How Over the Garden Wall Builds Its World
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- Over the Garden Wall accomplishes the difficult task of building a world we love to revisit. Let's break down how the writers and animators pulled it off.
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![Creating Wirt [relaxing] | Over The Garden Wall Custom Doll](/img/1.gif)
Please take a moment and honor the cricket in the background who, at 9 in the morning, cricketed with magnificent power through the entirety of recording and so closely aligned his song with my voice that he proved totally resistant to denoising. Honor him. He earned it.
Cricket is perfect for this cartoon.
@@themysteriousunknownrevealed Of all the videos to interfere with, this one is the most appropriate
I'm glad he was there and I'm happy that nature had aligned in this way because its so relaxing background noise-fits the aesthetic of OVGW too
It's honestly perfect for this video
thought the cricket was post-process.....
For me, the world of Over the Garden Wall is compelling partly because its weirdness, how it “yields” to the bizarre, never feels random or contrived. It fits. The world and its weirdness feel as though governed by some inscrutable internal logic, invisible to us yet noticeably consistent.
Too many “quirky” stories fall prey to what my brother and I call the “LOL random” problem: they feel forced, quirky for quirkiness’s sake. Rare and precious are things like Over the Garden Wall and legendary web series Homestar Runner, whose worlds or humor are peppered with non sequiturs yet feel, in some undefinable way, sensible.
My brother and I also watch the show every October, by the way. 🙂
I enjoy and appreciate your videos immensely. Keep up the great work!
I think you're right, I see a lot of work that feels very self-indulgent. It's probably quite fun for the creator to let loose, but it's too incoherent to ground the story so all the quirk seems to be free floating in space. I think that's what happens when the ratio gets off. Too much yield, not enough restraint. Thank you for watching, and dropping a thoughtful comment!
what are some shows that you feel fall into the "LOL random" category? I personally really liked bee and puppycat season 1, but season 2 (the OG one, not the netflix version), has that problem
I LOVE the Highwayman for exactly the reason you say. Loose ends are what makes the difference between stories I like and stories I love.
It's one of those things that, when I noticed, I realized was a pattern in almost all stories I love
Guys wake up new J. Holt the Illustrator video essay just dropped and it’s about one of my favorite pieces of media ever made it’s time to celebrate
That's high praise from Marissa. Good to hear from you
My sister was born right after an enormous family tragedy; she is the beauty after the terrible thing. Thank you for a gorgeous video.
That's beautiful
This video is a pretty good breakdown of how the worldbuilding works in the show, but I'd actually argue that the loose ends and the general absurdism serve a much bigger purpose for the narrative than what you talked about in the video.
For the most part, a lot of these strange, absurd moments are helping to establish the tone of the show. The moment with the turkey is weird, yes, but it's lonely and maybe even a little creepy. Haven't done my yearly rewatch yet, but from what I remember pretty much most of the strangeness is similar in tone, especially towards the beginning of the show. It's being used as a tool to show the viewers how alien The Unknown is from our world, but it also makes you stop questioning things after a while, to the point where you might not even question why Greg and Wirt are there in the first place, where they came from, why they're dressed like that, ect. Which makes the twist even stronger.
I assure you that every element I discuss serves many larger and smaller purposes and to fully explore them all would take many, many videos
The red mic technic is incredibly silly. Yet now i at last noticed it
It's a magnificent feat of engineering and aesthetic
oh i have an explanation for the two old cat bit - in the flashback in the 'real' world, at the house party, we overhear a background character discussing the games you can play with a baseball (? i dont remember the exact quote), and calls one of them "two old cat". greg, along with the audience, overhears this - so when he's in the dreamlike world of the Unknown, he decides that the game called "two old cat", for which he has no context, must be a literal description of how the game is played! it's a great moment that feels so accurate for a child character of greg's age!
love the video, and love otgw ❤❤
Drinking Gatorade while listening to this video at 2am is what I am imagine being an artsy Victorian man with wine feels like thank you
People can watch the video any way they wish, but what you're describing is the mode that was intended
Man tells us he doesn’t know anything about music, has a guitar sitting in the background. 😂
Loved the video. Never seen the show. I’ll have to go watch it now.
