The Art of Over the Garden Wall

by Sean Edgar, Pat McHale (Editor)

Venture into the Unknown! A complete tour through the development and production of the Emmy-winning animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall, this volume contains hundreds of pieces of concept art and sketches, and a comprehensive look at the show's breathtaking production art. From the original Tome of the Unknown: Harvest Melody pilot, through each of the episodes, and beyond, take a strange and wonderful journey with Wirt, Greg, and Beatrice.

Learn how the award-winning backgrounds were created, see animation storyboards, and even take a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the Mondo vinyl soundtrack and "For Sara" mix tape, as well as the ongoing Boom! Studios comics. Sean Edgar guides the tour, which includes commentary from creators Patrick McHale and Nick Cross. "I'm so happy Sean and Dark Horse got this book to happen! It's been really interesting going through all my old sketchbooks, notes, and file folders in search of lost bits and pieces from the show's development," said Patrick McHale.

"This handsome volume will contain a nice mixture of beautiful drawings and paintings from the series, amusing anecdotes about the process, unseen and unused artwork that didn't make the final cut, other mysterious odds and ends, and a whole lot of horrible ugly early development sketches that should inspire people to say, 'Hey, I could do better than that!'"

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Comics, Reference, Picture Books, Media Tie In

184 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 2017

Reviews

[nastya · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say, this cartoon miniseries is one of my all-time favorites. So naturally I loved this art book of behind the scenes and concept art and story. And it was surprisingly informative.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely mandatory read for animation fans!
over the garden wall is one of my favourite shows of all time and I was not disappointed. this is is a true encyclopaedia on the show. the endless sketches and storyboards made me so happy to see! the mood and story of this show are so well captured and I can absolutely see how that came to be with all the work shown here.

this is truly an inspiring book and I cannot wait to start creating. absolutely loved this read

[Leonie]

The art of the show is just so pretty.

[Frog · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been more interested in how this cartoon was made than the actual cartoon. (Even though I do like the cartoon). The art and ideas seem a little better than the writing in the show.

One of the reasons I like this cartoon is because I can tell how most of it was made. It's interesting to learn more about the process and fill in some of the gaps. I also like how the book includes parts of the pitch bible.

It's nice to see a cartoon based on fairy tales and fantasy instead of "random" things like barfing rainbows and llamas. (Llamas haven't been random since 2009, by the way. I'm looking at you, Disney XD). I recommend this book if you're into animation.

[Stelladia Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maravilloso tanto si conoces la serie como por puro interés hacia las artes y la animación. Over the Garden Wall es una pequeña joya y explorar cada detalle de su creación es un regalo. He disfrutado especialmente de la evolución de pitch a al a la estructura definitiva de la serie.

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously incredible book! Definitely a must-read for any fan of the series or even those who are just interested in animation or art in general!
Love, love, love! So grateful to be able to own a copy since they stopped printing it for some reason.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy wow. This is what every 'art of' book should strive to be. Asides from the art (which is a 5-star review by itself), the commentary throughout the book and the markups and everything they show in the illustrations make it so much more than just a 'here's some pictures' book. By far the best 'art of' book.

[Sean Edgar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book ever written ; P

[Philip McCarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must for anyone who is a fan of the series. It really adds so many layers to the story that one might have missed while watching it over and over again. I really loved how gorgeous the artwork is. The world of the series comes to life once again through concept art, backgrounds, character designs, and insightful discussions by the creators. Cannot recommend this enough to fans of the series.

[Mayu Vargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Over the garden wall", en español la serie se llamó "Más allá del jardín " de Patrick McHale fue una serie de 10 capítulos que la daban en Cartoon Network, y que yo recuerdo que me encantaba, la historia y la animación era tan buena que tengo muy buenos recuerdos , este libro es el arte y la historia de cómo realizaron está serie, trae dibujos , entrevistas y muchos datos, me encantó y pretendo leer los cómic, ultra recomendado.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The loveliest (pencil) li(n)es of all.

