Please take a moment and honor the cricket in the background who, at 9 in the morning, cricketed with magnificent power through the entirety of recording and so closely aligned his song with my voice that he proved totally resistant to denoising. Honor him. He earned it.

For me, the world of Over the Garden Wall is compelling partly because its weirdness, how it “yields” to the bizarre, never feels random or contrived. It fits. The world and its weirdness feel as though governed by some inscrutable internal logic, invisible to us yet noticeably consistent. Too many “quirky” stories fall prey to what my brother and I call the “LOL random” problem: they feel forced, quirky for quirkiness’s sake. Rare and precious are things like Over the Garden Wall and legendary web series Homestar Runner, whose worlds or humor are peppered with non sequiturs yet feel, in some undefinable way, sensible. My brother and I also watch the show every October, by the way. 🙂 I enjoy and appreciate your videos immensely. Keep up the great work!

I LOVE the Highwayman for exactly the reason you say. Loose ends are what makes the difference between stories I like and stories I love.

My sister was born right after an enormous family tragedy; she is the beauty after the terrible thing. Thank you for a gorgeous video.

Guys wake up new J. Holt the Illustrator video essay just dropped and it’s about one of my favorite pieces of media ever made it’s time to celebrate

Man tells us he doesn’t know anything about music, has a guitar sitting in the background. 😂 Loved the video. Never seen the show. I’ll have to go watch it now.

Drinking Gatorade while listening to this video at 2am is what I am imagine being an artsy Victorian man with wine feels like thank you

The red mic technic is incredibly silly. Yet now i at last noticed it

The Loose Ends point is my favorite thing you pointed out here. Something at the back of my brain itches over something I think Tolkien or another fantasy author said about the importance of answers raising more questions. I'm glad I'm not the only one noticing that a lot of modern stories feel some kind of need to answer every single question and explore every single nook and cranny. Adventure Time was probably the first time I noticed it, where as the show goes on, every side character gets some arc, every offhand name gets an explanation, every location gets a second look. I mean, the last and biggest bad of the show was mentioned once in an early season as a cool sounding quote. It's not a magic ice crown, it's a broken wishmaking crown made millenia ago by a powerful wizard using arcane circuitry that can be rewired and repaired. It's not a scary ghost lady moving furniture in a haunted house, it's the spiritual manifestation of a past reincarnation trying to communicate with your current self. It's not a magic dog, it's an interdimensional alien shapeshifting parasite offspring. It's something I also see a ton in IP bought out by big companies, too, where every single mysterious thing from some older movie or video game MUST be answered. I have a hard time understanding why. You're right, it makes it all seem smaller, but it's also harder to do and is far less rewarding for all involved. If a character mentions some lost kingdom once and never again, it raises a lot of questions. People talk about it. You get fan theories, you get conversations, you get that bigger world, and you do all this in a single statement. If the same character says an exact location and a date, not only does that in itself take more effort, but so does the upkeep. Now you have to make sure that the location and date are always the same. You need to ensure they don't conflict with anything. And more often than not, you're going to slip up and create some in-lore anachronism or location contradiction unless you have some huge timeline compendium written down and consulted with every single drop of ink on the page. It's exhausting! And the result of doing so is no room for fan theories, no room for speculation, a conversation ended before it started, a smaller world, and likely a continuity that looks more like a pile of ouroboros spaghetti than a nice clean line.

This video is a pretty good breakdown of how the worldbuilding works in the show, but I'd actually argue that the loose ends and the general absurdism serve a much bigger purpose for the narrative than what you talked about in the video. For the most part, a lot of these strange, absurd moments are helping to establish the tone of the show. The moment with the turkey is weird, yes, but it's lonely and maybe even a little creepy. Haven't done my yearly rewatch yet, but from what I remember pretty much most of the strangeness is similar in tone, especially towards the beginning of the show. It's being used as a tool to show the viewers how alien The Unknown is from our world, but it also makes you stop questioning things after a while, to the point where you might not even question why Greg and Wirt are there in the first place, where they came from, why they're dressed like that, ect. Which makes the twist even stronger.

i first watched this show when i was... maybe 11 years old? really young. i always noticed how it felt different from the other cartoons, a much more complex tone that i wouldn't have understood at the time. looking back on it now, it reminds me of old european folktales; half anthropomorphized animals, mysterious woodland horrors, in general this sense of feeling small in a world of many perils. seeing it now but in a much more introspective light has been a treat, and i'm deeply considering doing another watch of this on halloween! love how it's been a tradition for many people alike.

