Over the Garden Wall: The Movie

Over the Garden Wall: The Movie is the 2017 adult animated dark fantasy-adventure dark comedy-drama pearl met film based on the Cartoon Network series, Over the Garden Wall and McHale's animated short film Tome of the Unknown, which was produced as part of Cartoon Network Studios' shorts development program. The film centers on two half-brothers who travel across a strange forest in order to help the boy to investigate his grandmother's absence, find their way home, break the evil spell of Phantom Blot and turns Beatrice back into a human, encountering odd and wonderful things on their journey. The TV movie is projected to premiere on Cartoon Network in October 2017.

Cast

 * Elijah Wood as Wirt
 * Collin Dean as Gregory
 * Christopher Lloyd as The Woodsman
 * Melanie Lynskey as Beatrice
 * Samuel Ramey as Phantom Blot
 * Jack Jones as Gregory's Frog
 * Fred Stoller as Fred the Horse
 * John Cleese as Quincy Endicott and Adelaide
 * Bebe Neuwirth as Margueritte Grey
 * Chris Isaak - Enoch
 * Janet Klein as Miss Langtree
 * Sam Marin as Old Man Langtree
 * Thomas Lennon as Jimmy Brown
 * Tim Curry as Auntie Whispers
 * Shannyn Sossamon as Lorna
 * Audrey Wasilewski as The Tavern Keeper
 * Emily Brundige as Sara
 * Shirley Jones as Beatrice's Mother
 * Cole Sanchez as Jason Funderberker
 * Mark Bodnar as The North Wind
 * Noureen DeWulf as Pumpkin Gal
 * Jerron Paxton as The Highwayman
 * Deborah Voigt as Queen of the Clouds

Production
Production for Over the Garden Wall commenced in March 2014. The ten episodes ordered for the series marked the first miniseries on the Cartoon Network. Created by Patrick McHale, a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, the show was based on the animated short film Tome of the Unknown, which he wrote and directed for Cartoon Network Studios as part of their shorts development program.

The show was first envisioned in 2004 with a scarier and more adventure-based storyline. Before working as a storyboard artist on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, McHale pitched Garden Wall in 2006. He saw it as "a possible Halloween special", but had trouble adapting the premise with a larger story arc. After his work for Flapjack, McHale moved on to co-develop Adventure Time, where he served as creative director, and subsequently as a writer. The network later asked him if he had interest in developing a pilot, which led to him returning to Garden Wall, polishing it and pitching it again to the network.[5]:29 They ultimately settled upon the miniseries format, as McHale felt that it would lead to "something that felt higher quality than what we could do with a regular series".

The show features Wood (reprising his role from the short), Lynskey, and Dean as the main voice cast. It has been characterized as a "comedy-fantasy" series. In an interview dated October 2014, McHale stated that while it mostly adheres to the genre, there would be some frightening moments which try to be "an experience for the audience". Despite this, he and his crew tried to maintain a balance with "other episodes that are just light and funny".:24 In same interview McHale depicts his inspirations for the show, including children's literature of the 19th century, early 20th-century American music and folk art in general. Additionally, McHale sought inspiration from Gustave Doré and "Alice Comedies" for the show's "layouts". Likewise for its music, McHale shared that it would contain various styles, including "classic American, opera singing", but that it would not contain much of any Broadway qualities.

Meanwhile, Nick Cross served as art director and Nate Cash as supervising director; both worked with McHale alongside storyboard artists located in New York and Chicago. This distance proved difficult for McHale, who found it "particularly daunting considering the idiosyncratic nature of the production".

Music
Various melodies and songs based on pre-1950s music are heard throughout the series. Elijah Wood, the voice actor for Wirt, has said that "if this show were a record, it would be played on a phonograph". Songs from the series include "Into the Unknown", its title song, composed by Patrick McHale and sung by Jack Jones; "A Courting Song", composed by the Petrojvic Blasting Company and performed by Frank Fairfield; and "Come Wayward Souls", sung by Samuel Ramey as the Beast.


 * "Over the Garden Wall" -  1:47
 * "Fire and Ice - September" -  6:35
 * "Axis - Crystal Ball" - 5: 08
 * "Planktoia - Dazed and Confused" -  6:24
 * "Frozen - Fade To Black" -  8:53
 * "Daydream - Under Pressure" -  7:08
 * "Pinkblue - Dragore Attack" -  9:16
 * "Karry Pearl (Ending) - Dark Shadows -  9:31

Home media
The animated film was released on DVD in the United States on November 14, 2017 from Cartoon Network and Warner Home Video. The DVD release took place two days earlier on November 7 in Australia. The DVD features commentaries, the original pilot, alternate title cards, and deleted animatics. Other extras on the DVD include the Composer's Cut, an option wherein a viewer can watch the show with only the visuals and the background music; and the mini-documentary behind Over the Garden Wall.

Trivia

 * In the post-credits scene, Greg returns the stolen rock back to Mrs. Daniel's garden.