First off, if you've read this book and haven't seen the miniseries... who are you, Jason Funderburker?! That doesn't make any sense.

Beautiful animation and some behind the scene tidbits, what's not to love?

Now stop burgling those turts and go check it out!

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you thought the art in the show was beautiful, looking at it more closely will give you even more of an appreciation and breathtaking experience. This book is a must-read for any Over the Garden Wall fan. I read the entire thing in one day haha.

[Nannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a treasure. Over the Garden Wall remains my favorite Autumn show (and it’s simply a masterpiece in its own right), with the background painting and art style being two of many reasons why I love it so much. I remember also following one of the background artists as well on social media and eating up every single detail of behind-the-scenes content he would post. So when I saw there was an art book from the show made, I was ecstatic.

Content warnings:
- trypophobia (only on the Beast’s character page)

There is so much in this book. What inspired the show, little comments from those who worked on it, sketches and screenshots from all stages of the show’s progress, character concept art, other episode ideas, information about the initial pilot, and more.

At one point, there was an episode written in which a man kidnapped kids and used their bones to make little dolls (the ones you see in the opening and very ending -- where Wirt, Greg, and Jason Funderberker the frog are added to a set of the Unknown character dolls -- are directly from that idea, which is chilling. Some of the cast's ideas were obviously too scary for Cartoon Network to add, like a lot of the Beast’s initial designs. But they're great to see here!

Speaking of that guy, though, many mysteries are from the show surrounding him and his edelwood trees are expanded upon (I won’t talk about them now, of course), which may answer a lot of questions -- like what happened for me -- or create a bunch more -- like what happened for a friend of mine. The great thing about this show is that Patrick McHale and the other creators wanted you to draw your own conclusions and find your own meaning from the stories. The art book is the same way.

Most of the other pages are packed full of delights, like a sketch wall of terrible drawings from the crew, a sketch of Greg with a frying pan upside down on his head and a note reading, “Not iconic enough,” and stories about how each crew member put their own little mark on the series.

I will definitely love looking through this again from time to time.

[Anim macqq · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super para los fans. Ne encantan los diseños y bocetos de mc hale y del resto de los artistas. Esta e inglés y si bien no entendí todo, puedo decir que entendí el 90 %.

[Beatriz Linares · Rating 5 out of 5]

muito especial e lindo 💗

[Shaghayegh.l3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant! i loved all the details.

[Bryce E. Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it, and the art in this book is just beautiful. Def need to rewatch OTGW after this read!

[laia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read si os gusta over the garden wall!! (y si no habéis visto over the garden wall no sé a qué estáis esperando)

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

absolutely beautiful!! i loved getting a deeper insight into the artwork and the development of the show. the love and passion put into this show is so evident

[jzmcdaisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift from a friend who knows of my love for this charming miniseries. I didn't expect there to be much written about the story outside of the retelling established by the comics. Fortunately, Edgar's book is just enough behind the scenes fun to incite some bonus reading for the fans of our favorite misguided brothers. I was engaged in the rough drafting that took place to get the show into its unique position, giving hope that my own writing will be shadows of better things in the future. The art that's in the book is universally phenomenal, even if its a little redundant to experience if you've already seen in move on screen. However everything leading up to the art that shows the constructive process behind the series made it a worthwhile read.

[chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVED this!

Over the Garden Wall is one of my my favourite TV show of all time, so I absolutely LOVED seeing more inspiration behind the show and some of the elements of the show explained. The art is obviously stunning.

To those who haven't yet watched Over the Garden Wall, PLEASE WATCH IT NOW!!!

[Noura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting to see the all the storyboards and original ideas of this masterpiece was really nice. There's just something so unique about this show and I'm so happy I got to see behind the scenes and how such beautiful work went into every little detail.

