Over the Garden Wall

In May 2014, Stuart Snyder, the man responsible for single-handedly destroying Toonami, bringing in live-action schlock to CARTOON Network, establishing the "NO GIRLS ALLOWED"* policy for cartoons, declaring that boys only like comedy (as a member of that demographic, I can assure you that such a statement is completely asinine), and ultimately killing every good show the network made resigned as the President of the Network. And oh what glorious day it was.

If Cartoon Network made this series as an apology for the sins of Snyder, then it succeeded. This series is dark, atmospheric, weird and pretty scary at times. It's not bright, it's not dumbed-down, it doesn't hold back on the creep factor, especially for Tim Curry's character, Auntie Whispers, and it takes its audience seriously. And even though the cast has a lot of celebrity actors (aside from Tim Curry, they also got Christopher Lloyd and cast Elijah Wood as one of the two main leads), they got them because they knew these guys were perfect for the roles. The story is revealed a snippet at a time and from what little I've gathered from the two episodes it strikes me as being just as dark as the setting and atmosphere.

Oh, and just to put icing on the cake, they stuck the old Cartoon Network Studios animated logo on to the end of it like they used to for shows like Samurai Jack and Power Puff Girls, followed by the classic Cartoon Network logo with the Cartoon Cartoons theme dubbed over it.

They're back, and this is only the beginning of what I hope is another era akin to that of the late-90s/early-2000s.

*IMDb does not allow me to spell the word "GIRLS" with a backwards "R". Please pretend that it did.

This show is amazing. Everything about it is fantastic. The characters, story, script, villain, and atmosphere are all excellently executed. I love this show.

Over the Garden Wall is brilliant. Thank you Cartoon Network for allowing it to happen. Beautifully animated, wonderfully paced with just the right blend of humor and creepiness. Also - kudos to using the mini series format, I hope this is only a sign of things to come and more self contained short events are on the way. I'm tired of watching several seasons of a series that started strong end up wandering aimlessly with no clear endgame in sight.

The voice cast was exceptional, and the resolution handled perfectly. A big thanks to the other reviewer that gave the Cartoon Network programming history perspective above, explains a lot. Now if only CN could find a way to apologize for and right the wrongs done to all of the terrific DC nation series that were unceremoniously canceled.

From the first second the dark and enchanting atmosphere pulls you right in. Greg's fearlessness and Wirt's worries, their love for each other creates a wonderful dynamic. Maybe it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I'd advise you to give it a try. Ten 10-12 minutes episodes, it takes about 2 hours to finish the whole series. Watching it like a film is reccomended.

What can I say about this show? It has to be expirienced to grasp it, because of all these interesting characters which appear in the different episodes.

The main characters Wirt and Greg make up this pair of brothers of which Wirt is an insecure but straight one and Greg is a goofball with high spirits. Even though both serve a purpose in the series I kind of hated Greg most of the time, because the goofball role came of not as comedic but just stupid like a no-brain moron most of the time, but he gets better over time.

We encounter many interesting characters and scenarios through the episodes on their journey through the forest. Creepy stuff happens and they somehow solve it.

An unsetteling feeling hangs over every episode and the gorgeous backgrounds are made with great attention to detail to suit every feeling we're supposed to feel and that is the core purpose of art! One of the highlights of this mini-series.

Worth watching for everyone who enjoys well crafted animation and fairy-tales.