"He was determined to survive in that house. As was I."[1]
—Anna, in OTGW 2015 Comic Issue #4.
Anna is a character who appears in Over the Garden Wall. She is The Woodsman's daughter. She is mentioned frequently, but is never actually seen until the very last episode (aside from the episode 1 intro and her "spirit" in the Dark Lantern). She is further developed in the comic book miniseries, where her name is revealed to be "Anna".
Appearance[]
Anna wears a gray skirt with a dark gray cape. She also has a white long sleeved shirt underneath. She has medium brown hair and a triangular nose similar to Wirt's.
History[]
Prior to the adventures of Wirt and Greg, Anna disappeared, presumably lured away by The Beast and into the forest. At this point in time, The Beast still possessed the Dark Lantern. Not very much is known about how the Woodsman came to possess the lantern, only that he fought The Beast for it, presumably because he was led to believe that Anna's spirit was inside, even though this was not true. The Woodsman kept the flame lit by making oil of the Edelwood trees created by The Beast's victims, even though The Woodsman was not aware of the trees' origins. At the end of Over the Garden Wall, after The Woodsman extinguished the flame inside the Dark lantern, Anna returned from wherever The Beast had hid her. She appears in the Woodsman's own house, holding a lit candle, peeking through the door. She cries after seeing her father again.
Relationships[]
Woodsman | Father[]
Not much is observed about Anna's relationship with her father in the cartoon series. However, throughout the show, the Woodsman has shown deep regret and guilt over his daughter's assumed fate—being trapped
Anna reuniting with her father in the last episode.
inside the lantern forever. In the comic book series we see him in a different light. He is a cultured and educated man who prefers to be indoors, while Anna shared many of his wife's confident traits. Although he appears to be over-protective of Anna and his wife, he trusts her input a great deal and relied on her heavily to survive in their cabin home after the death of his wife.
Woodsman's Wife | Mother[]
Although Anna's mother has never been seen in the cartoon series (as she was dead by that time), we are able to see their lives together in the comic series. Anna clearly admired her mother's tenacity and quick-wits in the
Young Anna and Her Mother in the comic book series.
outdoors. She followed her mother everywhere except during her hunts in the woods. When her mother died from an unknown animal injury Anna adapted relatively quickly, likely staying strong for her sensitive and overprotective father. When the Woodsman takes up the role as lantern-bearer, Anna returns to their home alone, and determinedly waits for him. In this time, her mother, who has regrets of leaving her family so soon, returns in reflective surfaces (as a ghost) to stay by Anna's side temporarily and spend time with her. When the time comes for her mother to leave, Anna is very upset by this.
The Beast[]
After the death of her mother Anna goes to the woods at night for supplies, despite the warnings of her father and accidentally cuts the branch of a tree that oozes black oil—later known as an Edelwood Tree.
Anna encounters the Beast.
In this moment she falls down hurting herself, and recalls the words of her mother, to never enter the woods alone. It is then that the Beast appears and implies to possess some knowledge of her. Though it is uncertain if he had observed her family from the woods beforehand, or, if in the moment she entered it (during their encounter), that he had been watching her. This is because he knew her name. While it is true he points out how she enjoys rhyming, Anna was rhyming when she entered the woods. This is when she escapes from him and returns to the cabin, only to miss her father, who had run out to search for, found her cape on the ground at the foot of the Beast, and assumed the worst. That she was killed and the Beast's lies that her soul was in the lantern.
Trivia[]
- In the comic-book exploration of the Woodsman's history, it is revealed that Anna was never a captive of The Beast, but ran back to her house and left her cape behind. Her father, who did not return to the house, did not discover that she was alright, and instead believed The Beast's lies.
- She loves reading her mother's hidden stash of young adult/adult romance novels, even though she regards them as "horrid".[2]
- She is skilled in rhyme and uses rhymes to remember things, such as differentiating between changes in the seasons and medicinal plants.[1]
Gallery
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References[]
[3] https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/over-the-garden-wall/episode-4-season-1/chapter-4-songs-of-the-dark-lantern/699818/