OVER THE GARDEN WALL - ANIMATED TV MINISERIES (2014)

Wirt

The air has gotten cold and I, in turn, have caught one. Much to my joy, a savior has descended from heaven to comfort me in my time of need. Cartoon Network's original miniseries, Over the Garden Wall, premiered November 3rd through November 7th. This beautiful new 2D animated series gave me the perfect dosage of nostalgia to forget my sickness, while still being something new and exiting enough to tell you fine folks about. The series is written and directed by Patrick McHale, who had previously lent his writing and story-boarding talents to The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Adventure Time.

The story centers around brothers Wirt (awesomely voiced by Elijah Wood) and Greg (voiced by Collin Dean, an actual little boy) being lost in a mysterious woods called "The Unknown." Soon they come across a kind, yet neurotic Woodsman (even more awesomely voiced by Christopher Lloyd) who warns them of the dangers of the Beast, a dark creature with a taste for lost souls. They are also joined by Beatrice, a bluebird who says she can help them find the way home, (snarkily voiced by the funny Melanie Lynskey.)

The world of The Unknown is a very strange place indeed complete with walking clothed animals, nasty witches, and towns and clothing that resemble periods anywhere between the 17th through the early 20th century. Fans of Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and even Labyrinth would appreciate this series' handling of the classic "Down the Rabbit Hole" trope. Each episode introduces the brothers to a new sort of curiosity about the world they are lost in while still providing story and character development. Story elements are not the only thing McHale pays homage to as the entire series seems to be a celebration to older animation of yore. Some sequences seemed to almost borrow frame for frame elements of Betty Boop and Silly Symphonies cartoons.

The animation is one of the most impressive elements of this series. It warms my old-school animation fangirl heart to see how flowing and beautiful 2D animation can still be accomplished. The environment is crisp and detailed with a perfect autumn palette. In almost a contradiction to the sophisticated environment, the character designs can be called almost simplistic or even "cutesy." While this is not necessarily a factor that detracts from the experience of the series, it certainly provides an interesting contrast. It seems that McHale designed this in a way that provides some further nostalgia nods as many early cartoon shorts featured silly looking characters against a realistic background.

One of the most pleasant surprises about Over the Garden Wall is the music. Lovers of opera, ragtime, early folk, and New Orleans Jazz should fall in very deep love with this soundtrack. The series could practically be called a musical with the amount of songs that are integrated into each episode and how very important they are at establishing the charmingly nostalgic mood. (If I use the word nostalgic too many times in this review, it really is the fault of the show as McHale really hammers this factor hard.) I might also add how pleased I am with the casting of accomplished American operatic bass Samuel Ramey as "The Beast." His deep vocals create not only a magnificent villain, but one of the creepiest villain songs I've heard in a long time.

If you are a lover of animation in general, I cannot recommend over the Garden Wall enough. It is both fun whimsical enough to draw the attention of younger viewers, yet has so many rich and unexpected aspects that adults should have no problem getting lost inside the story. Although it already aired on Cartoon Network, you can still stream episodes from their website or buy the entire series from iTunes.

********

Over The Garden Wall is not only the first animated miniseries for Cartoon Network, but it might be the first kids animated TV miniseries ever. There's been specials and one-offs, and there's been unfinished-series and one-season wonders, but unless Cartoon Network orders a second season out of the blue, this is a legit miniseries: Ten 12-minute episodes telling a fully self-contained story. I doubt Cartoon Network is experimenting with something akin to the British model of television here, but the network has been messing around with different types of programming: the nonsensical "Mixels" shorts, the PowerPuff Girls reboot episode that got picked up for a full series, the weird but well-animated superhero special from The Looney Tunes Show.

It also seems like Cartoon Network is trying to step away from the 'signature style" that's been propping up the network for the past couple of years: that big, round eyes, noodle-armed, "notebook doodle" look. Sure, there's enough variations among them to make each unique and special, but on the whole, they're a far cry from the Cartoon Network output in the late 1990s and early 2000s: Johnny Bravo, Courage The Cowardly Dog, The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy, Dexter's Laboratory, Codename: Kids Next Door, Ed, Edd, And Eddy, and Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends. (This isn�t a knock against current shows mind you, but they've been packaged together on Thursdays for a reason.) It hasn't always worked out�Beware The Batman, Green Lantern, Riders Of Berk, and The Looney Tunes Show were all dropped unceremoniously, but I'll give the network props since they are still trying (Sonic Boom!).

