Over the Garden Wall — Greg (left) and his older brother Wirt. Source: Supplied

Wood is best known for playing Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy which grossed a whopping US$3 billion worldwide.

Since then Wood has done everything from star in the US TV remake of Wilfred, voice tap dancing penguin Mumble in Happy Feet, and play brutal serial killer Frank Zito in slasher film Maniac.

At first glance Wood’s latest project, 10-part animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall, couldn’t be further from the mammoth scale of Lord of the Rings.

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Not in The Hobbitt book ... Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Source: News Corp Australia

Over the Garden Wall tells the story of two brothers, the neurotic Wirt (voiced by Wood) and high-spirited Greg (Collin Dean) as they wander through the woods, the Unknown, trying to find their way home.

Wirt wears a red dunce cap. Greg has a silver tea pot on his head. The series, a sort of eerie fairy tale, is the brainchild of Patrick McHale, best known for his work on animated hit Adventure Time.

“Patrick sent me a lot of the artwork and a description of the characters and the world that they inhabited and it was immediately intriguing,” Wood says.

“The art work, specifically, was unlike anything I had seen in a long time. The backgrounds are hand painted — an almost old fashioned approach to animation.

Miniseries intriguing ... Elijah Wood at a ceremony honouring director Peter Jackson with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood on December 8, 2014. Picture: AFP / Robyn Beck Source: AFP

The voice of Wirt ... Elijah Wood was captivated by Patrick McHale’s Under the Garden Wall, which is being shown on the Cartoon Network. Picture: Mark Hill Source: Supplied

“The idea of it being a miniseries, too, was also intriguing. I don’t know that it has ever been done.”

In the first episode, Wirt and Greg run into a woodsman (voiced by Christoper Lloyd of Back to the Future fame) who warns them about a terrifying beast that is roaming the forest.

In part two, a bluebird offers to guide the brothers to the good woman of the woods.

Wood, Dean and Lloyd are part of an all-star voice cast which includes John Cleese (Fawlty Towers), Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men), Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family) and musician Chris Isaak.

“Wirt is a very idiosyncratic character,” Wood says. “He is the older brother to Greg but because of Greg’s naiveties he actually has a very brave approach to everything.

“Wirt sees the danger in everything. Being the older brother he should be the braver one and he so isn’t.

“Pat described Wirt’s cadence as being like Woody Allen. Wirt is not necessarily neurotic in the way Woody Allen is but he is socially awkward. I ran with that (McHale’s Woody Allen suggestion) which was really exciting.”

Wood says there is a link between Over the Garden Wall and The Lord of the Rings movies. They stem from the vision of talented auteurs — McHale and Peter Jackson.

“I love creative work and being part of a creative vision (like Over the Garden Wall and The Lord of the Rings),” Wood says. “It is world-building to a certain degree. It is a very gratifying experience.”

Over the Garden Wall, Cartoon Network, Monday, 6pm

This woodsman is voiced by Christopher Lloyd. Source: Supplied