The premise of cute forest animals terrorizing people and stealing their food is pretty funny in itself, and Nad Hedges tries to exploit that as best he can. Much of the comedy in the film is not for me, such as the running gag that Vern constantly sheds his shield and we see his ass. I think something like that would work better with kids, which makes sense. Some characters have good chemistry, but overall this is the kind of movie where you turn off your brain and enjoy eighty minutes of nibbling. And I think that's good, but Over the Hedge is ultimately more for kids than adults. My parents, with whom we saw the film in 2006, do not have fond memories of it and show no interest in seeing it again.
Usually DreamWorks goes out of their way to entertain the whole family, and honestly I think that effort was made here, but it didn't really work. A scheming raccoon fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of food, by invading the new suburban sprawl that popped up while they were hibernating – and learns a lesson about family himself. They find that much of the forest they lived in has been turned into a housing development, which is separated from the little forest remaining by a giant hedge. The animals wonder how they will forage enough food for the next winter. RJ meets them and encourages them to traverse the hedge and steal food from the humans.
Despite Verne's concerns, the animals join RJ in stealing and stockpiling human food, not knowing he intends to give it to Vincent. Gladys Sharp, the neighborhood Home Owners Association president, takes notice of the animal problem and hires exterminator Dwayne LaFontant to get rid of them. The premise of cute forest animals terrorizing humans and stealing their food is pretty funny in and of itself, and Over the Hedge tries to exploit that as much as possible. A lot of the film's comedy isn't for me, such as a running gag that Verne keeps losing his shell and we see his butt. I imagine this kind of thing works better for kids, which makes sense. Some of the characters have good chemistry, but overall, this is the kind of movie where you turn your brain off and gorge yourself on snacks for eighty minutes.
And I think that's okay, but Over the Hedge ends up being more for kids than adults. My parents, who took us to see it back in 2006, don't have any fond memories and showed no interest in re-watching it. Usually, DreamWorks makes an effort to entertain the whole family, and honestly, I think an effort was made here; it just didn't work out so well. Over the Hedge is a DreamWorks movie you don't hear much about. Released in 2006, Over the Hedge is based on a comic strip of the same name written by Michael Fry and illustrated by T. The film features an impressive cast with names like Bruce Willis, Steve Carrell, Wanda Sykes, William Shatner, Nick Nolte, and more.
Over the Hedge is directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, with about ten screenwriters, including Len Blum and Lorne Cameron. Interestingly, Over the Hedge began life as a project at Fox Animation Studios, which would have been directed by animation legend Don Bluth. We'll never know what Bluth's version would have looked like, or even if it would have been any good, but one can't help but wonder.
I saw Over the Hedge in theaters when it came out and liked it pretty well. That being said, I was 11, and my taste in film has changed considerably since then. Luckily HBO Max had the film, and I gave it a re-watch. It can be hard sometimes to keep in mind how old a movie is compared to how its technical effects have aged. Watching Over the Hedge, the animation seemed okay to me.
I would have put it on the level of recent direct-to-video animated films, but given that Over the Hedge came out fifteen years ago, the animation is actually pretty good. The fur on the animals is a little distracting, but their movements are fluid, and they have hugely expressive eyes. The soundtrack features several non-diegetic songs by Ben Folds, which are all fine.
Some of the lyrics are quite on the nose, which can take you out of the experience, and the style is a little cutesy for me. It's like the songs are trying to be quirky, which tends to annoy me. However, the score by Rupert Gregson-Williams is pretty good. I think Over the Hedge could have done without the songs in the background, especially given how short the film is.
It clocks in around an hour and twenty minutes if you don't watch the credits, and that's short even for an animated kid's movie. Over the Hedge, the latest computer-animated offering from DreamWorks, is a fast-paced and silly 80 minutes of lightweight family entertainment. Based loosely on the popular comic strip of the same name, the film is populated with a loveable cast of goofy animal characters, voiced uniformly well by a variety of big-name actors.
It is more successful prat-falling than moralizing, but it manages to stay engaging for kids and adults alike right through the end credits. Hang on, I'm starting to sound like I'm down on Over The Hedge. Let me change tack real quick… Over The Hedge, then, is a damn great film and a definite bright spot in the non-Aardman mid-2000s DreamWorks' catalogue. It achieves this primarily by being a film, with characters and substance and heart, instead of a formula pitch that was rushed into production half-finished before it had the chance to lose any potential cash. That sounds like damning with faint praise, but it really isn't meant to be.