Still, that style is Cartoon Network's go-to look, and Over The Garden Wall is the creative brainchild of Patrick McHale (who worked on The Misadventures of FlapJack and Adventure Time). McHale's miniseries is influenced heavily on early European folklore, along the lines of the Brothers Grimm, in which two siblings get lost in a confusing, terrifying, fantastical world. The reason or explanation for how or why they got lost isn�t quite the point: It's a show about growing up and maturing in a world beyond a young person's understanding. Over The Garden Wall is about coming into a world of societies and individuals that seem so weird, amazing, dangerous, and off-kilter. It's also one about dealing with strangers, mortality, regret, fear, sadness, depression, wonder, imagination, and love.

And what a world: The Unknown is hauntingly beautiful, with fantastical, classical backgrounds and rich colors reminiscent of a turn-of-the-20th-century paintings. Locations are designed with a keen eye so they're both familiar and unfamiliar, exhibiting the sense of early 20th century children's literature and folk art. Each episode exhibits a specific aesthetic that reflects a specific artistic style - "Schooltime Follies" resembles the works of Richard Scarry (complete with anthropomorphic animals in schools); "Songs Of The Dark Lantern," riffs on the everlasting animation of Max Fleischer, including a great Betty Boop knockoff as the barkeep�tweaked to the series unique, quirky brand of humor.

Greg, Wirt, and Beatrice are the young charges that are thrust into this setting, each of whom fit a specific age group�and in their own ways, represent a kind of transformation as they travel from place to place. Greg (Collin Dean) has a youthful spirit that keeps him optimistic, and his adorable songs and constant amazement at even the most unsettling images a delight to behold. Wirt (Elijah Wood) is the cynical teenager, yet the show does a fantastic job balancing him between his moody, stubborn tendencies and his waning childhood wonder. Then there's Beatrice (Melanie Lynskey), the series' standout character by far. A mix between an older sister and a self-serving tourist, Lynskey steals the show with her amazing putdowns and passive-aggressiveness, smartly avoiding overdone sass or sarcasm.

The storybook setting, with its bizarre cast of creatures and characters (which includes a stodgy, rambling woodsman voiced by Christopher Lloyd, and an eccentric, rambling millionaire voiced by John Cleese), forces the three to bond, and as the series goes along, events - particularly their conflict with The Beast (voiced by Samuel Ramey)�begins to test their relationship, as secrets are exposed and revelations are made. Avoiding spoilers, their specific attitudes and behaviors (and the testy, odd interactions among them) are given context, deepening the three and opening them up like the very imaginative fairy tale they find themselves in. The title cards of each episode add to the narrative's "literary" design, with slow, smooth fades over bold fonts, complete with the chapter number. In some ways, these bookends evoke the nifty aesthetics of classic silent animation (an aesthetic brilliantly invoked in a later episode, to incredible and harrowing results).

Incredible and harrowing are the strongest words to describe Over The Garden Wall, as each episodes bridges between warm fall colors to evoke comfort and comedy, and dark black and greys for terror and drama. Credit to art directors Nick Cross and Nate Cash, seamlessly able to bounce back and forth between the two color palettes, sometimes in the same episode, to reflect the mindsets or the characters, or the specific mood of the scene. Likewise for the music: Each chapter comes with a perfectly tailored score emphasizing the whimsy and mystery of the moment, composed by the gypsy-folk band The Petrojvic Blasting Company.

With such a perfect blend of mood, atmosphere, story, and characterization, Over The Garden Wall's 10 episode run will leave you wanting more, but like every great fairy tale, it's a story that knows when it's over. In the midst of its run, though, viewers will no doubt be caught up in the show's fantastic locales and its lessons. And like any great fairy tale, it�s one worth experiencing again and again.

Site Design by GWCreations
Please read the FAQ section and the Always and Forever disclaimer.
Site hosting & support provided by ejwsites.net (sponsor) & Hetzner Online AG – Thanks :)