Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon Network mini-series)

Smashgoom202

Dry Bowser
Retired Wiki Staff
So I'm looking through my Facebook notifications the other day, and I came across this:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152244908213372&ref=notif&notif_t=notify_me


What's this? A show from Cartoon Network that's NOT about stupid nonsense and pandering to the lowest common denominator of the young boys demographic? A series that's aiming for a timeless fairy tale feel, and is created by the former creative director of Adventure Time AND stars Elijah Wood?! ...Am I dreaming or something, I feel like on the network that continues to keep Johnny Test on the air, renewed Teen Titans Go! for a second season, and who has a pretty one-sided view on what demographic they want to appeal to and only appeal to, this shouldn't be possible... Then again, it's not like Nickelodeon, who these days, just excels at making crap and doing dumbass decisions...

...But I digress, this all started with Pat McHale, writer and storyboard artist for The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (and the basis for the one-shot character "Punsie McKale"), and creative director of Adventure Time up until season 2, though he still continued to work freelance as an outline writer for the show up until the middle of season 5. In October of 2011, he started work on an animated short called "Tome of the Unknown". Unlike other shorts on Cartoon Network, which had online releases, this eight-minute short was showcased in select locations in the film festival circuit, even winning an award! This short would be the basis for this mini-series, known as "Over the Garden Wall".

The series stars Elijah Wood and Collin Dean as Wirt and Greg, respectively, who find themselves lost in a mysterious land of living plant people. Together, along with an elderly woodsman and a talking bluebird named Beatrice (voiced by Melanie Lynskey), they try to make their way out of this strange land and back to their home.

I should note, this isn't a TV series, it's a mini-series, and so far, it's only going to last one season, comprised of 10 episodes, and the episodes themselves might not be all that long. Not much of a reason to get too excited, but still, this just feels really imaginative, unique, and... really not something I'd expect out of Cartoon Network, knowing what they want their image to be. Does anyone else get that feeling when they see this?

Either way, I can't wait to see the whole thing for myself! Maybe I'll try to find the original "Tome of the Unknown" to get a bit of a preview of what I'm in for! :D
 
So I watched this last night, and I really don't know how to feel about this. I feel like I just need to let everything sink in.

It's style was so...unique. Like, it took a lot of the olden themes and styles of cartoons and added a modern twist to it. I felt like it was just it's own category, and yet a combination of styles that blended actually well together. I dunno; that's the vibe I was getting.

It was definitely a lot better than most of the stuff on Cartoon Network nowadays (save for a few), and it was just...

I definitely recommend watching it. A lot of people have put this show in cahoots with Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, and Steven Universe, which are all phenominal shows. I think I have to re-watch it to fully get a feel for everything. I definitely think that the show got a lot deeper as it went, and some great messages.
 
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