***THIS BLOG CONTAINS SPOILER FOR OVER THE GARDEN WALL***
Hello Internet!
I hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy. I recently got my Covid booster shot and only got some minor soreness. So just a reminder that if you are able to get the vaccine and haven’t done so, go get it. The quicker the whole world is vaccinated the quicker everything can go back to normal. Keeping Covid numbers low is going to be super important as we enter winter and flu cases go up. Also keep on wearing your masks especially if you don’t feel well. No need to spread any disease to others. I am super excited for Autumn to be here and I want to be able to enjoy all of those fun activities without worrying about the ongoing pandemic.
Changing gears, I know it has been a little bit since I put out a proper Weekly Blog, so I want to quickly talk about all the pieces I’ve published in the past few weeks. This way you can catch up on anything you missed if you are a new reader or just didn’t see one of those published pieces. On OCtober 17th, I published a Weekly Blog about Muppets Haunted Mansion. The quick summary of my thoughts on the new Muppets special is that I like it, but I don’t love it. I feel like my review might have come off as a little negative, but I did like it. I just hope that the Muppets get their true renaissance and maybe Muppets Haunted Mansion is the start of that. Since that Weekly Blog I have published a series of Poems including “Cozy Spirit,” “Relay,” and “Turncoat.” From Autumn, cozy days, the idea of progression, and people that play all sides so they come up on top, I have a wide range of Poetry for you all to read. I always try to keep it interesting. I also posted two new chapters to my Dungeons and Dragons inspired series, “Final Preparations Part 2” and “The Long Road North.” The Group is getting ready to leave Xylon and head North in order to bring Prince Riffen back to Frost Haven. They’ve been prepping and now they are moments away from leaving. After spending such a long time in Xylon, I’m excited to see how things on the road and in Frost Haven will go. (Can you tell that I love writing this series, because I do!) I also published two new chapters of my Pokemon Fanfiction series “Pokémon HGSS #33: Family Ties” and “Pokémon HGSS #34: Family Ties Part 2.” This Pokemon Fanficiton series is coming to an end, but before it does, I wanted to take a look at the relationship between Silver and Giovanni, bringing in elements from the special Celebi mission from Heart Gold/Soul Silver and Pokemon Origins. I loved writing Silver throughout the series and I believe he is one of the best rivals Pokemon as ever introduced in their games. For Halloween I published Two Sentence Horror Stories. This was the fifth year I’ve continued this fun Halloween tradition. I just have so much fun taking horror elements and turning into small, bite-sized horror stories. Finally, in terms of Writing Prompt Pieces, I recently published a Writing Prompt Piece titled “Project Lazarus.” An American Soldier fresh from the Vietnam War is brought in for a special mission. However it turns out that he actually died in a battle and then was recovered. The government then uses cutting-edge cloning technology to grow him a new body. As a soldier that technically no longer exists, they are set up to be America’s most important asset. If you missed out on any of those pieces, make sure you read them. Or if you are new here and don’t know where to start, I highly recommend these pieces.
Sorry for all of that but like I said it has been a bit since I published a Weekly Blog and I just want to make sure that the stuff I make gets seen by all of you wonderful people. Moving on I want to talk about a special, animated miniseries I recently watched: Over The Garden Wall. This was a short series created by Cartoon Network which originally released in 2014. However it is a series I had not watched until recently. I heard that it was a great series and that people watched it annually around Halloween. I just knew I had to check out a show that had that much praise surrounding it. So this Halloween season me and my roommate sat down and watched it. Now I know it’s no longer Halloween and this show might have been more relevant to talk about before October 31st, but it originally aired in November and I’m already 7 years late to the party, so I think it’s fine to talk about now.
First thing I want to say is that this show is definitely worth watching. If you are someone like me who happened to miss this show, I highly recommend you watch it. I will obviously be spoiling plot elements for the entire show, so watch it before you read this. It’s on HBO Max if you have it and it’s relatively short. Over The Garden Wall is only one season made up of 10 episodes and the episodes are only 11 minutes long. You can binge the entire show in a couple hours. This actually surprised me because I thought it was going to be longer episodes, but nope. 11 minute episodes which this show uses very well. This show is also made for kids, but can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Over The Garden Wall can be compared to other kids shows like Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, or Infinity Train. Those shows are marketed toward kids, but have elements that really relate to teenagers or even adults. I will say that Over The Garden Wall has its darker and spookier elements, but never gets too dark. It’s a show I think kids would fully grasp and enjoy. If you know me, you know I don’t really care for horror, but I was never bothered by this show. It’s horror is closer to what you might read in a Grimms’ Fairy Tales.
