Acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro is dipping his toe into streaming fare with the new Netflix series Trollhunters, and he opened up to us about what inspired the series.

When putting the series together, del Toro said he tried to draw from inspirations across the spectrum of folklore and history. He said they made an effort to keep it “fluid,” linking everything from Arthurian legend to classic lore about trolls (i.e. turning to stone in the sunlight). Del Toro also alluded to his film Pan’s Labyrinth, and the approach they took with it to weave different cultural threads together.

Along with del Toro, we also chatted with producer Rodrigo Blaas about the new animated series. He touched on how they came up with the visual style for the series, from the stone-esque trolls, to the colorful world they build underground.

Trollhunters is set to hit Netflix on Dec. 23.

Check out the interview below: