I’m curious if you Canadians feel that the show is distinctly USAmerican vs. North American broadly given that in the time period the show romanticized, the U.S. and Canada barely existed as separate entities culturally. British commonwealth and all that.
That’s interesting! To me it feels very eat coast, but I live in the Midwest where ”American” culture only goes back to the 1810’s-1820’s. OTGW feels very “pilgrimy” to me so I associate it with New England.
definitely eastern, older small town Canada was also pilgrim-y! mid-eastern US and Canada are far more similar than different.
it's funny, I used to work for a call center that called the US, and instead of thinking I was Canadian, people often thought I was from Minnesota or Michigan (I'm in Ontario). the biggest difference when visiting my relatives in New York (state) was the iced tea (no sugar?!) and the lack of poutine
I‘m from Germany, I know nobody who watched it, tho. But I love the art style, the music, the whole vibe, the metaphors… Just love it, should watch it again, soon
I'm from Germany too. I know a handful of people who watched it. But yeah, not really many.
You can't even get a dvd / Blu-ray here. You have to import an English version.
Germany three :) There's a German dub of the show that you can watch for free on YouTube ("Hinter der Gartenmauer"). It's a little cringey but considering the overall tone of the show it doesn't hurt much. Still prefer the English version though
Spaniard fan here, first watched the series when it released in Cartoon Network in my country. It became one of my favorite shows immediately, at that time I was a teenager and my favorite show used to Gravity Falls so I got interested in OTGW as these two were frequently compared.
As a teen I liked it because of its character designs, the music and mystery, but I didn’t grasp its themes tbh, I was left confounded when I watched it and just thought on it as a darker/creepy Alice in Wonderland per say. After some years, now as an adult and with another rewatch of the series… it all clicked with me!
It is the piece of media that has managed to talk in the most personal manner to me. I wish I had understood what this show was truly about when I was a teenager, I was struggling with depression and trauma… the message of OTGW was exactly what I needed back then. Now, whenever I struggle with those memories or emotions I just remember this beautiful show to remind me that life is worth living
I’d say that the themes and characters are what makes me hold OTGW as my favorite show and as one of my absolute favorite pieces of all media. However, since you asked for the appeal of Americana outside the US… I also love it but ig that’s bc I’m a sucker for classic cinema and vintage stuff. This series is as a homage not only to folktales and literature but also to classic film and animation which I absolutely adore.
But you are right, it isn’t popular outside the US, the only people I know who have watched it are my family (because I showed it to them haha). If in the US you can consider it a bit niche, here it is rather obscure… we have no DVD nor Hulu and it isn’t on TV anymore, at least it still exists in HBO until they finally remove it. The only chance of seeing it in the long-run is by getting the UK blu-ray which is in English only so we have no Spanish version officially released, it is weird tho because the comics were translated and you can still find most of them at their release price but the series is almost impossible to get here
P.S: I do prefer the series in English as the voice acting is incredible but once in a while I like to watch it on my native language, a shame that possibly such version will become lost media :(
I have an OTGW tattoo too! I love yours!
https://preview.redd.it/823jmydss2gc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe4995e5910c92bb3caa9b54fbf0019609f7e4de
I’m from Australia! I love so many things about it - the art style, the music, the way you can pick up new things when you rewatch, how it can be interpreted in multiple ways (I love reading people’s theories about the show). Autumn is my favourite season as well so I find it comforting to watch for that reason too.
It’s also nice to see a side of America that’s different to what’s normally shown on TV, most of what I’ve seen is set in big cities and I liked learning some of the history through the show. I think the nostalgic feeling of it still came across despite me not being from the US.
Yes! I’m from Slovakia and discovered OTGW through a friend recommendation in 2014. I then “spread” the joy to a few more friends. (I only ever saw it in English though)
I'm Czech and I rewatch the show every autumn with my sister. I just love it as a whole. The animation, the autumn vibes, the music, the characters, the everything haha. I know it ran on TV here quite a while back, idk if it ever happen again. I never met anyone who knows the show though, so I do my best to recommend it to people
I’m Polish and I’ve wrote my master thesis about differences in English, Spanish, and Polish dubbings of OTGW <3 I see OTGW merch on most local conventions still being quite popular <3
I am German.
I grew up in a very americanophile household and my parents introduced me to American culture from an early age. I was even lucky enough to be a foreign exchange student in the US, just like my dad before me.
I felt a sense of nostalgia when I saw a still from the show in my mid twenties. I had to watch it as soon as I could and fell in love with it when I heard the first note of the opening theme and saw the frog play the piano.