[diaryofaworm]

watch over the garden wall —> watch tome of the unknown —> read this book —> watch dreams of the rarebit fiend: the flying house —> rewatch over the garden wall

[Samantha Puc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC PDF of this book from Dark Horse Comics for review on Rogues Portal. You can read an excerpt of that review below, or click this link to read it in full.

***

For fans of the series, this book is a must-have. 188 full-color pages explore concept art, sketches, production art, and more. Commentary provided by series creators Patrick McHale and Nick Cross enhance the experience, as well as quotes from the cast and crew.

It dives deep into the creation of Over the Garden Wall, beginning with creator Patrick McHale’s assurances to Cartoon Network executive vice president Rob Sorcher that the series would be “at least decent.”

...

Art of Over the Garden Wall dives deep into the creative process behind one of the most innovative children’s mini series in recent memory. Every page begs readers to immerse themselves in the experiential retelling of how the series was conceptualized and then executed.

[Claudi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely read art books for movies and I always end up just flipping through just to look at the art, but since I'm really interested in TV animation I decided to actually read this. MAN am I happy I did. Personally my favorite part isn't seeing the art of the show, its seeing the art of what the show could've been. This book is filled with so much concept art and even includes the exact pitch bible that helped the series get greenlit to be made into a pilot. The author talks a lot about the process of pitching the series to the studio and even gives some really solid advice for pitching your own show to network execs. If you're a fan of the television cartoon that's probably why you're picking up this book; but if you know anyone who's interested in becoming an television animation showrunner then this book is worth their time because it basically gives a great templet for creating your own pitch bible! My favorite artbook mainly for that reason and I hope more art books for television do what this book does.

[Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Art of Over the Garden Wall is a lush coffee table book celebrating Cartoon Network's modern classic miniseries, An informative and interesting exploration of the origin and creation of the miniseries, the book is packed with plenty of cool concept art, storyboards, and background into Patrick McHale’s influences in developing the work. It was especially interesting to see how various ideas from the team came together to build such a cohesive, beautiful work, from the music to the voice actors. One of the better such tie in works I’ve seen and a useful look at how the animation process evolves and coalesces from feelings and ideas to a finished product.

I discuss other tie-ins to Over the Garden Wall in the latest entry of my book review essays, Harris' Tome Corner, focusing on Halloween-friendly Kid Horror.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLESS the Internet Archive for having a digital copy of this, because otherwise I would never be able to buy and own it!! I'm one of those people who loves Over the Garden Wall so much that I rewatch it every fall, so this behind the scenes book was right up my alley. I loved hearing about the earlier versions of the stories and characters. It looks like a lot of constrained work was put into the show, but it also seemed like everyone had fun. It's a unique show for sure, so it gave them a chance to do something different.

I also really loved this tidbit:

We referenced this sketch when Wirt is walking into the snow to find Greg at the end of this episode. He's finally the romantic hero.

I love this. He's the romantic hero, but for his brother and their familial love.

[Darcy Roar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and interesting look into the making of Over the Garden Wall, one of the very best pieces of animation in recent history. McHale, Cross, & a host of other creators talk about the shifts and turns the story and animation took before it was fully realized in a funny and entirely readable way (If you, like me opened this book and were discourage by the large blocks of text in an art book, don't be. It was absolutely worth reading through). If you haven't seen Over the Garden Wall yet (what are you even waiting for?) I would recommend watching before you read through this book as the back half covers each episode in detail with plenty of spoilers. A beautiful and spooky book that fits perfectly with it's beautiful & spooky series.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love Over The Garden Wall and seeing how much work was put into it is really fascinating. The art direction, the creative process entailing both the writing, thumbnailing, sketching and finishing stages and all the different aspects that fit together to create the immersive world is so interesting and well-presented. I adored getting to see all the different sketches and especially the background paintings blew me away. So much care and thought went into the creation of this show and it's so fun to see.
A lovely look into the creative process and the world of the show.