Vincent.

In the segment, a group of class mates at Nervermore Academy gather round the fire to hear the disturbing tale of a former pupil — a brilliant but sickly boy who designed his own clockwork heart, changing him forever — whose body is said to rest beneath the Skull Tree.

According to the Netflix blog TUDUM, the idea to incorporate a stop-motion sequence was pitched to Burton by showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Production designer Mark Scruton provided Burton with a design concept and miniature model crafted by the team for Burton’s approval, then the crew teamed up with the storied British stop-motion/puppetry studio Mackinnon & Saunders in Altrincham, outside Manchester. The shop had previously collaborated on past Burton projects and were familiar with his aesthetic. The team told Hollywood Reporter that the entire production took eight months to complete.

You can read more about the development and making of Wednesday Season 2 on TUDUM.

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