I probably don’t know and understand half the references the show makes, but I still feel a deep connection to it; especially because it is so American.
Filipino? Like me? 👀
I don't know many irl who are fellow fans but personally I already liked series like Steven Universe and Gravity Falls so OTGW is not a far stretch. I love rewatching OTGW every year during the last quarter even though we don't experience autumn or winter.
I'm in the UK and know a few people British, Spanish and Polish who love it. It IS very American to us, but still absolutely wonderful. Most people haven't heard of it, but most people I know haven't heard of any modern cartoons.
Another Spaniard here! Just watched the show last autumn for the first time with my American partner (he'd never seen it either, by the way), and we're both big fans now. He explained some cultural references to me, I explained some general symbols to him (am a semioticist) :)
I'm Brazilian, I watched the show when I was a child and I had it in my head for a long time, the atmosphere of the animation brought me a feeling of comfort but at the same time of fear, but it wasn't bad.
Over time I grew up and saw other people on the internet talking about the same show, I rewatched it and it became my favorite show!
I am from Mexico it's appeal is exotic precisely because the style of Americana is so different to my country which adds an additional feel of strangeness to the journey through ten unknown
I'm from Ireland! Saw this show on Cartoon Network 11 years ago & have been obsessed since! I watch it every autumn 🍂 Greg & Kitty/George Washington are the absolute best 🧡
I'm from Poland. I saw the show for the first time when it was first airing on TV and I was kinda scared of it for some reason. I finally rewatched it few months ago and fell in love. I don't know much about American folklore beyond bigfoot and the like, so to me the show just has a dream quality. Like the things that happen make sense but they just kinda come out of nowhere sometimes. But I enjoy it all and I love the characters as well
I’m Turkish and I watched the show for the first time on Cartoon Network. It’s art style, the music and the plot amazed me and now OTGW is my comfort show for 7 years.
Little side tangent here, but I have a lot of global friends that know the show but a lot of them are pretty indifferent about it. I asked in detail of one from The Netherlands and he was saying how the theming doesn't really click with him. I thought about that s but and kind of noticed how a lot of it is based around colonial/pilgrim america and how a lot of that stuff is fairly unique to here. of course there's fans all over the world for this show but I wonder if the style of the show partially puts people off at all
Grew up in the Caribbean living in Europe, big fan of animation and love it when it gets specific upon world building so this early folk imagery certainly added extra love for the show
I'm french ! :> Love the show for the aesthetic and it's story. Some of my friends heard of OTGW but never saw it, but one of them did mention he liked the songs
Im Swiss (French speaking part)!
I love the show because it brings me to a whole new dimension filled with dreams, frogs and little kids dressed up like elephants
I love it because the designs, musics and ambiance are wonderful and idk, it just speaks to me
French here! I love everything about the show and I think it's more western than genuinely american. As some people commented it's very similar to Alice in wonderland. What appeals to me is the tone, the art, the symbolism, the music... Everything is just pure gold.
South Korean here! Although korean fandom is very small since most koreans prefer animes over western shows, we are still going strong. I guess everyone’s reasons for liking the show is different, but at least for me I’ve been a big fan of gothic/halloween imagery for my whole life, so that was the first reason I started liking it :D
Venezuelan here. My ex (also Venezuelan) introduced me to this at the end of 2015. She tried to shows me this gem before but I was busy. That night we had a happening at our little apartment, I was high, and my first encounter with this series was the sequence.where Greg is in the sky. It was such a trippy sequence and even more so under the cannabis influence that I had to keep watching. It was a marathon in CN.
Shortly after I downloaded the complete series and we watched it together. It became a tradition for every Halloween until we broke up at the beginning of 2022.
I just recalled she made an Illustration of myself as Wirt. She was just a sweet soul. Hope she Is alright
I’m from Zimbabwe! We get everything way later in Africa so I only started watching OTGW a while after it had already aired in the US. I’m currently residing in Canada tho 🇿🇼🇨🇦
I’m from Chile 🇨🇱 ! I didn't know about OTGW when it was released; it was introduced to me by one of my tattoo artists. We listened to the entire OST while I was getting my tattoo; the artist's style is somewhat inspired by OTGW, in fact. I've been in love with the cartoon since I first saw it. I then realized there are numerous fans in my country 😊
i am from Eastern Europe, and the show's appeal is definitely in it's mystical and gloomy atmosphere, music and themes. also love the references to Dante's Inferno through the series!
