The best October special you’ll ever see
By Katie Czenczek, Staff Writer
5/5 (pumpkins)
As Cartoon Network’s first-ever miniseries, Over the Garden Wall sets impossibly high standards for all future miniseries to come. It first debuted in October 2014 and to this day is one of my favourite shows to watch around this time of year. The miniseries is adapted from Patrick McHale’s Tome of the Unknown, which has won the award for best animated short at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
The story of Over the Garden Wall follows two brothers who are lost in a dreamlike forest. During the beginning, middle, and up until the very end, the story will leave you with questions, and very satisfying answers. Elijah Wood voices Wirt, the reluctant older half-brother to Greg. Greg, voiced by nine-year-old (at the time) Collin Dean, is the most endearingly weird kid you’ll ever meet. The duo struggles to deal with both their sibling dynamic and their surrounding environment.
During their travels, they also run into a variety of intriguing side characters—two of which are voiced by John Cleese! The neat thing about this show is how wonderfully weird every character is in their own way.
The animation style is beautifully atmospheric and gives the entire show an old-fashioned vibe. It almost looks as if the show is filmed through a sepia lens, though not nearly as tacky as sepia can be. The two-dimensional art style is reminiscent of hand-drawn animation of the 20th century and complements the storytelling. Moreover, the characters are all distinct and you can learn about each of them just from how they’re drawn.
The music is crucial to the overall story. The music features a variety of voices, including Jack Jones. It has this bizarre mesh of jazz and folk music and often tells its own story independent of the main plot. The music is created solely for the miniseries by the Blasting Company, a group known for their use of the accordion, piano, and brass instruments.
For those who do not have Cartoon Network on television, your best bet would be to watch Over the Garden Wall on either Google Play or iTunes. You can find the first episode for free on YouTube on Cartoon Network’s channel if you do not want to shell out $6.99 on a show you’re unsure about. Each episode is only about 11 minutes long, so be sure to check it out this October!
