It’s officially fall. Not just fall, it’s also October, its friggen "spook month" guys! While people are carving their pumpkins, setting up ghosts and skeletons in front lawns, and just getting into the Halloween spirit. And while others dawn fall colors and drink pumpkin spice everything, I for one will be watching various shows and movies to get that spooky mojo flowing. While there is a huge cornucopia of horror movies on Netflix, today’s Bingeworthy review will focus on a personal favorite. This show is a ten part miniseries, only 100 minutes long. Sadly it’s not on Netflix, so you’re going to have to steal your roommates Hulu account, but you find that it’ll be worth it. So let’s review: Over the Garden Wall.
Over the Garden Wall is a ten episode miniseries created by Patrick McHale, who has worked on a number of generally praised shows such as “Adventure Time”, and “the Marvelous Misadventures of FlapJack”. The show premiered on Cartoon Network over the course of one week in the fall of 2014. Since then, the show has grown a cult following and has received multiple awards, including two Emmy’s in 2015. The series follows the journey of Wirt; a skittish, awkward and brainy teen, and his little brother Greg; a naive and optimistic little scamp. Together they try and make their way home while navigating through ‘The Unknown’, a mysterious place lost to time, filled with peculiar characters and creatures. On this journey, they will make friends, help strangers, and learn a little about themselves. But there’s something else in the woods. Something evil and terrifying. And he has his eyes set on our heroes.
Other than a wonderful premise, this show is overall just amazing. One of the first things that draws you in is the music. The show opens with a frog playing a peculiar and ominous tone on an upright piano. As it plays, flashes of scenes play that seem random and unsettling. As the song shift from a darker tone to a bit of a wistful melody, a sense of adventure and wonder can be felt by the words of the narrator as he introduces the show.
The highlight of the first episode is in sound. While you may be pulled in at first by the tone the music sets, you’ll want to stay for the performance given by the voice actors. In the first episode alone, we are given two big names in the entertainment industry. Wirt is voiced by Elijah Wood, and Christopher Lloyd voices a woodsmen, who is one of the reoccurring characters the boys meet on their journey. And while unknown, Greg is voiced by the talented Collin Dean, who while being a fairly inexperienced actor, puts his heart in soul into creating one of the most likable characters in the series. The rest of the series has a lot of big names who lend their voices to characters. Tim Curry, John Cleese, and renowned opera singer Samuel Edward Ramey all have great parts in the series.
The animation of Over the Garden Wall has its own style and is my favorite part of the series. The show’s style is simple and is reminiscent of an old story book from the 50’s. I know that’s a pretty vague description, but it’s hard to place the inspiration for the art style show. It is definitely original but there’s a sense of familiarity to it. The first episode, has the animation and art style on a bit of a lower level, however, the second episode and on has crisp and romantic art styles and becomes a wonderful array of color and detail that helps set autumn mood that the show is set in.
While music, voice acting and animation are all well and good, a show is nothing without out a good story. Thankfully, Over the Garden Wall has one of the richest, mysterious and most delightful stories out there. While trying not to give away anything, each episode has its own story that sets of one plot for the entire series. Each episode has something magical to it that makes the series wonderful as a whole. Even after watching the series, you can find something new about it. Fans are still trying to uncover some of the mysteries the show has left behind. While the show ends on good grounds, wrapping up the story with little to no loose ends, there are a whole bunch of questions that have yet to be unanswered.
While I can’t sing Over the Garden Wall’s praises enough, there is one issue to the show, and that is its characters. While the characters of Over the Garden Wall have diverse traits and are charming, most of them are not relatable. The character to follow and cheer for is Wirt, and while he has a great adventure, he’s character can be difficult to relate to. Your focus is drawn to the story as a whole rather than the growth of Wirt or Greg. Honestly, that’s all I can think of. That’s the only thing I can criticize this show for. And it’s not a well thought out criticism. Wirt is still a well-rounded and grounded character and it is a joy to see him struggle and grow. To see him and Greg conquer their flaws to reach their goal is a wonderful journey.
All around, Over the Garden Wall is a modern animated classic. With its artistic style, clever plot, original soundtrack and colorful characters, it’s definitely worth the watch. The show really hits a wide age demographic, as there are some darker, more mature themes that are matched with the playful and uplifting characters and animation. Over the Garden wall is a charming and original mini-series, and I highly recommend it.
Score: 4.5/5