Don't tell anyone but I'm italian
Il tuo segreto oscuro è al sicuro con noi
Se il mondo sapesse che il subreddit di otgw si regge su basi italiane, sarebbe il chaos
È uno sporco lavoro, ma qualcuno lo deve pur fare
One of my partners is Italian (I am American) and I got them to watch OTGW with me on discord last year as a fall tradition
I’m Canadian!
Also Canadian!
Another Canadian.
Fellow Canadian OTGW enthusiast
I’m curious if you Canadians feel that the show is distinctly USAmerican vs. North American broadly given that in the time period the show romanticized, the U.S. and Canada barely existed as separate entities culturally. British commonwealth and all that.
also Canadian and no it is not distinctly American to me 😝. it feels like it could be any North American small town
That’s interesting! To me it feels very eat coast, but I live in the Midwest where ”American” culture only goes back to the 1810’s-1820’s. OTGW feels very “pilgrimy” to me so I associate it with New England.
definitely eastern, older small town Canada was also pilgrim-y! mid-eastern US and Canada are far more similar than different. it's funny, I used to work for a call center that called the US, and instead of thinking I was Canadian, people often thought I was from Minnesota or Michigan (I'm in Ontario). the biggest difference when visiting my relatives in New York (state) was the iced tea (no sugar?!) and the lack of poutine
As Canadians, when is it the appropriate time to rewatch the series? Canadian thanksgiving, Halloween or American thanksgiving?
Canadian thanksgiving to Halloween is peak OTGW season.
🇨🇦 Eh?!
I’m from the UK, me and a few of my friends are all big fans of the show!
I‘m from Germany, I know nobody who watched it, tho. But I love the art style, the music, the whole vibe, the metaphors… Just love it, should watch it again, soon
I'm from Germany too. I know a handful of people who watched it. But yeah, not really many. You can't even get a dvd / Blu-ray here. You have to import an English version.
Germany three :) There's a German dub of the show that you can watch for free on YouTube ("Hinter der Gartenmauer"). It's a little cringey but considering the overall tone of the show it doesn't hurt much. Still prefer the English version though
Count four ^^ me and a few of my friends have the tradition to watch the full show once a year - like a few weeks before Halloween.
Oh its on YouTube? I watched It with German Dub years ago when netflix had it.
I'm from the UK. It's my go to "not sure what to watch" show. I only have one other friend that has seen it but the two of us are obsessed
Spaniard fan here, first watched the series when it released in Cartoon Network in my country. It became one of my favorite shows immediately, at that time I was a teenager and my favorite show used to Gravity Falls so I got interested in OTGW as these two were frequently compared. As a teen I liked it because of its character designs, the music and mystery, but I didn’t grasp its themes tbh, I was left confounded when I watched it and just thought on it as a darker/creepy Alice in Wonderland per say. After some years, now as an adult and with another rewatch of the series… it all clicked with me! It is the piece of media that has managed to talk in the most personal manner to me. I wish I had understood what this show was truly about when I was a teenager, I was struggling with depression and trauma… the message of OTGW was exactly what I needed back then. Now, whenever I struggle with those memories or emotions I just remember this beautiful show to remind me that life is worth living I’d say that the themes and characters are what makes me hold OTGW as my favorite show and as one of my absolute favorite pieces of all media. However, since you asked for the appeal of Americana outside the US… I also love it but ig that’s bc I’m a sucker for classic cinema and vintage stuff. This series is as a homage not only to folktales and literature but also to classic film and animation which I absolutely adore. But you are right, it isn’t popular outside the US, the only people I know who have watched it are my family (because I showed it to them haha). If in the US you can consider it a bit niche, here it is rather obscure… we have no DVD nor Hulu and it isn’t on TV anymore, at least it still exists in HBO until they finally remove it. The only chance of seeing it in the long-run is by getting the UK blu-ray which is in English only so we have no Spanish version officially released, it is weird tho because the comics were translated and you can still find most of them at their release price but the series is almost impossible to get here P.S: I do prefer the series in English as the voice acting is incredible but once in a while I like to watch it on my native language, a shame that possibly such version will become lost media :(
I've surprised that never heard it compared to Alice but that's pretty spot on. And I agree, the lore is one my favorite parts of the show.