Definitely worth watching. And if you heard me play that guitar, which I've played for 26 years, you'd be extremely unimpressed.
@@jholtillus I can relate. I took piano and guitar lessons for many years and could never play much at all. At least you stuck with it!
The Loose Ends point is my favorite thing you pointed out here. Something at the back of my brain itches over something I think Tolkien or another fantasy author said about the importance of answers raising more questions.
I'm glad I'm not the only one noticing that a lot of modern stories feel some kind of need to answer every single question and explore every single nook and cranny. Adventure Time was probably the first time I noticed it, where as the show goes on, every side character gets some arc, every offhand name gets an explanation, every location gets a second look. I mean, the last and biggest bad of the show was mentioned once in an early season as a cool sounding quote. It's not a magic ice crown, it's a broken wishmaking crown made millenia ago by a powerful wizard using arcane circuitry that can be rewired and repaired. It's not a scary ghost lady moving furniture in a haunted house, it's the spiritual manifestation of a past reincarnation trying to communicate with your current self. It's not a magic dog, it's an interdimensional alien shapeshifting parasite offspring.
It's something I also see a ton in IP bought out by big companies, too, where every single mysterious thing from some older movie or video game MUST be answered. I have a hard time understanding why. You're right, it makes it all seem smaller, but it's also harder to do and is far less rewarding for all involved.
If a character mentions some lost kingdom once and never again, it raises a lot of questions. People talk about it. You get fan theories, you get conversations, you get that bigger world, and you do all this in a single statement. If the same character says an exact location and a date, not only does that in itself take more effort, but so does the upkeep. Now you have to make sure that the location and date are always the same. You need to ensure they don't conflict with anything. And more often than not, you're going to slip up and create some in-lore anachronism or location contradiction unless you have some huge timeline compendium written down and consulted with every single drop of ink on the page. It's exhausting! And the result of doing so is no room for fan theories, no room for speculation, a conversation ended before it started, a smaller world, and likely a continuity that looks more like a pile of ouroboros spaghetti than a nice clean line.
I agree. The overwrought approach tends to be more work for less reward overall
This limited worldbuilding only works in shorter story I think. Adventure Time need that change because they started to going longer. If your story run for 5 years or more and everything introduced must be new, not looking back, it gradually become *shallow.* In shorter format, it will create mystery. An air of wonder. But, sadly not in long-time form.
@@valhatan3907 Very hard disagree, Tolkien utilized it over the course of several books famed for their depth.
A long story or show does not need to reveal old secrets for the sake of content. Explore character interactions more. Go to new places. Make new intrigue. Imagination is not a finite well that has to be drilled and exhausted
Again, answering all those questions is what makes a show feel shallow, not introducing new things. That is weird.
lets not forget that we're all just clinging desperately to the idea that anything can be organized, when in reality chaos is our nature, and inevitably thats what we all crave.
Wow, those 22 minutes flew by. Beautiful work!
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it
Oh HELL yeah a Christian (Catholic? Jesuit??) artist’s analysis of Over the Garden Wall is EXACTLY what I needed today 🧡
We'll keep it to Christian because on RUclips saying anything denominational automatically inducts you into the apologist ranks and I'm not up to the task. Thank you for watching!
i first watched this show when i was... maybe 11 years old? really young. i always noticed how it felt different from the other cartoons, a much more complex tone that i wouldn't have understood at the time. looking back on it now, it reminds me of old european folktales; half anthropomorphized animals, mysterious woodland horrors, in general this sense of feeling small in a world of many perils. seeing it now but in a much more introspective light has been a treat, and i'm deeply considering doing another watch of this on halloween! love how it's been a tradition for many people alike.
