Tome of the Unknown (2013) User Reviews

It could have been an episode of the series

[Rectangular_businessman · 8/10 · 10 July 2015]

This was a neat pilot for the excellent Cartoon Network miniseries "Over the Garden Wall". And while this short is somewhat more lighthearted and less dark than the actual series, it still has many of its enjoyable qualities, such as catchy songs, nice music, very beautiful background art, a dream-like atmosphere combined with a whimsical story which seems to borrow several elements from classic fairy tales, American folktales and even those wonderful shorts from the Golden Era of animation (such as Disney's Silly Symphonies and the shorts done Max and Dave Fleischer)

I'm glad Cartoon Network was able to see the potential of this short, turning into one of their best and most memorable series. For those viewers who already have seen (and enjoyed) "Over the Garden Wall", this short would be a nice watch too.

8/10

Just Plain Fun in a New World

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 23 February 2019]

So this is the beginning of a series. I didn't know that. This was fun from beginning to end, from the understatement to the goofy events and characters that followed. I loved the car. The little guy gets tiresome at times, but he is consistent. Goood creative fun.

A strong mini episode, that could have been part of the series!

[jackjack-29951 · 8/10 · 30 June 2020]

This short is whimsically fun, and is very entertaining. I wish this were an actual episode in OtGW though. The art is incredible, and the story is interesting though very short.

Nice pilot to a great mini-series

[polarbearjosh · 8/10 · 19 May 2015]

After 2 years of being only seen in private film festivals, Cartoon Network recently released the pilot to its acclaimed mini-series Over the Garden Wall on its website for the general public and I have to admit it wasn't half bad.

The premise was basically simple: it's about our main characters (Wirt, Greg, and Beatrice), who get tired of walking, meet up with a vegetable man named Johnny Crops who join him to the big city. It sets up some atmosphere of what Over the Garden Wall would have. The animation and designs are also slightly different from that of the later series (not in a bad way) but that's expected from a pilot.

Overall, if you're a fan of Over the Garden Wall who wants to check out what the pilot is like or just want a sample of what the mini series would be like before watching the actual show for the first time, it's worth checking out Tome of the Unknown.

This should've been in the Over the Garden Wall miniseries

[whackamolewv · 9/10 · 21 August 2023]

Over the Garden Wall is a good miniseries. It's also good to rewatch Over the Garden Wall in the fall. But this was a good film with the Over the Garden Wall characters. I wish this was an episode of Over the Garden Wall. (Spoiler warning) What made this film funny was the fact Greg kept constantly running off and screaming just for fun. The character designs weren't as good as they look in Over the Garden Wall. And I can't say this film was better than the Over the Garden Wall miniseries. But this film was still great! Greg will always be my favorite Over the Garden Wall character. Greg is the Over the Garden Wall character who is funny, cute, and makes Over the Garden Wall entertaining!

A great opening

[Maddogg333 · 9/10 · 20 March 2022]

I have seen some hate that the opening to Over The Garden Wall didn't connect and it was kind of random. I personally watched this after the show but it was so adorable. It made me very happy to see an extra and I highly recommend the watch (especially since it's only like 9 minutes)

A Cute Demo Reel for the Show

[nikitalinivenko · 6/10 · 3 February 2020]

This short is essentially a proof-of-concept for what would become Over the Garden Wall, a fun mixture of fairytale tropes and classic 'Silly Symphonies' type cartoons. The show is thankfully more well polished, but this was a fun, rough outline for where it was going. I'd recommend this as a fun bit of 'bonus content' if you've finished the series and still want just a little bit more.

Before the Garden Wall

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 4 November 2015]

"Tome of the Unknown" or "Harvest Melody" is a 9-minute cartoon from 2 years ago that actually won 2 Emmys this year. It is the introduction to the successful new television series "Over the Garden Wall". The voice cast is not particularly known with the exception of Elijah "Frodo" Wood and I have to say I did not know writer and director Patrick McHale either before watching this. And afterward, I think it wasn't much of a loss really. I felt all about this short film was only so-so, fairly mediocre. The animation of the nature is nice, but I did not really like the way most of the characters looked. And the jokes and story weren't a revelation either. I am fairly surprised that this short film and series are so lauded as I cannot see great quality here. Not recommended.