Into the Unknown
Over the Garden Wall follows the journeys of two half-brothers, Wirt (Elijah Wood) and Gregory (Collin Dean), who are lost in the woods seeking a way to return home. However, it is not long before they start to have strange and surreal encounters, including a talking bluebird named Beatrice (Melanie Lynskey) and other, more horrifying, creatures. Over the Garden Wall is an animated short series that originally aired on Cartoon Network in November 2014. It consists of ten episodes that are about eleven minutes long each. The animation in this series looks great. It takes a lot of inspiration from early American cartoons and animation styles, mainly from the first half of the twentieth century. This includes the amazing and often detailed backgrounds that evoke the various time periods being referenced such as colonial America, Revolutionary War-era, and early twentieth century. In addition, the episodes take place during autumn and the series does a great job of creating a story taking place during that time of the year. The characters are another bright spot that features an imaginative variety such as the pumpkin people in the second episode and various monsters seen in other episodes. The music is another bright spot. Not only does this series contain great background music throughout, but there are also several original songs that are catchy and often humorous. The story and writing are the strongest aspects of this series. It takes inspiration from such sources as American, and some European, folklore, Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, among others. It starts out with two boys lost in the woods and both these characters and the viewer watch the mystery unfold over the course of the episodes. It does a good job of building this mysterious world and the strange happenings that occur within it. It is also an excellently paced series. With ten episodes at eleven minutes each, the entire series can be watched in less than two hours and it uses that entire time well with no filler material or wasted time. In addition to the series, this DVD contains some bonus features including a behind-the-scenes featurette, the original pilot episode, and audio commentaries by creator Patrick McHale and art director Nick Cross. Overall, this is a masterpiece of animation. It features great characters, superb music, and excellent storytelling. I would recommend this series to anyone who likes animated stories or is looking for a family-friendly Halloween story. Read more