There’s a lot to love about Over the Garden Wall from the art, to the writing, to the music- it’s a veritable American folk tale in every sense of the term! There’s also a lot to love about this video, and as someone in the midst of writing my own world for a graphic novel it was incredibly insightful! Also, as another commenter said- no better video for crickets to insert themselves into the recording!

My family and I watch Over the Garden Wall every October. It sets the mood so well for fall and Halloween.

Wow, those 22 minutes flew by. Beautiful work!

lets not forget that we're all just clinging desperately to the idea that anything can be organized, when in reality chaos is our nature, and inevitably thats what we all crave.

Never ceases to amaze how many new things I can learn from something I’ve seen so many times

Great video, you explain how they build on their world so well. One thing I especially love about over the garden wall is how short it is. I think something about it's few episodes and runtime, allows its world to be digested compare if it were multiple seasons. It came and went but didn't get forgotten.

I feel like over the garden wall is the perfect onion layer metaphor. Honestly feels like more of a October, November, Decemeber holiday show then just soly a spooky Halloween miniseies.

I'm leaving this video with a lot to think about so thank you. An accessibility tip: the font you've chosen for the sections is such a cool choice so to make sure everyone can see it regardless of color blindness, a slight shade behind the letters or a drop shadow will help meet color contrast.

Oh HELL yeah a Christian (Catholic? Jesuit??) artist’s analysis of Over the Garden Wall is EXACTLY what I needed today 🧡

just got here, but 10/10 would red microphone again. kept forgetting about it and then getting jumpscared by a png on a music note--

Your wonderful teaching aside Your petty red microphone is what solidified my subscription to you. 💛 But thank you so much for this love letter to Over the Garden Wall. I hope to take your advice and apply it to my own writing

there is so much to love about Over the Garden Wall. on of them is the overflowing love and care with which so many people talk about it. all the other examples of beautiful art that come up in the conversations about and around it. this is one such video. instant subscription. PS - loved to red miked dino x D

I loveeeeee how your face seems soo happy while talking about things you like. Enjoyed every bit of this video

Great video! I really love the idea of allowing some strangeness to exist within fictional worlds, not only because they make the world feel more alive but also, paradoxically, it makes them more realistic, since there is things in our world that go unexplained to us, especially those of us not within fields of science (but even then, things for them still go unexplained, and no one can be an expert in everything). I've been struggling with some worldbuilding (as I am trying to start to write longer pieces of literature), but I have a feeling that applying this will be highly beneficial!

I enjoyed your take on this immensely. Such magnificent things to learn from such a magnificent story. I shall share this lesson with anybody that will tolerate it now. Thanks man.

i'm glad people are still talking about this show, went under too many peoples radars. nice crucifix. subscribed.

11:57 "This principle holds tension with the one that I just mentioned. Hard thematic boundaries are drawn." Bars

I love this series.

Highly recommend getting the soundtrack on Vinyl.

I love the way you put things into words, it's eloquent, informative and lovely, especially when its about one of my favorite pieces of media ever :) thank you for the analysis and thank you to the algorithm for showing me this so soon after uploading !

Great video. That microphonix-rex was terrifying. God bless :)

I've never been able to explain, in words, why I find this show so tragic and beautiful--this video is incredible. I'm subscribing, and looking forward to more.

This is my second favorite miniseries ever! It’s only beat somewhat by death parade, my favorite miniseries. Thank you so much for talking about it😋

Excellent video dude, very unique style and vibe for a video essay. Very surprised that a video this polished about a series this beloved can have such a low view count, but I'm sure it won't for long. Keep it up.

I like this video. Such a amazing mini series

I figured the show was an homage to Fleischer animation. The highwayman/Cab Callaway reference, and flip the frog by ub iwerks. It is the end of hand drawn animation, as we pass into the next era. Also Wort is growing up and moving past little kid stuff, and into romance. The woods behind his house cannot hold the mysteries they once held...until you knock your head really good. Anyways, love the channel, keep up the great work.

Such a great video, great writing advice and beautiful philosophical ideas all in one video!

