Why Over the Garden Wall is GENIUS Storytelling

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In many cultures people used to believe cats guide people to the afterlife or that cats are able to interact with both the living and dead. Maybe that's why it's a cat.

In regards to episode 7 and Auntie Whispers warning them about her sister, I think that since we already know Adelaide is evil, her warning statement hits even harder. This initially terrifying woman ends up being more concerned for their safety than Beatrice who Wirt grew to trust, cementing her betrayal and the hopelessness of their scenario even further into Wirt's head. It's like another punch to the gut for Wirt who's confidence is already waning, leading into him giving up completely. You can see this on his face when he reacts.

We just going to skip over how Beatrice was trying to get them kicked off the boat throughout the episode because by that point she'd fully decided she didn't want to bring them to adalaide.

Details of note: Beatrice is the name of Dante’s guide through purgatory and heaven the the Divine Comedy. Enoch the patriarch is tasked with watching over the dead in the Old Testament. No person other than Greg eats until the last episode when Wirt eats dirt. Greg rings the bell inside the frog in the hospital after they return. Wirt and Greg need two pennies to take the ferry across the river to the pasture, just like the dead in Greek mythology.

I actually like how auntie whispers warns about Adelaide after they’ve met. It’s like a bittersweet moment, an ‘if only I knew earlier’ moment, but not only that, the sweet innocent looking bird wirt chose to trust betrays him, but the evil sounding witchy one is the one who actually cares. And I love how they sum up this whole lesson by Greg saying hey it just goes to show you stuff. They don’t fully say ‘lol YOU THOUGHT’ but they do imply that they wanted you to realise that things aren’t always what they seem - which is the lesson that is seen in every episode

I think it’s also nice that Greg isn’t a super “deep” character. I mean he’s a little 5 year old boy. They are meant to be innocent and not filled with the need to “change / grow” as a person. (Besides physically lol) I like how Greg is almost oblivious to the seriousness of certain situations. Just like an actual little kid. Because of the drastic personality and mental capacity differences. It also makes Wirt that much more of a relatable teenager. A lot of situations are out of his hands! (Like Greg’s dad marrying Wirts mom) Making the responsibilities Wirt does that much more overwhelming for him. Like taking responsibility for his new little brother.

I've seen some discussions of the queen being the Beast in disguise, and the more I rewatch the episode the more accurate that seems to be for a few reasons. First is the audio and visual clues. The queen's pattern of speech matches the Beast's: Both speak in the same, luring tone. Then, when Greg is talking to her, we get this creepy camera shot looking up at her face, almost as if she's looming over us as the audience, which gives an eerie vibe despite the brighter colors and her gentle features. Secondly, when Greg first enters Cloud City, we see a black turtle travelling beside him with the rest of the animals that welcome him in, which we already suspect to be tied to the Beast or at least the darker aspects of the Unknown. Lastly and most glaring is the line, "Anything is possible if you set your mind to it." Greg said these words to the queen, and the Beast later throws these same words at Greg in the last episode of the show when forcing him to run impossible tasks. I think this reflects a lot not just on Greg's innocence and the Beast's deception as characters, but also fits with the idea of the Beast standing in as a Devil figure. Most see the Devil as a man with horns and a pitchfork while, Biblically, he's described as having been one of the most beautiful of God's angels, compared to a morning star. Evil can take a seemingly beautiful form to decieve, and that seems to be what the Beast was doing.

One thing you didn't mention: this show has one of Cartoon Network's best soundtracks

I don't think this was mentioned, so if it's was I'm sorry my memory is awful, but I love the detail of how it slowly begins to get colder and how it seems to change seasons. Obviously, the boys didn't spend months in the lake as they would have drowned but I always felt the snow represented how they all slowly getting colder and closer to death.

I don’t think the turtles do anything out of pure malice so I wouldn’t call them demons. I believe that the official artbook more or less calls them sins. And it says that the reason Auntie Whispers is so messed up is because the sins she eats and thereby removes from the world have ravaged her body.

I think episode 7 did try to convey an answer to the whole "why didn't she ever think to just do what Wirt did" point, just not super well. Each episode deals with facing the unknown in some regard. I think the episode was trying to say that, like Wirt had after being betrayed by Beatrice, Auntie Wispers has problems with fear of abandonment/betrayal, or fearing the unknown of what someone's inner thoughts truly are. She didn't do what Wirt did because she feared Laurna would abandon her if her curse was completely lifted. She needed Wirt, an outside force, to get it done and make her face that unknown by force.