I great one to add to the autumn cycle
just got here, but 10/10 would red microphone again. kept forgetting about it and then getting jumpscared by a png on a music note--
It sneaks up on ya for sure
There’s a lot to love about Over the Garden Wall from the art, to the writing, to the music- it’s a veritable American folk tale in every sense of the term! There’s also a lot to love about this video, and as someone in the midst of writing my own world for a graphic novel it was incredibly insightful! Also, as another commenter said- no better video for crickets to insert themselves into the recording!
Thank you! I'm glad you found something helpful in the video, and OtGW is definitely a show worth analyzing.
Your wonderful teaching aside
Your petty red microphone is what solidified my subscription to you. 💛
But thank you so much for this love letter to Over the Garden Wall.
I hope to take your advice and apply it to my own writing
Glad you liked it and thank you for watching!
Great video, you explain how they build on their world so well. One thing I especially love about over the garden wall is how short it is. I think something about it's few episodes and runtime, allows its world to be digested compare if it were multiple seasons. It came and went but didn't get forgotten.
It's a very true point that the limitations of the series length is one of its strengths.
My family and I watch Over the Garden Wall every October. It sets the mood so well for fall and Halloween.
Absolutely
Never ceases to amaze how many new things I can learn from something I’ve seen so many times
Absolutely true. Every work of art is a thousand miles deep. You can find something new over and over.
I'm leaving this video with a lot to think about so thank you. An accessibility tip: the font you've chosen for the sections is such a cool choice so to make sure everyone can see it regardless of color blindness, a slight shade behind the letters or a drop shadow will help meet color contrast.
I figured the show was an homage to Fleischer animation. The highwayman/Cab Callaway reference, and flip the frog by ub iwerks. It is the end of hand drawn animation, as we pass into the next era.
Also Wort is growing up and moving past little kid stuff, and into romance. The woods behind his house cannot hold the mysteries they once held...until you knock your head really good.
Anyways, love the channel, keep up the great work.
The Fleischer connections is a video in of itself. There's a lot to mine there
Great video! I really love the idea of allowing some strangeness to exist within fictional worlds, not only because they make the world feel more alive but also, paradoxically, it makes them more realistic, since there is things in our world that go unexplained to us, especially those of us not within fields of science (but even then, things for them still go unexplained, and no one can be an expert in everything).
I've been struggling with some worldbuilding (as I am trying to start to write longer pieces of literature), but I have a feeling that applying this will be highly beneficial!
Good luck with it! I'm glad you got some small help from this
Over the garden wall is such an important piece of media to me but I never noticed some of the worldbuilding concepts you toutch on- making this the perfect video essay to me
there is so much to love about Over the Garden Wall. on of them is the overflowing love and care with which so many people talk about it. all the other examples of beautiful art that come up in the conversations about and around it.
this is one such video. instant subscription.
PS - loved to red miked dino x D
Thank you for watching!
i'm glad people are still talking about this show, went under too many peoples radars. nice crucifix. subscribed.
It went under my radar for too many years. Thank you!
thats why we need a Prequel to this show atleast for me
I've also noticed Spielberg's shift from his early work to his newer work, and I think you're right. The early work has a more child-like fascination with the world, and feels more imaginative and whimsical.
The later work is still solid, but perhaps too solid. Too grounded and focused. Not enough room for whimsy there.
Exactly. It's like the most robust and healthiest meal you've ever had with no seasoning.
Great video. That microphonix-rex was terrifying. God bless :)
Thank you for watching. And remember that microphone Trex is very unlikely to be real. Can't rule it out though
This is my second favorite miniseries ever! It’s only beat somewhat by death parade, my favorite miniseries. Thank you so much for talking about it😋
Thanks for watching!
Your threatening past comments goons of inserting another red microphone into the frame made me click on like AND subscribe. You rebel, you!
This completes my paradigm of being the verifiably biggest boring square on earth and also craftily subversive.
