Maybe the little creatures prowling our yards are not as bad as we think.
At least that’s the idea behind “Over The Hedge,” a new animated film from DreamWorks that follows an array of animals taking over the suburbs.
The movie is about a raccoon named R.J. who gets caught stealing food from a bear. Because the food falls down a mountain when R.J. is caught, the bear gives him a week to return all his food or he’ll kill him.
R.J. finds a “family” of creatures consisting of Verne the turtle, Hammy the squirrel, a skunk named Stella, porcupines Lou, Penny, Spike, Bucky and Quillo and father and daughter opossums, Ozzie and Heather. R.J. tricks them into helping him gather food. To find the food, he makes them go over the new hedge that was built in their forest to separate them from the suburbs. That’s when the chaos ensues.
The movie is packed with big names including Bruce Willis, the voice of R.J. His deep voice makes his portrayal of a sneaky-raccoon-turned-sweet believable. Funny man Steve Carell is the voice of the humorous and hyperactive red squirrel, Hammy. Every time Hammy talks, Steve Carell’s wacky humor is seen through his character. Rounding things out is Wanda Sykes, the voice of Stella. Her trash-talking humor brings even more laughs to this movie.
The movie also features the voices of many other all-star celebrities, such as Eugene Levy, Nick Nolte, Garry Shandling, William Shatner, Thomas Haden Church, Catherine O’Hara and Allison Janney. Avril Lavigne, who most people know as a popular teen singer, was a pleasant surprise as the voice of Heather. Lavigne’s character, the daughter opossum with an attitude, was a perfect fit to Lavigne’s rebellious persona.
In typical DreamWorks fashion, the graphics in the movie made each character seem real. The animals’ fur and movements made the characters realistic. The forest was richly detailed, revealing every blade of grass and leaf on the trees. The details of the human characters facial expressions and movements made the animations life-like.
The movie is a lesson about the importance of family. However, the movie also brings attention to the consequences of people taking over animal’s natural habitats. Animals need the forest to survive. However, when builders take over forests the animals are drawn to human food, which causes problems.
“Over The Hedge,” uses the actors’ comedic abilities to humor the audience. The movie’s one-liners grab the attention of viewers of all ages. Children will love the animals, teenagers will love the jokes and adults will love the message as well as the sporadic adult humor.
DreamWorks has done it again. Their creative team helped make stereotypically pesky creatures into lovable, sweet characters.
