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Each season follows and focuses on different sets of characters (though previous characters often still show up), and it explores how differently people react to the train and their own situations. Originally airing its first two seasons on Cartoon Network, Infinity Train moved to HBO Max, where it completed its third and fourth seasons. RELATED: HBO Max: 10 Shows Every Anime Lover Should Binge Right Now
#Shows like over the garden wall series
The train helps anyone who boards it work through their problems via its mystical boxcars -where they're given the opportunity to confront their problems through series of different challenges and adventures. Humans with unresolved issues and trauma are called to the train in their time of need. We have a rich, weird folk history in this country, and watching Over the Garden Wall made me wonder why we don’t put it to more use.Set on the series' titular train, Infinity Trainexists on a seemingly separate plane of existence in a barren wasteland. There’s nothing wrong with Europe, but the American aesthetic makes Over the Garden Wall feel distinct among other fantasy or fairy tale cartoons. It’s a fairy tale, but it mostly avoids the Western European aesthetic that so many fairy tales adopt.
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That’s why Over the Garden Wall’s quirky Americana is so important to me. My favorite stories are always ones that feel heavily grounded in a place. If you’re done with the show and want a detailed look at all the symbolism and references, there's a great series already written for you here. One sequence is a straight-up homage to animation from the 1930s.
#Shows like over the garden wall full
The episodes are full of references to everything from nursery rhymes to Dante’s Inferno and old cartoons. I notice something new every time I watch Over the Garden Wall.
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I won’t spoil where Over the Garden Wall ends up, except to say it's smart and poignant. But as things become more dangerous for Greg and Wirt, Over the Garden Wall makes viewers confront the fear of losing a child that you were supposed to protect. Greg is hilarious and annoying in equal measure, which anyone who has spent time around young kids can relate to. The Greg character was inspired by McHale’s own young son, and I think this is part of why the show struck such a chord with me. Showrunner Patrick McHale served as a creative director and writer on Adventure Time and as a writer and storyboarder on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. If you enjoy the humor of shows like Adventure Time, you’ll probably find Over the Garden Wall hilarious as well. What do you mean it looks like the scene of a turkey murder? This is a fun kids show! Seriously, that's just a turkey resting its head. Sometimes the visual gags and the death metaphors are one and the same, like when Wirt opens a door in Pottsfield to find a turkey taking a nap on a table. For every quip or visual gag, there’s an unsettling reminder that the woods are deadly. Greg and Wirt’s journey is a darkly comedic nightmare that they can’t wake up from. It makes no damn sense, but that's the whole point. I’m sort of just myself,” he tells them, before being interrupted by the Highwayman singing a jazzy song about his dirty work. Many of Wirt and Greg’s encounters are completely surreal, like the roadside inn where everyone sings musical numbers and insists that Wirt must be either the Young Lover or the Pilgrim. And there are real dangers in the woods: witches and wild gorillas, and a shadowy Beast that steals souls.įor me, watching Over the Garden Wall feels like falling into a dream. Wirt is responsible for Greg, even if he doesn’t want to be. The comedy and tension don’t just come from two people with different personalities navigating a wacky situation. The sibling dynamic lends gravity to the familiar odd-couple pairing. Wirt is a sullen, dramatic teenager prone to reciting wistful poetry, and Greg, his half brother, is a Chaotic Good 5-year-old who wants everyone to be happy. Like Wirt and Greg, we’re dropped straight into the Unknown. The series doesn’t waste any time telling us how they got lost, or why they were in the woods in the first place. Over the Garden Wall is a surreal American folktale about two boys lost in the woods. If you’re looking for something spooky to curl up with on Halloween, it’s my number-one recommendation. In 2014, Cartoon Network released a weird little show called Over the Garden Wall. Read on to find out why we still love Over the Garden Wall. It’s one of those shows that reveals something new to love every time you watch it (which you can do right now, because it’s currently on Hulu ). Two years later, Over the Garden Wall is a fall viewing requirement. This story was originally published in October 2016 as part of Polygon's 13 Days of Halloween series.