I enjoyed your take on this immensely. Such magnificent things to learn from such a magnificent story. I shall share this lesson with anybody that will tolerate it now. Thanks man.
Thank you for watching. Really glad you got something from it!
That cross was there the whole time, but I didn't expect to find any Jesus at the end of an Over the Garden Wall video. Heck yeah.
"by it I see everything else" to quote Lewis. It always comes back to that for me.
I appreciated your reflection on sorrow, and the Psalm. It’s tempting to not show the sorrow in my artwork, I get worried I’ll put people off.
There's a lot of beauty to be found in sorrowful things, so I don't think it, by itself, puts people off. But I do think you have to tinge it with hope and not let it project a sorrow that just spirals into nihilistic despair. For one I don't think that accurately describes the nature of the world (though many would gladly argue with me on that assertion). But for a second reason that psychologically people need it. We draw great hope from those stories where sorrow happens, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. It gives people courage to progress through their own sufferings. Stories like that are a service to humanity.
Beautiful analysis of Over the Garden Wall, Jordan. Really enjoyed this!
Thank you!
Great analysis of Over the Garden Wall. Especially agree with the point about the "unessential" LOOSE ENDS that make a world interesting ... for example, everyone who automatically jumps to the position: "Oh, yeah, The Old Forest chapter of LOTR with Tom Bombadil is expendable, contributes nothing to the main narrative, cut it out" is wrong in my opinion. Mysterious figures like The Highway Man or Tom Bombadil make it all the more interesting to me.
The Tom Bombadil connection is solid. The Old Forest and Tom build out the world of Middle Earth just like Beren & Luthien, the Entwives, etc. That mystery of the road not traveled does much more for the imagination.
Excellent video dude, very unique style and vibe for a video essay. Very surprised that a video this polished about a series this beloved can have such a low view count, but I'm sure it won't for long. Keep it up.
There's plenty of grinding to be done to get the views up, but if I provide value, I think it will come. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement
I like this video. Such a amazing mini series
Thank you!
Gotta be honest imma need a third even reder microphone.
The arms race begins
1. The environment is integrated into the plot
2. The world is characterized through thematic boundaries
3. Different places and loose ends
4. Restraint and yield (one off bits and excentricities)
This is really cool, I just found your channel, and now You're reviewing my favourite cartoon limited series. Cheers!
Glad to have you! Thank you
Thank you, I'm happy I found it!
I've never been able to explain, in words, why I find this show so tragic and beautiful--this video is incredible. I'm subscribing, and looking forward to more.
Thank you very much for watching
Love the video! I'm new here, but I believe the thing about the red microphone being so distracting is not the color, it's the fact that it's sort of making a tangent with the furniture in the back (at a quick glance before you mentioned it I thought it was a red boombox)
To anyone who enjoyed the setting, mood, melancholy, and uncanniness of "Over the Garden Wall', I'd recommend Em Carrol's horror anthology "Through the Woods". Their stories read like cautionary tales, but are abstract enough for varied interpretations of their endings. They're superb visual storytelling too, with a restrained use of color, shadow, and simple drawings that heightens that symbolism extensively.
what a good video (thumbs up metaphorically)
A fascinating case study in environmentally-based potting is Junji Ito's horror manga, "Uzumaki". Contrary to "Over the Garden Wall", the characters are trapped in the same place for multiple chapters, but the events slowly degrade and transform the landscape, rendering escape impossible. Spirals are the visual and conceptual core of "Uzumaki", and the plot itself spirals; the setting and main characters are unchanging, but new ones are constantly introduced and disposed of, yet their stories accumulate to form a greater picture of the nature of this cursed location.
Good video, you’ve captured that feeling of sorrow contrasted by joy quite well.
When a world has irrational elements, it prevents us from feeling we understand that entire world. If we can understand the author's mindset, the world becomes predictable. It's this magic that makes Ghibli movies feel so magical; their mechanics are non-sequitor, but we fall in love with them because it works for that movie and world. If we understood how each thing connected, if we (as an audience) were given the explanations that world-centric fans love, it would lose that mystery.
