Over the Garden Wall: Fairytales, Fear, and the Art of Storytelling
Last week I finished watching Over the Garden Wall. I know I'm only 6 years late, but quarantine has left me with ample time to spend with my TV and we've been playing catch up.
From the 30's inspired animation to the character design and story elements, Over the Garden Wall is like falling right into a storybook. The show is just about story perfection, a concise and beautiful reimagining of the classic fairytale. To be fair, I think conciseness and maintaining near-perfect storytelling is much easier to do in a limited series because you don't have all the time for your creation to grow off course, though I will still be internet-stalking creator Patrick McHale for the rest of his career (Pinocchio, anybody?).
The show follows two half brothers, Wirt and Gregory, on their journey both literally and figuratively into the woods of a place called the Unknown in an attempt to find their way home. It should also be mentioned that the aesthetic of the show is heavily influenced by cartoons of the 1930's in both the show's animation style and its music. Greg's teapot hat is reminiscent of the song "I'm a Little Teapot" and his role in "Schoolhouse Follies" is very Mary Poppins - interestingly both cultural references originating in the 30's as well, a decade that saw the birth of Mickey Mouse and Disney's first folk tale princess, Snow White. What's so fantastic about Patrick McHale's masterpiece is that the art style, cultural references, and genre-specific material are seamless, yet the story doesn't suffer one bit for the sake of the aesthetic. Rather than getting in the way, all of these beautifully designed and animated elements enhance the storytelling, thematically intertwining with the journey of our protagonist, Wirt.
THE MODERN FAIRYTALE
The show follows two half brothers, Wirt and Gregory, on their journey both literally and figuratively into the woods of a place called the Unknown in an attempt to find their way home. It should also be mentioned that the aesthetic of the show is heavily influenced by cartoons of the 1930's in both the show's animation style and its music. Greg's teapot hat is reminiscent of the song "I'm a Little Teapot" and his role in "Schoolhouse Follies" is very Mary Poppins - interestingly both cultural references originating in the 30's as well, a decade that saw the birth of Mickey Mouse and Disney's first folk tale princess, Snow White. What's so fantastic about Patrick McHale's masterpiece is that the art style, cultural references, and genre-specific material are seamless, yet the story doesn't suffer one bit for the sake of the aesthetic. Rather than getting in the way, all of these beautifully designed and animated elements enhance the storytelling, thematically intertwining with the journey of our protagonist, Wirt.
THE MODERN FAIRYTALE
Take it from the world's oldest fables, myths, and fairytales - the very best storytelling interweaves character, plot, and action so seamlessly that they are impossible to separate. This makes fables and myths are some of the most efficient examples of storytelling, and as a modern fairytale, Over the Garden Wall achieves just that. Interweaving Wirt's social uncertainties and physical predicament in the "real world" into an artfully nostalgic, beautiful, musical fantasy setting is what makes this fairytale-inspired animation a modern fairytale in its own right.
The fairy tale allows real-life lessons, warnings, and human struggles to be boiled down and rehydrated in the form of fantasy. Therefore, each element of a fairy tale doesn't just *serve* the story, it *is* the story; the entirety of the story world is fabricated to communicate specific themes, messages, etc. in an efficient way. Each element of the story is molded perfectly to serve the message, otherwise, why would you be telling the story in the first place? Yeah, art used to mean something, kids.
Over the Garden Wall succeeds at truly embodying the fairy tale form beyond a superficial level. Set in an indeterminate time and place, the story is boiled down to its essentials, the details are thoughtful and the story unfolds in a way that enhances its complexities without losing its core. It just seems as though carefully crafted storytelling doesn't crop up on TV and in movie theaters as often as one would think it should (remember movie theaters?).
The fairy tale allows real-life lessons, warnings, and human struggles to be boiled down and rehydrated in the form of fantasy. Therefore, each element of a fairy tale doesn't just *serve* the story, it *is* the story; the entirety of the story world is fabricated to communicate specific themes, messages, etc. in an efficient way. Each element of the story is molded perfectly to serve the message, otherwise, why would you be telling the story in the first place? Yeah, art used to mean something, kids.
Over the Garden Wall succeeds at truly embodying the fairy tale form beyond a superficial level. Set in an indeterminate time and place, the story is boiled down to its essentials, the details are thoughtful and the story unfolds in a way that enhances its complexities without losing its core. It just seems as though carefully crafted storytelling doesn't crop up on TV and in movie theaters as often as one would think it should (remember movie theaters?).
The show is jam-packed with your standard fairytale fodder - monsters, witches, mysterious woods, talking animals, anamorphic vegetables - and references to its fairy tale predecessors such as The Frog Prince (Greg's frog), The Beauty and the Beast (Miss Langtree and Jimmy Brown), Cinderella (Lorna and Auntie Whispers), and most notably Little Red Riding Hood (the woods, the Beast, the woodsman, Wirt's red hat). Fairy tales and folklore usually function as cautionary tales that helped keep kids alive - stay out of the woods at night, listen to your parents, learn to make the best of your arranged marriage - but Over the Garden Wall flips the element of fear around to be the very thing the story cautions against. Instead, it warns of the illusion of fear and the monsters and unnecessary hardships that fear creates.
