Over the garden wall wiki
It’s hard to think of a better embodiment of internal negativity. (The Beast can appear wherever and whenever he wants.) Instead, he tells the boys that if they lose hope, the Beast will be upon them and never let them leave.
OVER THE GARDEN WALL WIKI HOW TO
When the Woodsman finally tells Wirt and Greg how to avoid the Beast, it has nothing to do with direction. To my mind, the Beast feels more like depression, anxiety, or just plain hopelessness. The Beast is wonderfully abstract, leaving him open to symbolic interpretation. And sometimes he sings off in the distance. We hear about him through other characters who are absolutely terrified of the Beast. He does very little to actively torment our heroes.
OVER THE GARDEN WALL WIKI SERIES
He doesn’t however, tell them how exactly to do that, at least not yet.īy the end of the episode, the boys have defeated a demon dog, and for a few moments, we think that maybe the lesson here is simply that the human imagination can create horrible monsters that, in the end, aren’t all that bad, making a mountain out of a molehill.īut no, the Beast is real, and as the series progresses, he appears and speaks, interacting with other characters. The Woodsman mentions the Beast early on, warning Wirt and Gregory to avoid him at all cost. The first episode leaves a lot to the imagination, which seems appropriate for a series set in a place only referred to as the Unknown, both by the narrator and the residents of the wood. So let’s take a look at what each of the characters represents, and what they say about being a grownup.īut first, let’s talk about an abstract character who affects absolutely everyone in the series in one way or another. When we take a close look at Over the Garden Wall, its characters and situations, we find different approaches to life, different ways to live in the real world and survive the scary parts. Here, like in a Miyazaki movie, sometimes witches are A-OK, and skeletons don’t really mean any harm.Įvery childhood, after all, has an ending that is both happy and sad at the same time: every child grows up and matures, only to have to live in the real world, a place that I think we can all agree certainly has an underlying sinister quality, constant threats to your happiness, success, and overall wellbeing. There are still good guys and bad guys, just not in the places we’d usually expect. Over the Garden Wall is a deconstruction and examination of children’s stories and childhood as a whole. But under the surface, there is a prevailing darkness and even a sense of dread and terror. Just like the Little Golden Books, on the surface, Over the Garden Wall is a bright, happy kids’ show where the stakes are not very high. The masterful music of the series mimics styles popular in the early part of the 1900s. The backgrounds tend to be static and highly detailed, while the characters themselves have simple designs. (This is perhaps most obvious in episode 8, Babes in the Woods, in which Greg visits Cloud City, which contains many direct references to classic animation and filmmaking.) The series very clearly borrows from the visual style of early- to mid-20th-century children’s entertainment, both storybooks and animation. When I first saw Over the Garden Wall, I immediately thought of storybooks from my childhood and, in particular, the Little Golden Books.
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OVER THE GARDEN WALL WIKI UPDATE
So why should we care? An Update to the Formula Little Golden Books, especially the early volumes, are synonymous with teaching children “important lessons” by using simple stories with clear messages. They rehashed traditional stories and made them more accessible. Many Little Golden Books featured familiar stories and fairy tales, rather than original content. If you grew up in the U.S., you’ve probably seen these storybooks before and maybe even owned a few.
![over the garden wall wiki over the garden wall wiki](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tome-of-the-unknown/images/d/d3/Over3.png)
These books were sold cheaply and all had a shiny gold spine, helping them stand out in bookstores, libraries, and classrooms. In 1942, Little Golden Books hit the market, and they’re still being published today, albeit in a format closer to that of novelty items or gift books for special occasions. Stories with dark and serious consequences were seen as being all the more effective for preventing negative behavior in children.Įven today, this remains the underlying effect of storytelling, even if creators aren’t necessarily trying to communicate a message of morality to their audience. Cinderella’s stepsisters, for example, cut off parts of their feet to try and fit the glass slipper. It’s also important to note that many early fairy tales (think Hans Christian Andersen stories) were actually very dark. For hundreds of years, stories (and narrative in general) were used as a means of conveying cultural values and morals.