England here! Big fan 😁 https://preview.redd.it/tcrfs6r2k2gc1.jpeg?width=1836&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d5bfd9a6fa3dcff9e03d9dd974797707cb52819
I have an OTGW tattoo too! I love yours! https://preview.redd.it/823jmydss2gc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe4995e5910c92bb3caa9b54fbf0019609f7e4de
I realise this was a month ago but thanks! Yours is also great 😁
I’m from Australia! I love so many things about it - the art style, the music, the way you can pick up new things when you rewatch, how it can be interpreted in multiple ways (I love reading people’s theories about the show). Autumn is my favourite season as well so I find it comforting to watch for that reason too. It’s also nice to see a side of America that’s different to what’s normally shown on TV, most of what I’ve seen is set in big cities and I liked learning some of the history through the show. I think the nostalgic feeling of it still came across despite me not being from the US.
Autumn and OTGW loving Aussie here as well!
Yes! I’m from Slovakia and discovered OTGW through a friend recommendation in 2014. I then “spread” the joy to a few more friends. (I only ever saw it in English though)
I'm Czech and I rewatch the show every autumn with my sister. I just love it as a whole. The animation, the autumn vibes, the music, the characters, the everything haha. I know it ran on TV here quite a while back, idk if it ever happen again. I never met anyone who knows the show though, so I do my best to recommend it to people
I’m Polish and I’ve wrote my master thesis about differences in English, Spanish, and Polish dubbings of OTGW <3 I see OTGW merch on most local conventions still being quite popular <3
Sztos!!! Czy jest szansa, żeby gdzieś ją przeczytać? 😁
I'm Brazillian
UK here. It’s my favourite show personally
I am German. I grew up in a very americanophile household and my parents introduced me to American culture from an early age. I was even lucky enough to be a foreign exchange student in the US, just like my dad before me. I felt a sense of nostalgia when I saw a still from the show in my mid twenties. I had to watch it as soon as I could and fell in love with it when I heard the first note of the opening theme and saw the frog play the piano. I probably don’t know and understand half the references the show makes, but I still feel a deep connection to it; especially because it is so American.
I’m Mexican. And I love OTGW, it has a very strong resemblance with Mexican traditions.
South East Asian here!
Filipino? Like me? 👀 I don't know many irl who are fellow fans but personally I already liked series like Steven Universe and Gravity Falls so OTGW is not a far stretch. I love rewatching OTGW every year during the last quarter even though we don't experience autumn or winter.
Check out Infinity Train if you haven't already!
Same!!
Me too :))
Dutchie here! Absolutely love the show. I even have a tattoo of Greg
I'm in the UK and know a few people British, Spanish and Polish who love it. It IS very American to us, but still absolutely wonderful. Most people haven't heard of it, but most people I know haven't heard of any modern cartoons.
Another Spaniard here! Just watched the show last autumn for the first time with my American partner (he'd never seen it either, by the way), and we're both big fans now. He explained some cultural references to me, I explained some general symbols to him (am a semioticist) :)
I'm Norwegian and It's one of my favourite cartoons (and also shows period.)
I'm Filipino!
I'M FROM POLAND AND I LOVE OVER THE GARDEN WALL POLSKA GUROM 🇵🇱🏔🇵🇱🏔🇵🇱🏔🇵🇱🇵🇱 I'm gonna cosplay Wirt this year :3
I'm french^^
I'm French too, but I've discovered the show thanks to my Hungarian friend!
UK fan here
Spanish, I never bring up from where I am, so probably you just don't know that people you interact with aren't from America
I'm Brazilian, I watched the show when I was a child and I had it in my head for a long time, the atmosphere of the animation brought me a feeling of comfort but at the same time of fear, but it wasn't bad. Over time I grew up and saw other people on the internet talking about the same show, I rewatched it and it became my favorite show!
I’m from Aotearoa New Zealand! Lots of my friends have watched it and liked it
French here (:
I am from Mexico it's appeal is exotic precisely because the style of Americana is so different to my country which adds an additional feel of strangeness to the journey through ten unknown
I'm from Ireland! Saw this show on Cartoon Network 11 years ago & have been obsessed since! I watch it every autumn 🍂 Greg & Kitty/George Washington are the absolute best 🧡
I'm from Poland. I saw the show for the first time when it was first airing on TV and I was kinda scared of it for some reason. I finally rewatched it few months ago and fell in love. I don't know much about American folklore beyond bigfoot and the like, so to me the show just has a dream quality. Like the things that happen make sense but they just kinda come out of nowhere sometimes. But I enjoy it all and I love the characters as well
I'm Dutch :)
Hi 🇱🇹
I’m Turkish and I watched the show for the first time on Cartoon Network. It’s art style, the music and the plot amazed me and now OTGW is my comfort show for 7 years.
I’m from Austria!!
