Over the Hedge, is a story about a racoon named RJ (Bruce Willis) that has to convince a group of naive animals to help him forage for food in suburbia. RJ has to find food to repay the bear (Nick Nolte) because he stole all of his food. RJ comes upon these animals (turtle, porcupines, opossum, skunk, and a squirrel) when they are all waking up from their long winters nap. When they wake up they discover that life is not exactly what it use to be. There is now a hedge that prevents that separates them from the suburban neighborhood that sprouted during winter. RJ introduces them to the many human pleasures of the world, including girl scout cookies, caffeine, and chips. The leader of the group, Vernon the turtle (Gary Shandling) tries to do everything to convince them that RJ is not a good animal, but since RJ has introduced them to the different foods, it is rather hard to keep them from him. From here hilarity ensues, including porcupines driving an exterminators truck, playing video games, and watching TV. The best character voice is Steve Carell as Hammy the squirrel. The best way to describe him would be a squirrel with ADHD. The best part is when he drinks caffeine. Other voices include William Shatner, Eugene Levy, Allison Janney, and Avril Lavigne.
The animation is great and really gives life to the animals. You can see the textures of the fur and it looks very realistic. The animators on this feature really put a lot of effort into making the animals look realistic, and they did a fantastic job.
Overall, I think that this movie is well worth the money and time (especially since it is only 83 min.), and is great for both adults and children. This is definetly one of those movies that can be enjoyed by all ages. It is rated PG, but that is mainly because of some of the mild cartoon violence and some sexual jokes that go over the kids heads. Those are mainly there to keep the attention of the adults.
