Over the Garden Wall is a peculiar sort of fantasy/fairy tale series that sits in between Adventure Time, Studio Ghibli and the works of Max Fleischer, and it is perfect viewing for a rainy Sunday afternoon. Two step-brothers wander through a world, looking for the way out, with the help of a rude bird and an indifferent frog. At ten short episodes, the entire thing can be watched in one go as a feature length movie, which is exactly what I did.
The similarities to Adventure Time, Studio Ghibli, and Max Fleischer aren’t just in its big eyed, surreal aesthetics and gorgeous animation; Over the Garden Wall shares the same dark wit, hidden behind a twee façade. This is an adventure with singing animals and child heroes, but it is more about teenage social awkwardness, deception, and cracking word play:
Beatrice: It's you again. I'm stuck. Help me out of here, and I'll owe you a favor.
Greg: Whoa! I get a wish?
Beatrice: No, no. no. Not a wish. I'm not magical. I'll just do you a good turn.
Greg: Can you turn me into a tiger?
Beatrice: Um, no. I just said I'm not magical.
Greg: It doesn't have to be a magical tiger.
Despite all its references to 1930s cartoons, Over the Garden Wall has very modern sensibilities hidden in its inconsequential details, like the fact that the two brothers happen to be step-siblings, or that one of the boys has a crush on a black girl (who’s real face is never seen). It wouldn’t occur to a lot of creators to flavor purely incidental information that way, defaulting them to being "regular brothers" and a "normal girl". Taken in hand with the fact that homosexuality has only just began to feature in Western cartoons in the last few years, we've come a long way to start seeing such relationships in children’s shows be treated as unexceptional.
So if you like old timey animation, smart repartee, clever twists, bizarro characters and adorable floof, give it a watch. I would recommend this to anyone.
Well This is the Loveliest Thing I've Watched in Years
Over the Garden Wall is a peculiar sort of fantasy/fairy tale series that sits in between Adventure Time, Studio Ghibli and the works of Max Fleischer, and it is perfect viewing for a rainy Sunday afternoon. Two step-brothers wander through a world, looking for the way out, with the help of a rude bird and an indifferent frog. At ten short episodes, the entire thing can be watched in one go as a feature length movie, which is exactly what I did.
The similarities to Adventure Time, Studio Ghibli, and Max Fleischer aren’t just in its big eyed, surreal aesthetics and gorgeous animation; Over the Garden Wall shares the same dark wit, hidden behind a twee façade. This is an adventure with singing animals and child heroes, but it is more about teenage social awkwardness, deception, and cracking word play:
Despite all its references to 1930s cartoons, Over the Garden Wall has very modern sensibilities hidden in its inconsequential details, like the fact that the two brothers happen to be step-siblings, or that one of the boys has a crush on a black girl (who’s real face is never seen). It wouldn’t occur to a lot of creators to flavor purely incidental information that way, defaulting them to being "regular brothers" and a "normal girl". Taken in hand with the fact that homosexuality has only just began to feature in Western cartoons in the last few years, we've come a long way to start seeing such relationships in children’s shows be treated as unexceptional.
So if you like old timey animation, smart repartee, clever twists, bizarro characters and adorable floof, give it a watch. I would recommend this to anyone.