Exploring The Unknown: An Onomastic Analysis of 'Over The Garden Wall'

Abstract: Exploring the Unknown: An Onomastic Analysis of Over the Garden Wall“Antelope, Guggenheim, Albert, Salami, Giggly, Jumpy, Tom, Thomas, Tambourine, Leg-Face McCullen . . . .” These are the first lines of dialogue spoken in Over the Garden Wall, Patrick McHale’s new mini-series on Cartoon Network. Clearly, names figure prominently in the show, released in 2014. The series follows the story of Wirt and Greg, two brothers who find themselves lost in a forest called the Unknown. When their path becomes blocked by a sinister figure called the Beast, Wirt and Greg must escape the Unknown before it is too late.As the audience travels the forest alongside the boys, we discover that names and naming are particularly important in the series. They fulfill many essential roles: providing plot development, contributing to characterization, imparting literary allusion, and conveying complicated character dynamics. In this thesis, I explore the various roles names and naming play in Over the Garden Wall, focusing on the main characters Wirt, Greg, Beatrice, the Beast, and Jason Funderburker. I analyze how their names function according to current naming practices and theory within the context of the show, its characters, its interactions with other texts, and its place in the narrative traditions of Western society.