Over the Garden Wall

Over the Garden Wall is an American animated television miniseries created by Patrick McHale for Cartoon Network. The series centers on two half-brothers who travel across a strange forest in order to find their way home, encountering odd and wonderful things on their journey. The show is based on McHale's animated short film Tome of the Unknown, which was produced as part of Cartoon Network Studios' shorts development program. The show features Elijah Wood and Collin Dean as the protagonists Wirt and Greg, and Melanie Lynskey as a bluebird named Beatrice. Over the Garden Wall was broadcast throughout the week of November 3, 2014 to November 7, 2014.The show marked the first miniseries on the network, which commenced its production in March 2014. McHale first envisioned the show in 2004, and pitched it to the network in 2006. After working on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Adventure Time, the network expressed interest in McHale pitching a pilot. That pilot became the catalyst for Over the Garden Wall. Production of the show was largely handled in Burbank, California, but many of the show's storyboard artists worked from other U.S. cities, while the program's animation was outsourced to South Korea. The series' environment evokes 19th- and 20th-century Americana, while its digital backgrounds are designed to resemble grisaille paintings. Upon its debut, the series received critical acclaim from television critics, with praise focusing on its mood and characters. In 2015, the series won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. Outside of the series, a one-shot comic book adaptation penned by McHale has been produced, with four further issues commissioned. This was eventually expanded into an ongoing series.

Plot
The series follows two half-brothers, Wirt and Greg, who become lost in a strange forest called the Unknown. In order to find their way home, the two must travel across the seemingly supernatural forest with the occasional help of the wandering, mysterious and elderly Woodsman and Beatrice, an irritable bluebird who travels with the boys in order to find a woman called Adelaide, who can supposedly undo the curse on Beatrice and her family and show the half-brothers the way home.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Beautiful animation as it looks like you are watching either a vintage animated feature/short or a Miyazaki anime, which gives the show an overall nostalgic feel.
 * 2) Nice plots such as "Tome of the Unknown" and a vegetable car. The plots get more and more serious as the series go on, going from pretty goofy to still somewhat goofy but with darker plots, to just plain dark in the last episode
 * 3) Likable characters such as Wirt, John Crops, Margueritte Grey, The Woodsman, Beatrice and Greg.
 * 4) Well-composed soundtrack such as the homeless guy's music playing.
 * 5) Fantastic visuals that look like if Studio Ghibli made them.
 * 6) Using the American history (the 1600s-1920s) setting, allegorical, and religious symbolism as part of the show's setting, was the genius way to express the fantastical aesthetics.
 * 7) Warren Burton did a great job playing as the narrator which has a okay and decent voice acting and got a couple character as well, even if he wasn't seen he is still a pretty good narrator.
 * 8) The show has some really intense scenes for a kid show, like the scene where Wirt and Greg almost get run over by a train and fall into a river.
 * 9) A comic book continuation of the show was made, adding to the lore and backstory.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) This show ended after 10 episodes, due to being a miniseries.
 * 2) * Since the show is a miniseries, It had various unused episode ideas that were never been made or aired. But fortunately, most of all they become part of the show's comic book series adaption instead, all of its glory in a comic book page form.
 * 3) A Poorly executed and rushed finale, one that leaves too many plot holes (such as not explaining the true nature/purpose of The Unknown, who/what the Beast is, etc), as well as the predictable and lacklustre conclusion to Wirt and Greg's arc.

Trivia

 * Collin Dean went to work for The Loud House, two years later, after Grant Palmer (Lincoln's former voice actor) left the show and returned again in the season two episode, "Snow Way Out".

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