Over the Garden Wall is a mini series that revolves around the story of two half brothers, Wirt (A nervouse-nancy character who worries a lot about everything) and Greg (A happy go lucky and fun filled, hopeful little boy) and their travel from being lost in a weird forest called the Unknown back home. This journey allowed them to meet several people from the magic forest.

In a quick look, the series may seem like just another cutie cutie cartoon about magic and talking animals but upon finishing the series, I think there’s something more behind every scene in the show. I think this show is more than just some people getting lost in a forest. I think this is about how we deal with our journey growing up and how our 2 personas, our Wirt and Gregs, are both essential in having a meaningful travel.

Here are some of the things I noticed and learned in the series. (s p o i l e r s)

This post would really make more sense if you’ve finished OtGW.

i.) The Unknown

In the series, the our two protagonists gets lost in a forest called The Unknown. This dark forest full of mysteries and weird things like scary trees, a talking bird and little black turtles (Things you don’t usually see in ‘normal’ life) is a representation of adult life. Like us growing up, Wirt and Greg are lost in an unfamiliar place with no clue on where to go.
I believe no one really has a clue about the right way of dealing with life and everything gets scary and weird the deeper we go in the ‘forest’. We usually deal with it either as a Wirt who continuesly paralyzes himself with worrying or as a Greg who views everything in a fun, hopeful way.

ii.) The Woodsman, The Lantern and The Beast

The first episode of the show introduces Wirt & Greg to The Woodsman. The Woodsman is a creepy old man who fancies singing while cutting down trees in the dark, dark forest. Wirt of course was scared of the guy while Greg wanted to ask him for help. Upon meeting the kids, he warns them immediately about ‘The Beast’, a dark entity that deceives you and claims you to become one of the trees. He offers them temporary refuge and urges them to hide from the beast instead of travelling. He also told them that he cuts trees to make oil to light up his lantern (Who is later revealed to be his daughter’s essence and eliminating the light from it will erase it). He also told them that “Everyone has a torch to burn”.

I think the Woodsman is one of the representations of people from the Baby Boomer generation in the show. Wurt & Greg had different approaches in asking them for help, one with fear that he will be hurt and one with hope that he will finally be saved. We view grownups in these two ways when we were growing up. Sometimes we see them as heroes who can save us or some Hitler like figure who will put us in gas chambers when they discover we’re jews. Like the grownups before us, The Woodsman has nothing but warnings about the dangers of the unknown and fear to tell us. They grew too bitter and afraid because they saw that being in the unknown is a never ending journey to light the lantern. Much like how old people see that this world is all about having jobs and being stable.

Like grownups, the Woodsman accepted that his life and role in The Unknown. He is dedicated to keeping his torch lit because he knows that it’s for his daughter’s life to continues. To be fair, we have to understand why the people before us grew that way. Aside from the fact that they came from a different time. They did all those sacrifices for us. Forgetting to live just so we can survive and somehow have hope for a better life.

The Beast, I think, is a representation of the media or any other influencing entity that tells us what life should be. The Beast kept telling The Woodsman he has to continue to chop and chop and chop those trees just so his daughter can live, continuesly mocking him about it. I think the media did the same to our parents and theirs before us. The media kept injecting ideaologies that led to them thinking there is only one way to live. Just watch Adam Ruins Everything and see how much lies advertising did to transform our world to their will.
How our protagonists deal with The Beast, reflects how we deal with the world telling us what’s the ‘right’ thing to do. Either we succumb through fear or push through with our journey and ignoring it.

iii.) Huskin Bee and The Realization of the Inevitability of Death

In another episode, the brothers get stuck in a place called Huskin Bee. Huskin Bee is a weird place where people dressed up as Jack-O-Lantern-ish creatures (At first, that’s what it seems). It is later revealed that they are all skeletons of dead people who dresses up as pumpkins and party all day and all night in town. Of course, Wurt got scared of the town and wants to go out of there immediately even when he was offered an opportunity to stay. Upon going, a pumpkin person told Wurt that it’s okay and that he will join them eventually.

