But under the surface, there is a prevailing darkness and even a sense of dread and terror. Just like the Little Golden Books, on the surface, Over the Garden Wall is a bright, happy kids’ show where the stakes are not very high. The masterful music of the series mimics styles popular in the early part of the 1900s. The backgrounds tend to be static and highly detailed, while the characters themselves have simple designs. (This is perhaps most obvious in episode 8, Babes in the Woods, in which Greg visits Cloud City, which contains many direct references to classic animation and filmmaking.) The series very clearly borrows from the visual style of early- to mid-20th-century children’s entertainment, both storybooks and animation. When I first saw Over the Garden Wall, I immediately thought of storybooks from my childhood and, in particular, the Little Golden Books. So why should we care? An Update to the Formula Little Golden Books, especially the early volumes, are synonymous with teaching children “important lessons” by using simple stories with clear messages. They rehashed traditional stories and made them more accessible. Many Little Golden Books featured familiar stories and fairy tales, rather than original content. If you grew up in the U.S., you’ve probably seen these storybooks before and maybe even owned a few. These books were sold cheaply and all had a shiny gold spine, helping them stand out in bookstores, libraries, and classrooms. In 1942, Little Golden Books hit the market, and they’re still being published today, albeit in a format closer to that of novelty items or gift books for special occasions. Stories with dark and serious consequences were seen as being all the more effective for preventing negative behavior in children.Įven today, this remains the underlying effect of storytelling, even if creators aren’t necessarily trying to communicate a message of morality to their audience. Cinderella’s stepsisters, for example, cut off parts of their feet to try and fit the glass slipper. It’s also important to note that many early fairy tales (think Hans Christian Andersen stories) were actually very dark.
For hundreds of years, stories (and narrative in general) were used as a means of conveying cultural values and morals.
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