Over The Garden Wall Creator Reveals Plans For “Spiritual Successor”

The creator of Over the Garden Wall revealed that he has plans for a “spiritual successor.” In a conversation with Inverse, Patrick McHale discussed the idea of following-up the hit Cartoon Network miniseries. Now, before anyone asks, it won’t be a direct continuation of the adventures that Beatrice, Wirt, and Greg, but rather something that hews close to the heart of the show. Over the Garden Wall had a lasting impact on a lot of animation fans in the years since 2014. In fact, a lot of other projects got a shot because McHale’s work did so well on the network. CN knew that betting on big thoughtful shows could pay dividends, and with HBO Max around now, there’s a road to releasing it without worrying about tonal whiplash or other concerns executives might have.

“I doubt I’ll ever make another Over the Garden Wall miniseries, but there’s a sort of spiritual successor that I absolutely want to make. I love the miniseries format. It can be very grueling making a TV show, so it’s nice when there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” he explained. “I can’t say much about it right now. It has absolutely nothing to do with Over the Garden Wall, other than that it comes from a similar place in my heart and brain.”

A couple of years ago, Dark Horse actually commissioned an art book from the series. Comicbook.com had the chance to speak about the honor and sounded happy to disclose some of the processes with all the fans out there.

“I’m so happy Sean and Dark Horse got this book to happen! It’s been really interesting going through all my old sketchbooks, notes, and file folders in search of lost bits and pieces from the show’s development,” said Patrick McHale. “This handsome volume will contain a nice mixture of beautiful drawings and paintings from the series, amusing anecdotes about the process, unseen and unused artwork that didn’t make the final cut, other mysterious odds, and ends, and a whole lot of horrible ugly early development sketches that should inspire people to say, ‘Hey, I could do better than that!’”

Check out the official description for the Over the Garden Wall art book below:

“From Pottsfield to Cloud City, venture up and over and dive right into this colorful hardbound art book. A complete tour through the development and production of Over the Garden Wall, this volume contains hundreds of pieces of concept art and sketches, along with a comprehensive look at the show’s breathtaking production art, including art from the acclaimed 2013 short film Tome of the Unknown: Harvest Melody, which served as the series’ pilot. Also includes commentary from creators Patrick McHale and Nick Cross, interviews with the cast and crew, and more!”

Will you be checking out this next project if it happens? Let us know in the comments!