Speaking of Grimms’ Fairy Tales, I think that these stories have an influence over the show and many parts of its setting. Mix that type of horror with classic americana and a New England Fall and you have the overall setting of this show. But obviously these elements are also baked into the plot. Over The Garden Wall follows the story of two half-brothers, Wirt and Greg as they get lost in the woods and stumble into a fantastical world. They then team up with a talking Bluebird named Beatrice who claims to be able to help them find their way home. Along the way, Wirt and Greg maneuver through a series of strange societies and towns. Many of these places have strange rules or strange characters. One of the main characters they meet is a man named the Woodsman. He is a lumberjack that cuts down trees and then crushes the lumber into oil to light his lantern. The Woodsman’s fate is connected to the antagonist of the series which is a monster called The Beast. The Beast is a monster that hides in the shadows and preys on lost souls, turning them into trees. About halfway through the series, Wirt and Greg learn that Beatrice was actually leading the two boys to a witch who wants to enslave the boys. Beatrice did this because her family and herself have been cursed and turned into Bluebirds and the witch is the only one who can undo that curse. However, Beatrice has a change of heart and regrets her betrayal and tries to reunite with the boys after they discover the plan and abandon Beatrice. In the penultimate episode, it is revealed that Wirt and Greg are from our modern world but after some awkward moments on Halloween, both brothers fall into a pond and start to drown which leads them to become lost in this unknown world. In the finale of the show, the Beast reveals themselves to the boys and tries to turn Greg into a tree. Wirt saves his half brother from this fate and the Woodsman extinguishes the lantern which ends up killing the Beast. Then the boys wake up in the hospital, being saved from drowning in the pond. However it is not clear whether or not the events in the other world actually happened or not.
So what did I think of this show as a whole? Well, I really liked it. I thought the whole thing had a really cool, spooky vibe. The characters in the show are really great and I love how a show this short uses its time well and gives its characters really believable arcs. This show is funny and charming and uses these darker elements really well. At times the show can be a bit unsettling, but a lot of it just has to do with the unknown. These fairy tale elements like the woods and the woodsman, the light of the lantern, and the beast. All of these are utilized well and adds to the overall show. I totally understand why people make it an annual tradition to watch this show. It’s not the best animated show I’ve seen, but it’s a quick watch and will definitely put you in the mood for Halloween and Autumn in general. Watch it if you haven’t seen it before, and if it’s been awhile, sit down with a cozy blanket and a warm beverage, and watch Over The Garden Wall again.
Thank you for reading that Weekly Blog all about Over The Garden Wall. Hopefully you enjoyed reading my thoughts about this animated series. If you liked it, feel free to give it a Like. You can also comment down below letting me know your thoughts about the show. Did you enjoy Over The Garden Wall? Did you not like it? Is there an element you think I should have mentioned here? I want to hear all your thoughts down in the comments. If you really liked this Weekly Blog and want to read more of my stuff, I highly recommend you Follow Me here on WordPress. I’m building a positive and creative space on the internet and I want you to be a part of that. I’m actually nearing 800 Followers on WordPress and I’d love to hit that number before the end of the year. Think of your Follow as an early Christmas present to me. I really do appreciate all the love and support I get from readers new and old. All the support you send my way fills me with joy and makes my day/week/month/year. So thank you so much. I also recommend you check out my website and read the other stuff I’ve published. If you don’t know where to start I’d suggest starting with one of the pieces I mentioned above. Or you can comment down below with the type of stuff you like to read and I can give you some suggestions. Lastly, I’ll mention that I am on Twitter. I don’t advertise my Twitter much, but I do Tweet out when pieces are published, share awesome art, and tweet about Critical Role. If any of that sounds interesting, Follow me there!
Thank you again and I hope you have a wonderful week!
-Allen_The_Writer
Header Photo Credit to Over The Garden Wall’s IMDb page.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3718778/
Allen The Writer 
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