It's a highly entertaining film with stuff to say, likeable characters whose arcs feel genuine instead of forced, legitimately funny jokes and, yes, great Ben Folds songs. 3) Bambi — The classic animated film from 1942 tells the story of a young deer and his friends who live in a forest threatened by hunters. When Bambi is still a fawn, his mother is killed by one of those hunters, and he must grow up without her. Bambi and his friends get older and he falls in love with another deer, Faline.
Everything is peachy until the next day, when the forest goes up in flames and Faline is attacked by hunting dogs. Bambi is able to save her, and the couple eventually escapes to an island in a lake, where they live happily ever after. The scene where Bambi's mom dies would make even the most hardened hunter think about setting down his gun.
The movie isn't a total loss, though; the voice acting is great all around. As I mentioned, the characters play off of one another pretty well for the most part. I always love to see Catherine O'Hara, and in Over the Hedge, she and real-life friend Eugene Levy play husband and wife Lou and Penny. Nick Nolte is pretty good as Vincent and genuinely sounds like a bear with his low, growly voice that booms when he's angry.
Honestly, though, my favorite part of Over the Hedge comes in the form of its human villains, Gladys and Dwayne . The former is the president of the homeowner's association, who, naturally, doesn't want the animals terrorizing her neighbors. To get them out of her hair, she calls Dwayne and asks him to kill the animals in increasingly inhumane and illegal ways. Their comeuppance at the end is one of the funniest scenes in the film.
These two get many of the best, most absurd lines in the movie, and personally, I just love these actors. Allison Janney is one of the best actresses out there right now, and I've been a fan of Church since George of the Jungle. Over the Hedge is a DreamWorks film you may not have heard much about.
Over the Hedge was released in 2006 and is based on the comic book of the same name, written by Michael Fry and illustrated by T. The film has an impressive cast with names like Bruce Willis, Steve Carrell, Wanda Sykes, William Shatner, Nick Nolte and many others. Above the Hedge is directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, with a dozen writers, including Len Blum and Lorne Cameron.
Interestingly, Over the Hedge was originally a Fox Animation Studios project that would have been directed by legendary animator Don Bluth. However, poor reviews and box office results from Bluth's 2000 project Titan A.E. Led to the studio's closure, and Over the Hedge was delayed until DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg showed interest and bought the film rights to Fry and Lewes' comic book. We'll never know what Bluth's version would have looked like, or if he was any good, but we can't help but wonder. I saw Behind the Hedge in the theater when it came out, and I really liked it. That said, I was 11 years old, and my taste in movies has changed a lot since then.
Luckily Max from HBO had the movie and I watched it a second time. They replaced the pigs with a trio of suburban animals suave raccoon RJ, worrywart turtle Verne and manic squirrel Hammy. Instead of a barn, the critters lived on the outskirts of a suburban development rich in wasteful consumption and human absurdity. The retooled strip was snapped up by United Features Syndicate and today runs in some 250 newspapers, but back in 95 it caught the eye of animation producer/writer Jim Cox. Cox, whose credits go back to Oliver & Company and include story development on Beauty and the Beast (and now co-producer of the Over the Hedge movie) contacted the pair via the e-mail address wedged between the strips panels. Not the characters of RJ and Verne, the voice actors that portray them, Bruce Willis and Gary Shandling.
Now, the rest of the cast are mostly great and give off the impression of being cast due to their being the best people for the job rather than for stunt casting. OK, maybe not so much Avril Lavigne but she's also decent enough to make that not an issue. By contrast, Over The Hedge tends to segregate its jokes with only the occasional cross-over in intended audience. Kids get fart jokes, a wacky comic relief character burping his ABCs, and the sight of a nearly-bald woman being elbow-dropped by police officers. Adults get casting in-jokes, Ben Folds songs, and a lot of not-particularly-subtle satire against white middle-class suburban life. Therefore, the critical success of Over The Hedge probably came as a surprise to a lot of people, especially since their next few films would firmly restate that, no, DreamWorks had not gotten their mojo back yet.
