There is a place that many have gone to, but few return from…a dark and mysterious place filled with trees, known as only the Unknown. Where a beast is afoot, pumpkins dance and two young boys are lost. Wirt and his younger half-brother Gregory find themselves wandering around in these woods, without any memory of getting there in the first place. They find themselves alone, but that doesn’t last long as they run into friends, foes and everything in between. This is an October edition of Bookmans Recommends: Over the Garden Wall.

Over the treetops and mountains/ Over the blackened ravines/ Then softly it falls by a house near a stream/ And over the garden wall/ To thee.

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Over the Garden Wall is based on an animated short film by Patrick McHale called Tomb of the Unknown. It was created for Cartoon Network’s short film development program. The show opens up with a frog playing piano, spinning in slow circles. He is singing the theme for the show and as he continues, small glimpses of the entire show ensue. This frog makes an appearance throughout each episode as the younger brother’s pet, whose only form of communication is through singing. Wirt, being the older brother, is worry-prone and indecisive, while Greg is all about having fun and being carefree. The two boys wander through the magical and dark toned woods where they come across a woodsman that grinds Edelwood trees into oil for his lantern. He warns the boys about the beast that stalks the Unknown, and encourages Wirt and Greg to leave the woods as soon as possible.

On their journey they encounter a talking blue jay named Beatrice. Sarcastic and filled with sass, she tells the two boys to go visit Adelaide of the Pasture, or as she refers to her, The Good Woman of the Woods. Beatrice promises that Adelaide will help them find their way home, and that she will help her turn back into a human. The three of them make their way through the woods where they meet a plentiful group of characters, of which they try and get directions from. All of them a little ‘off’, including dancing pumpkins that have secrets of their own, a tavern filled with people who all play a roll, frogs that enjoy the art of the bassoon, and the very dangerous and ever-talked about beast. It seems that all of the Unknown’s residences have a way of waylaying the main characters from their quest to get home. The biggest challenge they face though it seems, might not be with the beast himself, but their own will to keep going.

This show is 11 minutes long and has only 10 episodes all together. It is voiced by famous actors Elijah Wood, Tim Curry, John Cleese, Christopher Lloyd and many more. It’s a quick watch that will leave you wanting more, and really thinking about the content after it’s over. There are plenty of surprises, super catchy songs and quality animation throughout the entire show. If you’re not singing about Potatoes and Molasses or about the Highway Man by the end, you have watched it wrong. If you’re looking for this show or any other show you’ve been interested in watching, give any of your nearest Bookmans locations a call. Feel free to peruse our orange shelves, but if you can’t make it in we would be happy to look for you. Now we are off to Adelaide! I don’t know who she is or how she is or when or why she is, but as for where she is, she is where we will go!