Why Over the Garden Wall Is the Halloween Tradition You’ve Been Missing

Animation holds a special place in the annals of Halloween history, as the medium often entices younger viewers to tune into a variety of adventures and can convey darker themes in ways that aren’t immediately intimidating. Dating as far back as Disney’s “The Skeleton Dance” short in 1929 and continuing in 1949 with The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, there’s a long history of evocative experiences that honor the iconography of the holiday, while 1966’s It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is the seminal animated adventure that horror fans of all ages revisit every year. With ten years having passed since its release, it’s time for Halloween fans to usher in an all-new era in which Cartoon Network’s Over the Garden Wall can be considered the signature series to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve.

While Over the Garden Wall is already celebrated by millions of fans every fall, specifically leading towards Halloween, the ten-episode series created by Patrick McHale actually debuted in the week following October 31st. The series’ life started as the short “Tome of the Unknown” and, while initially conceived of as a feature film or potentially a multi-season storyline, budgetary and timing restraints condensed the storyline to just under two hours, with each episode having an 11-minute run time.

The series immediately intrigues and confuses audiences, much like the main characters Wirt (Elijah Wood) and Greg (Collin Dean) are disoriented by their surroundings. The artwork is evocative, whimsical, and eerie all at once, embracing a color palette that feels like we’ve been thrust into a Thomas Kinkade painting of New England. There’s lush greens, browns, and oranges, while Wirt’s pointed hat and Greg’s overalls leave viewers to guess the story’s timeline. We don’t know if the story is unfolding in the near-recent past, centuries ago, or potentially in a Tolkien-esque fantasy world (a theory amplified by Wood’s previous involvement in The Lord of the Rings trilogy). Those first scenes demand audience engagement and deny us any answers.

As we spend more time with Wirt and Greg, we get to see their playful and hilarious dynamic, as the humor is silly and slapstick enough to appeal to younger audiences while the absurdity of the dialogue resonates more strongly with adult viewers. It’s no surprise that McHale spent substantial time working on Adventure Time leading into Over the Garden Wall, another Cartoon Network program that shares tonal similarities with this miniseries.

As Wirt and Greg wander through the woods, also referred to as the “Unknown,” they soon encounter a gravelly voiced Woodsman (Christopher Lloyd), telling tales of a beast who killed his wife and captured the soul of his daughter in lantern, with the Woodsman taking it upon himself to cut down trees to keep the flame of the lantern alive. This debut episode of the program delivers everything that audiences will see throughout the rest of the series, as we’re given a macabre adventure in a moody landscape that’s punctuated with lighthearted silliness. Even if there’s no abject terror, there’s enough unsettling themes to hint at the darkness that will grow with each episode and grow more surreal and strange.

While the debut episode offers a blend of autumnal themes, it’s Episode 2, “Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee,” that takes the spirit of Halloween to new levels. Wirt, Greg, and bluebird Beatrice (Melanie Lynskey) find themselves in the town of Pottsfield, with all of its residents sporting pumpkin costumes in celebration of a harvest festival. The music in the first episode helped immerse audiences in the mood of the series, but it’s the songs in “Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee” that catalyze the spirit of Over the Garden Wall, delivering melodies that feel ancient and familiar yet just strange enough that it feels plucked out of a dream. The understandable inclusion of pumpkins and harvest festivals thrust viewers even deeper into the spirit of Halloween, with this episode alone rivaling the effectiveness of any animated classic.

Throughout the rest of the series, Wirt, Greg, and Beatrice encounter a variety of characters in delightfully absurd situations that convey a surface-level silliness while also masking a deeper and more disturbing sensibility. We wouldn’t necessarily say the show descends into outright horror, but it offers an overall spookiness that goes hand in hand with this time of year. As if the overall spirit of the series doesn’t do enough to embrace all things innocent and eerie, the final episodes feature more direct connections to Halloween festivities and offer just enough answers to explain how this whole adventure kicked off.

Over the Garden Wall succeeds as a superficial adventure into a fantastical world filled with intimidating figures, highlighting the bonds of siblings in the face of adversity. As we learn about what drove Wirt and Greg into the Unknown, there’s themes of judgment, loneliness, isolation, and shame that are also heavily woven into their journey, as well as the courage to overcome these societal pressures. Much like how Great Pumpkin can be enjoyed for its spooky silliness while highlighting Linus and his quest to be sincere, Over the Garden Wall has layers of themes to unpack for audiences of all ages. Wirt and Greg’s trek showcases how it can be a scary voyage into the Unknown, but how sometimes unpacking uncertainty is preferred over dealing with real and identifiable feelings of anxiety.

There’s no shortage of animated adventures to check out during the Halloween season, whether it’s the notable classics or more oddball choices like Halloween Is Grinch Night or Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree, but McHale’s Over the Garden Wall has slowly and deservedly established itself as an all-time great October tradition. The 10-episode series is just as enjoyable of an experience for those hoping to immerse themselves in the atmospheric vibes of Wirt and Greg’s excursion into the Unknown as it is a comfort to see animated characters in a fantastical world coping with their own insecurities, with many viewers looking forward to All Hallow’s Eve as a chance for some escapism from real-world horrors. Much like how the 2009 Halloween anthology Trick ‘r Treat grew its fan base slowly and surely, to the point that its mascot Sam is found populating the shelves of Spirit Halloween, it’s only a matter of time before Over the Garden Wall cements itself among mainstream audiences as the seminal, spooky series of a generation.  

Over the Garden Wall is currently streaming on Hulu.

What do you think of the Halloween series? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!