I think this part of the journey is about the realization that death is something we cannot runaway from and it’s something we shouldn’t be afraid of. That it’s something to be celebrated. Like how the pumpkin people celebrates all day and all night because they are embarking on a new phase. Usually, we are like Wurt who keeps running away from the idea that death is inevitable. We’d rather ignore that it’s a fact rather than embrace it and give life more value.

iv.) Schooltown, Pototatoes, and Molasses

In another episode, the kids stumble upon Schooltown, a place where there’s a (surprise, surprise) school. Wurt and Greg saw the school differently, Wurt wanted to go there and conform because it’s easier and more comfortable whil Greg was disgusted with the school because he wants to have fun. The school was your typical educ induced ABCs and 123s kind of school and it’s suffering from financial troubles. The owner of the school got so mad when he saw Greg singing during lunchtime, explaining that all you need is a drop of fun to turn a boring world into something really special (Referencing the Potatoes and Molasses which was served during lunch. But more on that later)
The owner of the school later confiscated the musical instruments and told the teacher and the kids that the isn’t a school for fun, that it’s a school for teaching how to read and count. It was later discovered that he confiscated the instruments because he needed to sell them due to bankrupcy. Greg then decided to steal the instruments and do a fund raising concert for the school. Solved the problem. Everybody ended up happy.

I think this reflects how the old generation sees the education system and how life should be. They worry so much and they think the only way to solve world problems is through their ways. They forget to trust the next generation and lighten up a little bit. Economic problems caused them to believe that only economics is the only thing worth studying, forgetting arts and creativity. But in the end, ultimately, it was the new generation (Greg) who was able to solve the problem. Through being creative and being fun.

The Potatoes & Molases song. Which is my favorite part of the whole series is a song about how all we need is just a drop of fun to balance the blandness of the world. It’s a song sang by Greg during lunch time when they were served tasteless mashed potatoes. He went to get a bottle of molasses and sang how just a drop of it can entirely change the potato. I think it’s a nice way to view things. That when life gives us a series of bullshit, all we need is just a drop of molasses to turn everything upsidedown.

v.) The Tavern & Identity Crisis

Another notable part of the journey was when the gang ended up in a tavern because of the rain. They went there to eat and ask for directions. The episode revolved around asking the question “Who are you” to Wurt. The innkeeper told Wurt that everyone in the bar does something and is known for being that. Wurt of course does not know who what his purpose is. The crowd then later on assumed for him.

I think this reflects how our choice of being who want to be is always influenced by the older people around us and the pressure it involves. We are usually brought in situations where we have to know what we wanna do right away. This usually causes wrong life decisions and confusion. And when we can’t tell right away who we are, people just make the decisions for us and we become a stranger to ourselves before we even find who we are.

vi.) The Claiming of The Beast

In one of latter episodes of the show, there was a time when Wirt and Greg got separated after a series of unfortunate events that got Greg to wonder if anything positive can really happen with hope. The Beast finally finds him and seduces him, telling him that the only way to save his brother is to become a tree.

Again, this is another example of how the media influences us. It even robs us from a better future because of false solutions. Greg gave up not because he got fed up of the shits that’s been happening, he gave up because someone told him that giving up is the solution.

vii.) A little bit of Wirt & Greg

In summary, the series always shows us how the 2 characters, Wirt and Greg deal with their problems. One in a worried but investigative way and one with a carefree and hoping way. At first it is shown that diving in and getting over fear will always get you to where you need to go. We can call it luck or chance or whatever, the point is, jumping in will get us to places versus being stuck in fear.

The problem is, after a series of successes, Greg lost hope after failing when it counts. This almost caused him to give up but Wurt of course, saved him. The thing is, sometimes after being hopeful and postive for so long there will always be a possibility of things going to shit. That’s why we still need to be a little bit of a Wurt sometimes and be investigative.

I think being a balance between being a skeptic and true believer can help us better explore the wonders of The Unknown. Being a little bit of a Wurt and a little bit of Greg can help us enjoy more of our experiences in life.