Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the crime-solving characters created by author Arthur Conan Doyle, have inspired all sorts of interpretations, from movies to TV series. But the Portland-made "Fogtown" adds its own twist to the duo, presenting them as puppets.

Created and directed by Austin Hillebrecht and Sean Parker, "Fogtown" was conceived to be a potential TV series. The filmmakers have completed a pilot episode, "Mystery of the Moth Napper," which had a Portland theatrical premiere in August, at PAM CUT's Tomorrow Theater, the Southeast Portland venue operated by the Portland Art Museum's Center for an Untold Tomorrow.

The journey to get "Fogtown" to reach more viewers -- and to generate support for the project -- is continuing, as the pilot episode is now available to watch online.

The main characters are the inquisitive Sherblock (voiced by Chris Yamez), his friend Blockson (voiced by Hillebrecht), along with Inspector LeFraude (voiced by Rizwan Manji), described as "macho yet animal-loving"; the "mysterious and secretive landlady/pub owner Mrs. Hud" (voiced by Tricia Brioux); and the the "mysterious, dreaded Moth Napper" (voiced by Stephen Russell).

In 2022, the filmmakers told The Oregonian/OregonLive that their interest in the "Sherlock" TV series that starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman helped inspire "Fogtown."

"We've always had a tendency to gravitate toward parody in our work," Parker said. "We kind of got the bug to make our own take on Sherlock, and put a comedic, sort of silly, but very fun, and creative spin on it."

And while several actors have portrayed Arthur Conan Doyle's master sleuth, "I don't think anyone's done Sherlock as a finger puppet," Hillebrecht said.

In a statement, Parker says, "'Fogtown' blends cutting-edge virtual techniques and old-school puppetry. We're bringing the timeless art of puppet-based storytelling into the modern world by filming handcrafted characters against real-time 3D backgrounds, similar to how 'The Mandalorian' was filmed, but on a small DIY scale."

"Fogtown" is the first project to receive fiscal sponsorship from PAM CUT, and a crowdfunding campaign covered $51,100 to develop a pitch for the proposed half-hour "Fogtown" series, to try and stir interest from streaming networks and game companies such as Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV+ or HBO.

In the four years they have been working on "Fogtown," Parker and Hillebrecht have raised money via crowd-funding. With the pilot now online, Parker and Hillebrecht are looking for partners to help them create more episodes, and pursue ideas for "Fogtown"-related video games.

-- Kristi Turnquist covers features and entertainment. Reach her at 503-221-8227, [email protected] or @Kristiturnquist