FEAR AND THE UNKNOWN
FEAR AND THE UNKNOWN
In fact, fear is the most dangerous thing the boys encounter. Wirt and Gregory have numerous fearful encounters all throughout their journey into the Unknown, but what makes every situation fearful is just that - the unknown. Once the true situation becomes known, do they realize that there was never anything to really fear - a crazed werewolf turns out to be a sweet dog, murderous pumpkins turn into a bunch of badasses who solved death, ghosts become soulmates, an evil witch is really a loving caretaker. The fear in Over the Garden Wall has real consequences - it tears relationships apart, keeps people prisoner, and even threatens death. Death is often referred to as "the great unknown" and considering Wirt and Gregory are actually drowning in a pond the entire time they are in the Unknown, I'd say that's not a coincidence.
Even the "Beast," most mysterious threat in the Unknown, is easily vanquished once Wirt realizes the Beast is nothing more than a flickering flame almost literally fueled by the fear it instills in others. While the Woodsman had beaten the Beast "once before" (*cough, cough* Little Red Riding Hood), Wirt and Greg meet a version of the Woodsman who is now under the control of the Beast. The Woodsman is forced to keep the Beast's lantern burning for fear of putting out the light of his daughter's soul, which the Beast has claimed is trapped inside. Where Little Red Riding Hood's lack of fear (and any modicum of perceptiveness) ends her up in a wolf's digestive system, Wirt's ability to cast fear aside and see his beast for what it really is allows him to rescue his brother and this time save the Woodsman. Once the Woodsman sees the truth about the lantern's flame can he take control back from the Beast and reclaim his life (and ultimately his daughter).
What makes the show brilliant is how this fear ties into the greater story. Fear and the Unknown coexist in a perpetual cycle; the Unknown causes fear and in turn, fear clouds one's perspective and increases the unknown. Once the unknown becomes a known experience, it no longer controls you with fear, and the solution becomes obvious. It's Wirt's own unknowns and fears - his telling his feelings to Sara, her reaction to his tape, her opinion of him, his new family situation, his becoming a big brother, his drowning in a pond on the other side of the garden wall - that Wirt must grapple with and see through to the end in Over the Garden Wall. The series doesn't just set up a scenario for Wirt to overcome cowardliness and make some grand, sweeping act of courage, but how I see it, it is that act of coming to know fear for the evil that it is that turns Wirt into a hero. It's all a young teen's journey to finding inner strength and coming to understand the world a little more fully; all of life is an unknown and only fear holds us back from making it alive - sometimes literally.
Even the "Beast," most mysterious threat in the Unknown, is easily vanquished once Wirt realizes the Beast is nothing more than a flickering flame almost literally fueled by the fear it instills in others. While the Woodsman had beaten the Beast "once before" (*cough, cough* Little Red Riding Hood), Wirt and Greg meet a version of the Woodsman who is now under the control of the Beast. The Woodsman is forced to keep the Beast's lantern burning for fear of putting out the light of his daughter's soul, which the Beast has claimed is trapped inside. Where Little Red Riding Hood's lack of fear (and any modicum of perceptiveness) ends her up in a wolf's digestive system, Wirt's ability to cast fear aside and see his beast for what it really is allows him to rescue his brother and this time save the Woodsman. Once the Woodsman sees the truth about the lantern's flame can he take control back from the Beast and reclaim his life (and ultimately his daughter).
What makes the show brilliant is how this fear ties into the greater story. Fear and the Unknown coexist in a perpetual cycle; the Unknown causes fear and in turn, fear clouds one's perspective and increases the unknown. Once the unknown becomes a known experience, it no longer controls you with fear, and the solution becomes obvious. It's Wirt's own unknowns and fears - his telling his feelings to Sara, her reaction to his tape, her opinion of him, his new family situation, his becoming a big brother, his drowning in a pond on the other side of the garden wall - that Wirt must grapple with and see through to the end in Over the Garden Wall. The series doesn't just set up a scenario for Wirt to overcome cowardliness and make some grand, sweeping act of courage, but how I see it, it is that act of coming to know fear for the evil that it is that turns Wirt into a hero. It's all a young teen's journey to finding inner strength and coming to understand the world a little more fully; all of life is an unknown and only fear holds us back from making it alive - sometimes literally.
So really, asking that girl out is no big deal.
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Well, what do you think? Miss being lulled to sleep on your grandma's knee with tall tales by the fireplace? Maybe you never had a fireplace. Maybe Grandma had bad knees.
No worries, in 2020 we comfort ourselves. Over the Garden Wall can be watched on Hulu.
No worries, in 2020 we comfort ourselves. Over the Garden Wall can be watched on Hulu.
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