16:26 I think what made this moment work so well is the fact that wacky randomness has been shown to be part of this world. Seeing all these weird things happen gives the show charm, but seeing these random moments during important or climactic moments make the moments feel more special. Because weirdness feels like a part of the world, it doesn't feel out of place, and feels more fitting for the world it's part of.
It's so crazy that you reference psalm 137, as it hits on another of the themes. Not of creeping sadness but a brutal viciousness and a world willing to harm children. You're using verse 1-4 ish but do you know it ends with a threat of revenge? Excellent video, I'm just a v weird nerd, lol.
Psalmn 8-9 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
Loved the video!
I recently graduated from an Animation program, and this show was a big influence and driving motivation to pursue a career in this industry - Thank you for this beautiful take on one of my favourite pieces of media ever!!
You have... Howard Moon vibes
That took me down a RUclips rabbit hole
I'm curious what about turtles being dark is "ominous" because to me the one seen in the short clip looked "adorable". Had there been a scene at one point with lots of bright colorful turtles to establish that they are bright and colorful under normal circumstances?
I love the way you put things into words, it's eloquent, informative and lovely, especially when its about one of my favorite pieces of media ever :) thank you for the analysis and thank you to the algorithm for showing me this so soon after uploading !
Glad you enjoyed it and also glad the algorithm dealt it to you quickly. Thank you!
you are so incredibly awesome this was so awesome. truly so cool! you've such a way with words!!
Thank you very much!
i think if you angel your red microphon more thorth your face it would be better
Red microphone but was so funny 😂😂
i gave a like for the even more red microphone. it was very helpful directing my attention
It's a masterpiece of red microphone engineering
This is a good video. I enjoyed.
Thank you!
High af making sammich.
This makes much sense, time to revisit the caverns of this show
light side jordan peterson
I'm still a chimpanzee full of snakes, however. But I shall follow the lobsters to redemption.
Middle school....I'll be over here being old =)
I spend my days teaching 18-20 year olds so I get to feel old daily. So even if I'm younger...I feel you.
@@jholtillus I just messaged on twitter but thanks for this vid.
i've never even heard of the movie. Well, something to look forward to. It reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki's worlds...I enjoyed watching most of the 70s movies, the stories then were far more important than the visual effects. Today there's an emphasis on the latter. could the reason be our tendency towards materialism aided by the incredible technological advancement? BTW love the microphone and the guitar in the background (for someone who knows nothing about music)
Over the Garden Wall is worth seeking out. You're right in that it touches an emphasis on story that used to be much more common. Thank you for watching!
You have a beautiful voice.
Thank you
I love watching OTGW every October 🥺🧡
Edit: wow you said the exact same thing 2 minutes in 😂
I've noticed a lot of people seem to have taken up the same tradition organically. It just fits
Red microphone works all the way through. Very good. Your analyses are always so spot on. Something about OTGW always reminds me of Schiller's Aesthetic philosophy of the greatest works of art reaching to something sublime. You capture that essence in your description first of Debussy's music, (J Holt: doesn't know about music. Also J Holt: beautiful metaphor of Clair de Lune), and again in the description of that interplay of light and dark in the twilight. Fantastic. Bravo.
I appreciate all the kind words and I'll have to look into Schiller, as that's not one I know (or at least do not recall). Thank you
Loved your Aladdin video, it was an instant-subscribe moment for me. OTGW is one of my favorite shows and I enjoyed being able to see it through your eyes! It feels like such a masterclass of a show that I've been too intimidated to pull it apart and analyze it, but I may have to dig into it for myself now too
I barely scratched the surface. Go for it and reap all the great stuff there wasn't time to touch here.
