Chosen One of the Day: Miss Langtree from Over the Garden Wall

Cartoon Network’s Over the Garden Wall miniseries is a strange, wonderful trip through a world that’s sort of like — but not quite — ours. Two half-brothers, Wirt and Greg, are journeying through this land trying to get back home. And one of those “sort of like” moments is when Greg and Wirt (and their guide, the blue bird Beatrice) end up in an old school house. 

That’s where they meet the broken hearted Miss Langtree. Miss Langtree is a catch — that big hair! Those rosy cheeks! That voice! That... inappropriate sharing of her life with her students! — so it’s a shame to see her sing a (truly catchy) song of sadness as an introduction. Her beau, Jimmy Brown, has disappeared without a trace, for three whole days, even if it does feel like four times two. 

She goes through the alphabet in a surprisingly upbeat tune, using her own pain and life to teach her students how to spell. (Did we say it's inappropriate? It might be inappropriate.) 

Has to be said, she’s a heckuva writer — take a gander at some of these lyrics: 

"A" is for the apple that he gave to me,

But I found a worm inside.

"B" is for beloved that I call to him before he left my side.

And “C”, see what he did, that’s “D,”

Did it to poor ol’ me.

And of course, my favorite line: 

You, "Y" not "U", have got to "U"nderstand,
The value of a woman’s heart ("V").

You’ve got to understand the value of a woman’s heart, Jimmy B.!! 

Did we mention that she’s also in the business of teaching animals to read? I mean, talk about good values in your heart. 

Eventually, we do find out that poor Jimmy B. was just stuck in a gorilla costume (been there) and so there is a lovely reunion in store for our broken hearted schoolmarm. But here’s to Miss Langtree who doesn’t let a broken heart stop her from oversharing — and again, we cannot overstate, such inappropriate levels of oversharing — and doing her dang job. 

Way to go, sister!