Elliot Kessler

Spooky season is here, so it’s time to pull out one of my all-time favorite shows! “Over the Garden Wall” was a ten-episode mini-series that aired on Cartoon Network from November 3rd to the 7th of 2014. It follows two half-brothers, Wirt and Gregory, as they search for the way back home after getting lost in the woods, finding themselves in the strange, eerie world of the Unknown. Throughout the series, we also learn about the story of the character known as the Woodsman and his encounter with the Beast.

The series is excellent. It builds the dark, creepy atmosphere effortlessly, right from the beginning. We listen to the narrator sing a slow, old-timey-sounding song while we take a glimpse at all the places the two brothers will visit. It’s a very interesting and effective way of setting up the world we’re about to explore.

I could go on about the show and talk about the atmosphere, the music, the characters, the world, the animation style, and so much more for hours. But, today, I wanted to focus on one thing this series does exceptionally well: communicating emotion.

Spoiler warning for those who haven’t seen the show! I would highly recommend you check it out before reading on. The show is less than two hours long and can easily be watched in one sitting.

Did you watch it? Good! Let’s continue, then.

The Woodsman’s story is one of tragedy. After the Beast turned his daughter into a tree, he thought he had lost her forever. But the Beast made a deal with the Woodsman. The Woodsman will become the bearer of the Beast’s Lantern if the Beast puts the Woodsman’s daughter’s soul into the Lantern. The Woodsman must then keep the flame within the Lantern alive at all times or lose his daughter. He then begins the rest of his life by chopping down trees and squeezing oil out of them, using the oil to feed his lamp.

While helping Wirt to free Greg from the Beast, the Woodsman realizes that his daughter’s soul was never in the Lantern, but the Beast’s soul was. The Woodsman blows out the Lantern, finally sacrificing the illusion of his daughter to be free of his burden. When he returns to his home in the woods, he finds his daughter waiting for him, and they are reunited at last.

The story is beautiful and emotional, and the thing that makes it so good is the theme of grief. The show’s creator uses a dark fantasy story to communicate the feeling of loss and grief and the solution to moving on.

The Lantern represents the loss and grief of the Woodsman as he holds on tight to his daughter’s memory. The Woodsman describes it as a burden, which further displays the representation. The Woodsman believes he is keeping his daughter alive through grief and eternal sorrow, but it’s all an illusion. It’s the deception of the Beast, who represents depression. Depression needs the Woodsman to stay burdened by grief to survive. It convinces him that the only way to keep his daughter with him is to feed the flame of suffering daily. But feeding that flame takes its toll on the Woodsman. He is lonely and weary, constantly chopping trees to keep his pain burning. Through the illusion of the Lantern, depression, loneliness, and sadness win.

But the Woodsman isn’t miserable forever. When he discovers that the Lantern is merely an illusion, he breaks free of his bondage and confronts his pain. He blows out the Lantern, sacrificing the illusion that his daughter remains and destroying his grief and suffering. Then he returns home and finds his daughter there, which is this series’ way of showing how lost loved ones are never truly gone. They’re always with us, and we’ll see them again one day.

While not all stories need to be allegories, such as “Over the Garden Wall,” they do need to have a theme represented in them. Make sure to say something in your story, whether it’s a warning, a message, or a discussion. Always have a theme to explore. Preferably something that you know and have experienced. The theme are just as crucial to a story as the characters, world, and plot.

“Over the Garden Wall” is a beautiful series with personal themes and a fantastic way of communicating them. The show’s writing is top-notch, and I wish we got to see more, but I am glad they didn’t overextend themselves. Maybe one season was all it needed. Ain’t that just the way?

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.