Would love to see you do a video on Scavengers Reign
amazing video im glad it showed up on my feed
IM THE HIGHWAY MAN
Glad you made the jump! Thank you
Over the Garden wall has such a beautiful style and to hear its praises sung again and again is always great, especially so when you have a clear understanding of what your talking about and a excellent skill for explaining how you find beauty in it.
Now for the side question where did you get your Odysseus poster from?
Thank you, and the Odysseus poster is a work of my own from several years back
Great video! Thanks for sharing so thoughtfully. 💯✨️🌟🏆✏️🖌✒️🎨👍
Thank you for watching!
Wonderful video, very beautiful analysis, and a magnificent red mic. What more could be asked for X)
Glad you enjoyed it and thank you!
Would love to see some more Art History Videos, maybe past individual artists and also some History of Animation? Such as Disney or even Anime. I just really enjoy listening to your thoughts and opinions on Art History and how it relates to helping/helped you and relates to some of the struggles of learning Art now, like you have mentioned in other videos :)
Hopefully you'll see plenty coming either on art history or connecting modern media to art history. Thank you!
Please do more assessments on animated films!
Such a great video, great writing advice and beautiful philosophical ideas all in one video!
Thank you!
Highly recommend getting the soundtrack on Vinyl.
That probably does have a good sound to it
This is a great video, and I too will make an effort to watch Over the Garden Wall every October! One thing though, there is a pervasive ringing throughout the video…
It's a cricket. I made the mistake of opening a window and could not strike it from the audio.
Oh man those are the worst!
You sound very well red 🥁. Great info, thanks. Really appreciate your channel 👌
@@nengelen thank you!
Please review little nightmares
I had never heard of it, but I looked it up and I'm intrigued.
@@jholtillus thanks:)
great video about a great tv show! and your voice has such a lovely gravelliness to it, i could listen all day
Thank you!
very cool content, loved it
11:57
"This principle holds tension
with the one that I just mentioned.
Hard thematic boundaries
are drawn." Bars
this guy has fire takes
great video! loved it!
Another quality video! I'm looking forward to the card game you are creating! The art looks spectacular. Just out of curiosity, would you consider doing a video on Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal?
I've never seen it. Where can I find it?
@@jholtillus Adult Swim streams it on their website for free. I ended up buying each season on blu-ray after watching only the first couple episodes. It's some of the best animated storytelling I've ever seen, and I would be curious to hear your thoughts on it.
@@jholtillus It's on the adult swim website. I honestly picked up the first two seasons after watching just the first few episodes. I think it's some of the best animated storytelling I have ever experienced. I would be very curious to hear your thoughts on it.
For the algorithm!
Why do you have an instagram filter on? Lol can't you just neutral or soft yellow lighting instead of a weird blue?
But then would we have ever even spoken? Would we have still become best friends?
@@jholtillus Perhaps I would have completed your use of aesthetically pleasing cozy lighting and we could have been more than best friends
Great video, thank you!
Thank you. And thank you.
Great video!!
Loved the analysis, the mic was cool too
I thank you
There's a loud and pitch noise in your microfone
I put that in just for you
@@jholtillus It's bad
Oh man. This freaking show.
One of the best. 10 short episodes and then walks away.
Fantastic video!
Thank you!
I love this series.
A gem if ever there was one
yay! algorithm
It brings all things together
I feel like over the garden wall is the perfect onion layer metaphor. Honestly feels like more of a October, November, Decemeber holiday show then just soly a spooky Halloween miniseies.
I agree. I think that stems from its sense of the passing of things, rather than just embracing the Halloween spookiness. In that way it's similar to the Lord of the Rings, which hovers around the passing of one era to another (elves leaving the shores)
I loveeeeee how your face seems soo happy while talking about things you like.
Enjoyed every bit of this video
Thank you, and yes, I remember in school that the profs who loved their subject made a bigger impact on me. I'm glad the enthusiasm comes through
Love this video! Over the garden wall is definitely a work of art!
Thank you and yes, it's kind of a rare example of a truly brilliant mini-series that actually ends on its own terms