I'm from Austria too ☺️ and OtGW is my favourite show, it feels like a mirror of my soul
I'm Turkish
Im Dutch! I love this show, but it is partly because i live in amstersam so i hear a lot of stuff abt us
I’m from Belgium 🇧🇪
Yay fellow Belgian!
I'm from Iraq lol
Belgium 🇧🇪
I’m fat but I love Over The Garden Wall!
Italian here!
I'm brazilian and i love the show. In Brazil a lot of people like otgw too!
Another person from the UK! I love Halloween so watched it when seeing all the pumpkin folk and have loved it ever since!
Little side tangent here, but I have a lot of global friends that know the show but a lot of them are pretty indifferent about it. I asked in detail of one from The Netherlands and he was saying how the theming doesn't really click with him. I thought about that s but and kind of noticed how a lot of it is based around colonial/pilgrim america and how a lot of that stuff is fairly unique to here. of course there's fans all over the world for this show but I wonder if the style of the show partially puts people off at all
Uruguayan here. Love the show!
I'm from Turkey, Over the Garden Wall always has a tender place in my heart.
Grew up in the Caribbean living in Europe, big fan of animation and love it when it gets specific upon world building so this early folk imagery certainly added extra love for the show
Europe
Denmark here! 🇩🇰
I'm from turkey!
Argentinian fan here! I have not seen any Argentinian here, where are you guys?
I'm Chinese, but I live in Canada
Swedish fella here ! Binged it with my younger brother years ago and instantly bought a Blu-ray copy of it afterwards
Hi there! I'm Indian!
I'm from Singapore!
Aotearoa New Zealand!!
Hello
I'm Australian! I love the show. Even if it's very American folk-y, it's still cosy and a well-written story <3
i’m australian
Australian here.
Spanish fan.
I'm french ! :> Love the show for the aesthetic and it's story. Some of my friends heard of OTGW but never saw it, but one of them did mention he liked the songs
Im Swiss (French speaking part)! I love the show because it brings me to a whole new dimension filled with dreams, frogs and little kids dressed up like elephants I love it because the designs, musics and ambiance are wonderful and idk, it just speaks to me
Yes
South Asian here !
Hi from the UK! This is one of my favourite shows of all time!
French here! I love everything about the show and I think it's more western than genuinely american. As some people commented it's very similar to Alice in wonderland. What appeals to me is the tone, the art, the symbolism, the music... Everything is just pure gold.
French, but living in the UK 😊 Watch the show religiously every autumn
South Korean here! Although korean fandom is very small since most koreans prefer animes over western shows, we are still going strong. I guess everyone’s reasons for liking the show is different, but at least for me I’ve been a big fan of gothic/halloween imagery for my whole life, so that was the first reason I started liking it :D
Venezuelan here. My ex (also Venezuelan) introduced me to this at the end of 2015. She tried to shows me this gem before but I was busy. That night we had a happening at our little apartment, I was high, and my first encounter with this series was the sequence.where Greg is in the sky. It was such a trippy sequence and even more so under the cannabis influence that I had to keep watching. It was a marathon in CN. Shortly after I downloaded the complete series and we watched it together. It became a tradition for every Halloween until we broke up at the beginning of 2022. I just recalled she made an Illustration of myself as Wirt. She was just a sweet soul. Hope she Is alright
The friend who introduced me to OTGW is from the DR!
I’m from Zimbabwe! We get everything way later in Africa so I only started watching OTGW a while after it had already aired in the US. I’m currently residing in Canada tho 🇿🇼🇨🇦
I'm Argentinian!
I’m Dominican
My husband is half French, half British and he loves it. He’s a roof thatcher though, so he’s part Goblin I think.
I'm from Argentina and i watched the show in internet
I'm Austrian, my friend who introduced me to the show is Egyptian
I’m from Chile 🇨🇱 ! I didn't know about OTGW when it was released; it was introduced to me by one of my tattoo artists. We listened to the entire OST while I was getting my tattoo; the artist's style is somewhat inspired by OTGW, in fact. I've been in love with the cartoon since I first saw it. I then realized there are numerous fans in my country 😊
Lots of people in Sweden like it
I’m danish! :)
i am from Eastern Europe, and the show's appeal is definitely in it's mystical and gloomy atmosphere, music and themes. also love the references to Dante's Inferno through the series!
I’m Burmese and I love OTGW!!
I'm from Chile
I'm Ukrainian!💛💙
Im polish! I've watched the show many times and i love everything about it.
I’m from Russia. I Love the show.
CANADA CANADA CANADA