Don't you guys think Auntie Whispers HAD to know how powerful her Bell was? That leads to a few theories of mine. Firstly, Auntie may have just decided not to banish the spirit because she thought it meant she would lose Lorna. With Adelaide being her sister and a servant of the Beast, I think it's very possible Auntie Whispers may also be in his employ, and the fact that Lorna is possessed and kills kids is what keeps the Beast convinced that she isn't trying to save the kids from Lorna. It could also be possible that Auntie wasn't able to banish the spirit herself, and Wirt somehow was able to?

For reference to some of the slightly odd voice acting of Auntie Whispers, she's voiced by none other than Tim Curry... right after he had a rather hefty stroke. Seriously this was like the first thing he did after nearly dying. It sounds like he's doing better (he's done some other stuff since), but this was what he could do at the time for this character

I'm so glad you brought up the Queen of Cloud City being the Beast, bc it's a thought I'd had since I'd first watched the show. To me, it's especially clear just bc of the way they talk; they both have a very similar cadence in speech, and the whole dream just feels like something planted by the Beast in order to trick/break down Greg into submitting as well. It really feeds into the whole manipulation and deceit that the Beast is willing to do in order to achieve his goals, and he did it in a way that was most familiar to Greg; using cute animals and silly situations that would most entice and interest a child. It's especially note-worthy bc of the art style; it's very cartoony, not unlike Disney's Silly Symphonies, which are probably the cartoons that Greg would've been watching at the time. The Beast took this information and presented it in a way that was understandable to Greg in order to manipulate him.

11:41 Just a little note, Wirt's comment on the French Rococo style clashing with Endicotts sensibility is referencing the fact that Endicott didn't build this part of the manor at all, they're in the part of the giant manor where the "ghost" women built it, hence the more french leaning

Personally, when it comes to Auntie Whispers, I think this was another moment that shows everything is not as it seems in the Unknown. Adelaide is described as “the good woman of the woods” by Beatrice. This sets her up as someone who can help, & even being called ‘Adelaide of the pasture’ adds to this. A pasture is a wide, open plain, implying that there is nothing to hide w/ Adelaide, & the word itself is made up of all soft & gentle sounds. We & the boys are being pulled into a false sense of security long before we ever meet this woman, & in ways we probably didn’t realize. So later, when we’re shown Auntie Whispers who looks like an evil witch, although we should’ve learned our lesson by now, we are immediately on guard. We think she’s keeping Lorna as a slave by controlling her w/ the bell. But, as it turns out, Auntie Whispers is just a kind, lonely old woman who was trying to help. Granted it was selfish of her to not banish the evil spirit out of fear of loosing Lorna, but I can forgive that. As social creatures, the fear of being alone is real for people. As for her being in league w/ the Beast, I don’t think so. The black turtles are seen everywhere, & it’s implied that they are the Beasts eyes & ears. Auntie Whispers has baskets full of these turtles to eat, & she’s mostly unharmed afterwards. We’ve seen what happens when a normal creature eats those turtles. It’s horrifying. I like to think that AW is sacrificing herself to keep others safe. It’s also why she warned the boys about Adelaide. She cared more for the safety of two strangers than most others would, & she wasn’t afraid to expose her sister for what she really was to keep them safe. (I also think it’s a nice little bit about found family being important. AW clearly loves Lorna more than anything, & while she still calls Adelaide her sister, she doesn’t seem happy doing so.)

I think that Aunty Whispers warning the boys about Adelaide was important because Wirt realizes that Beatrice was tricked by her and she wasn't to blame. I think this helps along with him giving up hope because he realized that he was in the wrong for abandoning their friend and stealing those scissors to punish her.

My personal thoughts on why Auntie Whispers "never thought" to fix the problem with the bell that way is that... well she did, but like she says, she was selfish and worried that Lorna would leave her if she "didn't need her" anymore. Therefore, even if she knew how to banish the evil spirit, she wouldn't because she was scared of being alone.

It's true McHale said the turtles were left vague intentionally as a "black thread" but I think they have something to do with sin of sorts. They tend to show up when someone has done something wrong, (i.e. the mill where Beatrice threw a rock at the blue bluebird) and in Auntie Whisper's house (where lots of people got ate) there's a whole basket. She also feeds into the folk character of a sin eater. So that makes sense as well.