It is my great honor to present to you what I believe to be the best-animated cartoon network series by far, and perhaps the most beautiful, artful, and amazing animated series that exists to date.

What’s the Deal with Over the Garden Wall?

Over the Garden Wall is an amazing 10-episode mini-series that follows two brothers in weird clothing lost in a strange woodland. The brothers must navigate their way through this odd land (that they can’t remember how they got stuck in) and get home. On the way, the two must doge angry beasts, shifty townspeople, and an array of cool (and sometimes a little creepy) characters.

By the first appearance, the show looks like it’s all puppies and rainbows. But it is much more than a typical lost-in-the-woods story. For one thing, the music is so… good. The songs are so strange but undeniably great. Several of them are lyrical, and these are songs sound like they were actual songs that everyone forgot about except the creators of the show. It’s so good, it’s a little scary.

And the art. Oh man. The backgrounds of the show are beautiful and the character designs are well thought-out and just so good. Compared to the characters and art in shows like Teen Titans Go and the Amazing World of Gumball, the art is breathtakingly different and so, so, so so beautiful. Unlike other Cartoon Network shows where the characters are confined to a general, simple, and sort of stagnant, boring area, Over the Garden Wall is so diverse in locations and art. I could go on for hours, but I’m not going to.

Why so Unheard of?

While not a common show to top series lists, Over the Garden Wall was nominated for half a dozen prestigious awards. It also won half of those, including an Emmy. So why is this great show relatively unheard of? Cartoon Network has aired the entire series about twice, so the show is dwarfed by Cartoon Network’s hit shows like Teen Titans Go (ew). This tiny window of time is, in my opinion, the biggest reason the show is so obscure.

I would seriously recommend looking into the show and buying the DVD: it’ll only take $10 of your money and two and a half hours of your time. You should at least watch the pilot episode on YouTube, although it is really dwarfed by the rest of the show. And seriously, the show is worth every minute of your time and every dollar of your money (PS: If you like the pilot episode, watch the show. If not, watch it anyway. The Pilot episode is what the creators used to pitch the show to Cartoon Network. It’s not part of the storyline, and the kids are looking for the Tome Of The Unknown, which isn’t in the actual show. The Pilot is also by far the worst episode if you could even call it that).