Loved the video!

amazing video im glad it showed up on my feed IM THE HIGHWAY MAN

Great video, thank you!

you are so incredibly awesome this was so awesome. truly so cool! you've such a way with words!!

Loved your Aladdin video, it was an instant-subscribe moment for me. OTGW is one of my favorite shows and I enjoyed being able to see it through your eyes! It feels like such a masterclass of a show that I've been too intimidated to pull it apart and analyze it, but I may have to dig into it for myself now too

this guy has fire takes

Love this video! Over the garden wall is definitely a work of art!

Fantastic video!

great video about a great tv show! and your voice has such a lovely gravelliness to it, i could listen all day

Red microphone works all the way through. Very good. Your analyses are always so spot on. Something about OTGW always reminds me of Schiller's Aesthetic philosophy of the greatest works of art reaching to something sublime. You capture that essence in your description first of Debussy's music, (J Holt: doesn't know about music. Also J Holt: beautiful metaphor of Clair de Lune), and again in the description of that interplay of light and dark in the twilight. Fantastic. Bravo.

Wonderful video, very beautiful analysis, and a magnificent red mic. What more could be asked for X)

This is really cool, I just found your channel, and now You're reviewing my favourite cartoon limited series. Cheers!

Would love to see some more Art History Videos, maybe past individual artists and also some History of Animation? Such as Disney or even Anime. I just really enjoy listening to your thoughts and opinions on Art History and how it relates to helping/helped you and relates to some of the struggles of learning Art now, like you have mentioned in other videos :)

Loved the analysis, the mic was cool too

This is a good video. I enjoyed.

Great analysis of Over the Garden Wall. Especially agree with the point about the "unessential" LOOSE ENDS that make a world interesting ... for example, everyone who automatically jumps to the position: "Oh, yeah, The Old Forest chapter of LOTR with Tom Bombadil is expendable, contributes nothing to the main narrative, cut it out" is wrong in my opinion. Mysterious figures like The Highway Man or Tom Bombadil make it all the more interesting to me.

Great video! Thanks for sharing so thoughtfully. 💯✨️🌟🏆✏️🖌✒️🎨👍

i've never even heard of the movie. Well, something to look forward to. It reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki's worlds...I enjoyed watching most of the 70s movies, the stories then were far more important than the visual effects. Today there's an emphasis on the latter. could the reason be our tendency towards materialism aided by the incredible technological advancement? BTW love the microphone and the guitar in the background (for someone who knows nothing about music)

Middle school....I'll be over here being old =)

Over the Garden wall has such a beautiful style and to hear its praises sung again and again is always great, especially so when you have a clear understanding of what your talking about and a excellent skill for explaining how you find beauty in it. Now for the side question where did you get your Odysseus poster from?

I'm curious what about turtles being dark is "ominous" because to me the one seen in the short clip looked "adorable". Had there been a scene at one point with lots of bright colorful turtles to establish that they are bright and colorful under normal circumstances?

1. The environment is integrated into the plot 2. The world is characterized through thematic boundaries 3. Different places and loose ends 4. Restraint and yield (one off bits and excentricities)

i gave a like for the even more red microphone. it was very helpful directing my attention

It's so crazy that you reference psalm 137, as it hits on another of the themes. Not of creeping sadness but a brutal viciousness and a world willing to harm children. You're using verse 1-4 ish but do you know it ends with a threat of revenge? Excellent video, I'm just a v weird nerd, lol. Psalmn 8-9 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Oh man. This freaking show.

Another quality video! I'm looking forward to the card game you are creating! The art looks spectacular. Just out of curiosity, would you consider doing a video on Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal?

This is a great video, and I too will make an effort to watch Over the Garden Wall every October! One thing though, there is a pervasive ringing throughout the video…

Your threatening past comments goons of inserting another red microphone into the frame made me click on like AND subscribe. You rebel, you!

I love watching OTGW every October 🥺🧡 Edit: wow you said the exact same thing 2 minutes in 😂

You have a beautiful voice.

Red microphone but was so funny 😂😂

light side jordan peterson

Gotta be honest imma need a third even reder microphone.

You have... Howard Moon vibes

i think if you angel your red microphon more thorth your face it would be better

For the algorithm!

Please review little nightmares

yay! algorithm

There's a loud and pitch noise in your microfone

Why do you have an instagram filter on? Lol can't you just neutral or soft yellow lighting instead of a weird blue?