It even beat out Cars, overall, a feat that I'm pretty sure most caused most people to perform spit-takes the length of whatever room they were in when they got the news. 5) Hoot — Based on a Carl Hiaasen novel, this 2006 film portrays the adventure of three middle-school students who try to protect a rare breed of endangered owls. Not exactly an award-wining movie, but definitely one that encourages kids to think about the relationship between humans, development and wildlife. With this theory seemingly set in stone based on the indirect evidence, the spotlight ordeal confirms it entirely. With our logic, Heather HAS to have a spotlight moment, and it HAS to follow the rules of the other characters'.
And this scene screams to us that this is what her spotlight moment is meant to be, the only issue being that it's so subtle and indirect that we don't notice. It shows off her character through her interactions with RJ , and it takes place in front of the entire group. RJ finds a nearby, recently-built suburban housing development separated from a forest glade by a large hedge. The animals are scared, as the development had been built during their hibernation and they fear they will be unable to forage for food in the small glade. RJ shows them the amount of food humans consume and waste and suggests they forage from the humans. Verne is hesitant but the other animals acquiesce.
They make bold attempts to steal food directly from the humans, with RJ secretly guiding them to help collect the food he needs to replace Vincent's stash. I thought that it would be predictable and one of the dime a dozen animation films coming out now. I am an animation fan, and the animation was great, in addition to the story. The characters were somewhat predictable, but very well done and not boring. This is a movie that children can also enjoy , in addition to adults.
It has some really funny parts that are not cliché humor. Probably the best part about it is the message it sends about humans encroaching on animal habitats and how it affects the balance of nature. Gag A DayOver the Hedge is a syndicated comic strip, written by Michael Fry, and drawn by T. Without some kind of emotional base underpinning the film, though, Over The Hedge would just be a more intelligent Madagascar; entertaining, yes, but lacking in substance and memorability. " and greenlighting said film with nothing more to it than the dollar signs that lit up his eyes. Over the Hedge features nice character designs and good vocal performances.
The animation looks great for when it came out, and the characters are enjoyable enough. For a film so interested in amusing kids, it contains a strange message about the morality of stealing. The theme of the need for family comes across as a little ham-fisted, and R.J.'s turn comes a little too late, but it's a fun movie. Above Hedge has a good character design and good vocal performance. The animation looks great, and the characters are very likable.
For such an interesting movie for kids, it has a strange message about the morality of stealing. The theme of family distress is a bit heavy-handed, and R.J.'s turnaround comes too late, but the film is fun. But what about the plot significance that the other spotlight moments possess? Heather has it too in this scene, but only this theory can explain how. Like I said earlier, her entire spotlight moment doesn't happen on-screen.
If she hadn't set up the TV set, her dialogue could've easily been replaced with another character. She was meant to be given a lot of attention in this scene. Her coming up with the TV set makes all of this work.
If she came up with the TV set, that's the plot significance of her spotlight moment. Both the theory and spotlight idea work hand-in-hand to completely confirm each other. What if I told you that her spotlight moment WASN'T her playing dead?
What if I told you that her real spotlight moment DOES fit all 3 rules and DID happen, just not entirely shown in the movie? Where in the movie does Heather really get the most attention? But there's 1 scene in particular I talked about in the crush theory as being the 1 most important to Heather's relationship with RJ. But it may not look the part at first, and that's because we need to make some HEAVY implications here. The film takes place in Chesterton, Indiana, far from the Chicago's metropolitan area.
Tries to steal it, but instead accidentally wakes up Vincent and makes the food be crushed in traffic on a nearby road. Quickly promises to replace his food stocks within the week, when Vincent is fully awake from his hibernation. The group is led by Verne, and it includes Hammy, Stella, Ozzie,Heather, Lou,Penny, and their kids Bucky, Quillo, and Spike. The animals quickly find that a large hedge was put in place while they were sleeping to separate them from the rest of the human development and are afraid to venture on the other side.
Johnson and Kirkpatrick look at Over the Hedge and other animated features as continuing a tradition thats lost ground in Hollywood in recent years. As Johnson puts it, Hopefully were taking animation to where I think live-action films used to be whole family entertainment. Live-action films get so stratified teen-slasher, superhero movie, big-budget special effects films I feel animated films are now the general entertainment films you dont see in live-action. For his part, Kirkpatrick finds himself upset a little bit when somebody says I wouldnt go see this, animation isnt really my thing and it gets relegated to something just for kids. Some of the smartest, best archetypal storytelling out there in the movies is being done in animation, movies like The Incredibles and Toy Story and Shrek, theyre as good as any movie that comes out all year long.
