Summary
Over the Garden Wall is a 10-episode animated miniseries produced by Cartoon Network. First released in November 2014, each mini-episode follows half-brothers Wirt and Greg on their journey through The Unknown. Encountering strange creatures and even stranger people, the brothers must figure out who to trust and how to get back home.
Assessment
Over the Garden Wall is a short series that manages to balance both spooky and cozy. Its Americana backdrop, coupled with both animation styles taken from classic cartoons and pseudo-fairytale storytelling create a distinctive fall season show. The writing is smart, with intriguing worldbuilding, well-executed plot twists, and snappy, quotable dialogue.
In terms of cleanliness, the show is mostly clean. There is a little romance, but no innuendo or sex; perhaps one onscreen kiss at the most. There is little to no violence or gore, although there is some action and “cartoony” hijinks. Additionally, there is little to no cussing.
The only element that needs to be taken into account when introducing the series to younger kids is the fact the show can present some horror-y themes. Given how short the episodes are, these themes usually go by quickly and are not dwelt on. For most adults, the show would run more “spooky” than true horror.
Light-o-Meter
Overall — 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Story: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Voice Acting: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Animation: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Music: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: N/A
Age Appropriateness — Appropriate for intended audiences of older kids and teens.
Talk
This may be one of the most perfect fall shows around (maybe even on par with the famous Gilmore Girls). It’s quirky, it’s surreal, it’s cozy, and it has just the riiiiight amount of spooky without tilting over into real horror. Perfect to watch with a warm bowl of soup or mug of apple cider!
I think one of the best ways to describe Over the Garden Wall is “it is what it is”. There isn’t much deeper to it; maybe a few messages about love, acceptance, and family, but overall the show comes across as wholesome and high-quality entertainment. The writing is really tight and the dialog snappy; the worldbuilding is on the surreal side of things, but well-crafted; and the characters are both incredibly lovable and relatable. Wirt is the perfect kind of young teen, wrestling with all-to-familiar insecurities. Greg, on the other hand, is the perfect kind of younger sibling. Chaotic enough to be entertaining, but rides the line of annoying exceptionally well (except Wirt is annoyed anyway, as is his prerogative as the elder sibling).
In many ways, each episode tells its own story. There is the common thread of Wirt and Greg’s efforts to get home, but individual episodes tend to have their own, contained, fairytale-like stories. Some are more surreal than others, some carry a stronger moral message, and some lean into more of a classic horror story.
I didn’t think that any of the horror elements would be too scary for the majority of kids and teens. Most were not super creepy, just a little unsettling and maybe unnerving. A lot of the tension and unease was also over with quickly, so there weren’t long stretches of terrifying imagery or tension. Also, the plot twists are really smart, so a lot of times that takes the fright out of some of the content. It, of course, depends on the child’s sensitivity levels and that is a decision that will have to be made on a kid-by-kid basis.
The only other thing I might mention is that the show does include “witches” (they’re never really confirmed to be witches, but it’s kind of easy to pick up on some context clues), curses, and an evil spirit or two (which are very much presented as evil). This is all handled on a really fairytale level, where they’re more of plot devices than than any commentary on how to live or what is right and wrong. In fact, one of the witches is definitely on the side of evil and that is clear. None of the episodes are encouraging or promoting magic or its use.
Where to Enjoy
Over the Garden Wall is currently available for streaming on Hulu!
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