Over the Garden Wall: The Ultimate Fall/Winter Entertainment

By Olivia Brazier

When it gets cold in October, I start anticipating all of my favorite autumn traditions. I love carving pumpkins, baking, and making Halloween costumes. My family’s most recently added tradition is to watch the Cartoon Network miniseries Over the Garden Wall. When the series came out in 2014, it was widely acclaimed, even winning two Grammy awards. Although it only aired on Cartoon Network once, it has amassed a cult following of dedicated fans. Since becoming available on major streaming platforms like Amazon Prime and HBO Max, the series has been more widely watched than ever before. With the show’s beautiful animation, whimsical setting, and campfire scares, it’s the perfect show to watch under a blanket with a mug of hot cider.

Over the Garden Wall is one of a kind. While its teen protagonist and absurd humor are similar to Gravity Falls, its tone and style are unique. The series follows brothers Wirt and Greg, who are lost in a mysterious fall forest called the Unknown. It’s the setup for so many classic fairytales, and it gives the story a dreamlike quality, as if we’ve heard it before. Over the Garden Wall is also scary in a unique way. While most episodes are ridiculous and fun, the occasional scary scenes are reminiscent of childhood fears and campfire stories. The Unknown is pretty in its autumn colors, but as the series progresses and winter sets in it feels more menacing. 

The art of Over the Garden Wall is unique, too– or at least it’s unique to current entertainment. Emily VanDerWerff of the Vulture describes the style as “if Ichabod and Mr. Toad were made by Ghibli instead of Disney.” The creators drew inspiration from victorian postcards, folk art, and children’s book illustrations, as well as some of America’s first films. Episode 3 reminds me of a Charly Chaplin movie, and the Highway Man’s dance in Episode 4 is meant to mimic the look of old rotoscoped films. It’s vintage jazz and folk soundtrack, recorded by the Blasting Company, makes the setting perfect for a November binge watch (which will take under two hours since the episodes are so short).

The story of the series plays out like one of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales, which makes sense since his stories inspired many of the episodes. The brothers travel through the Unknown, encountering many strange and magical people, like their talking bluebird friend Beatrice and the mysterious Woodsman. As they continue their journey they attract the attention of the Beast, a deep-voiced antlered creature who always stands in shadow. Each episode has a different cast of side characters and a different setting. Occasionally the episode will open in a new place with characters we’ve never met, leaving us to figure out how our characters got there.

The emotional conflicts of the story will resonate with teens and pre-teens, who will see themselves reflected in Wirt. His journey to becoming a better older brother to Greg is the emotional core of the series, becoming more important as the story progresses and the stakes get higher. Wirt also struggles with feeling confident and finding people who understand his niche interests. He often improvises poetry to describe his feelings, then gets embarrassed and apologizes. Over the course of his journey, he learns to have confidence and embrace his artistic nature.

Spoiler alert! Past this point, I discuss major spoilers for the show. I suggest you skip to the last paragraph if you want to go in without knowing what happens.

One of the most enjoyable parts of watching the show is obsessing over its minute details after you finish. Well-read fans have analyzed every episode of this show, finding the artistic influences for every frame and comparing it to classic works of literature. As we find out in a late series twist, Wirt and Greg are modern kids who fell into a frozen river on Halloween night, which explains their odd attire. The whole time they’ve been in the Unknown they have also been drowning, symbolized by the Unknown freezing. Based on this twist and the other episodes of the show, dedicated fans have theorized that the show is a retelling of Dante’s Inferno, with each episode corresponding to one of the circles of hell. As a project, homeschoolers could read Dante’s Inferno and then watch Over the Garden Wall and compare the two. More artistically inclined kids could study the influences for the character’s costumes, and kids who love fairy tales could compare the story to that of their favorite fairy tale.

For fall entertainment, nothing beats Over the Garden Wall. It’s immersive and mysterious, spooky in a familiar way. For kids, it will be a silly adventure that reminds them of their favorite fairy tales. For teens, it will take them back to their childhoods, while helping them gain confidence. And for adults, it will be a fantastic story that they will want to watch every fall, for themselves and their kids. I can’t wait till next fall when I get to rewatch this amazing miniseries and notice something new.