Over the Garden Wall is an animated limited series that originally aired on Cartoon Network way back in 2014. I first watched it years ago with my brother, but recently revisited the series after purchasing a DVD copy. These days, out of a desire to be less dependent on the whims of the streaming companies, I’ve been trying to improve my DVD and blu-ray collection. I’d rather not get stuck in a repeat of what occurred with the series Infinity Train.
Upon re-watch, Over The Garden Wall was as I remembered: a quirky, folktale-inspired story with more depth than first appears. The creator, Patrick McHale, was best known for his work on Adventure Time prior to Over The Garden Wall, and I would say the general feel of the show’s humor correlates well with the adventures of Jake the dog and Finn the human. However, instead of a d&d style fantasy world, Over the Garden Wall takes its cue more from Grimm’s Fairy Tales. While both Adventure time and Over the Garden Wall ostensibly are kid’s shows, they’re firmly in that “actually meant for adults too but animation as a medium has an unfair connotation of only being for kids so they do what they gotta do” space.
Over the Garden Wall is a weird, atmospheric tale following two half-brothers find their way out of a dangerous forest. Wirt, the older brother (voiced by Elijah Wood), is an introverted, anxious sort who writes poetry and plays clarinet, while the younger brother Greg (voiced by Collin Dean) is a more carefree sort who spends much of the series trying to settle on a name for his frog. They meet folk such as the mysterious Woodsman, the talking bluebird Beatrice, and the dangerous Beast. Odd sorts populate the forest called the Unknown, and suffice to say the meaning of the brothers’ struggle is more than meets the eye.
If the above sounds to your liking, give it a shot. The episodes are each only around 10 minutes long, and the series told its full tale in the single intended season. To make things even more fitting, watch it during the fall, when the leaves are changing and Halloween costumes are on the mind.
All the best,
M. Weald
M. Weald 