There’s a special spooky treat for stop-motion animation fans embedded within season two of Wednesday: a short that’s another visual dazzler from the mind of Tim Burton.
When Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) joins the Nevermore Academy ranks, he and his roomie Eugene (Moosa Mostafa) get to know about the lore of the school’s haunted tree from their dorm RA. In an attempt to scare the young monsters, Ajax (Georgie Farmer) regales them with the tragedy of a brilliant but twisted mind, an outcast who replaced his heart with a mechanical replacement that made him feel invincible.
Watch the stop-motion short below, narrated by Farmer as Ajax, which reveals the horrific hubris that fueled the legend of the Skull Tree.
Fans will recognize Burton’s vision, which harkens back to his earlier projects such as the Vincent short, The Nightmare Before Christmas (directed by Henry Selick based on Burton’s concept), Corpse Bride, and the feature-length Frankenweenie. The Skull Tree lovingly pays homage to Burton’s formative creations. There are those signature black and white trademarks of Vincent and Frankenweenie, the stripes and decaying cracked textures as seen in Halloweentown, and of course the eerie tones that are pure, undiluted Burtonesque genius.
And the short serves as more than just a schoolhall spooky story; it provides groundwork for a character who is no doubt going to play a pivotal role when Wednesday drops the second half of its second season. As we now know, Pugsley uses his electric ability to revive the mechanical heart of the corpse in the tree, which becomes his zombie friend Slurp, who is hangry for brains that provide more than sustenance; they’re essential as food for dark thoughts with a foreboding sense of impending doom.
How exactly will that play out? Well, we’ll have to wait until September 3, when Wednesday returns on Netflix. You can watch the first half of season two on the streamer now.
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