‘Just absolutely beautiful’: Aardman’s Over the Garden Wall 10th anniversary short is truly something special
Believe it or not, Over the Garden Wall is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. And we all received the best anniversary present imaginable: a brand-new, stunningly gorgeous short from Aardman, the stop motion studio behind Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run.
We’ve come a long way from the Great Hulu Scare of September, when it seemed like Over the Garden Wall was going to be unceremoniously pulled from the only streamer it’s available on … and just before its anniversary, no less! Fortunately, we are now swimming in Over the Garden Wall abundance. The Aardman short was announced mere days after the Hulu fiasco and marks the first time that Wirt and Greg have returned since the original mini-series aired in 2014.
Patrick McHale’s Over the Garden Wall ran on Cartoon Network from November 3 to November 7, 2014. So, yes, ten years ago. The beloved 10-episode series focuses on two brothers, Greg and Wirt, trying to find their way out of a mysterious forest called The Unknown. It has aged wonderfully. As the series takes place on Halloween night, it’s rightfully become a spooky season staple. It’s the kind of show which fills you with wonder and makes your heart grow. That’s a rock fact.
Even in its all-too-swift three minutes, Aardman’s short whisks you back into that world, delivers all the feels, and more.
Sappy stuff
Combining a beloved series like Over the Garden Wall with the pedigree of Wallace & Gromit studio Aardman feels like a match made in heaven. And sure enough, when you watch the short, you discover that it certainly is.
The special itself is poignant, in a gently fourth wall-breaking way. “Does our journey ever end?” Wirt wonders. “Does anyone’s?”
Everything about the short is beautiful. You can see the grooves in Aardman’s wooden puppets. Seeing Greg, Wirt, and Beatrice again is downright sentimental, and the short cruises back multiple cameos in a way which doesn’t feel forced at all. The Blasting Company returns to score the short, giving Wirt’s musings a luscious musical score which would feel right in place in an Walt-era Disney film.
In fact, everyone returns for this anniversary short. Elijah Wood (yes, that Elijah Wood) is back as Wirt, with Collin Dean and Melanie Lynskey reprises their roles as Greg and Beatrice, respectively. The idea that everyone would want to come back gets to what makes Over the Garden Wall so special. Its sincerity, its heart, its creativity have kept it top of people’s autumn watch lists for ten years now.
Aardman’s short manages to bring all of that back in less than three minutes. As such, it has enjoyed overwhelmingly positive reception. Fans have ogled at the short’s beauty and the obvious love which went into it. Stop motion is tedious, hard work, after all.
So happy tenth anniversary, Over the Garden Wall. And thank you.
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