Over the Hedge (film)

In a deserted Indiana picnic area, a raccoon named RJ attempts to steal a stockpile of food from a sleeping American black bear named Vincent after failing to obtain food from a vending machine. While doing so, he accidentally wakes Vincent up and the pile is destroyed in the ensuing confrontation. Vincent is angered and almost eats RJ, but relents when the raccoon offers to replace all of his food in one week before the moon is full. However, Vincent warns RJ that if he fails, he will track him down and kill him.

The next morning, a family of woodland animals consisting of an ornate box turtle named Verne, who is the family's leader; an American red squirrel named Hammy; a striped skunk named Stella; two North American porcupine parents named Lou and Penny and their children Spike, Bucky and Quillo; and a Virginia opossum father and daughter Ozzie and Heather awaken from hibernation on the first day of spring, only to discover that most of the forest they've lived in has been turned into a housing development that is separated from the little forest remaining by a giant hedge. Seeing the animals as an opportunity to help pay off his debt, RJ meets and encourages them to traverse the hedge and steal food from the humans. Despite Verne's concerns, the rest of the family join RJ in stealing and stockpiling food and other human stuff, unaware of his true intentions. Gladys Sharp, the neighborhood Home Owners Association president, takes notice of the animal problem and hires exterminator Dwayne LaFontant to get rid of them.

A worried Verne attempts to return the pile of food in order to avoid Dwayne. As RJ tries to stop him, the food ends up destroyed following a chase from an excited Rottweiler named Nugent. Verne attempts to convince his family not to follow RJ, but fails after inadvertently insulting them, destroying their trust in him and causing them to abandon him in favor of RJ. That night, Gladys has Dwayne cover her yard in animal traps, including a federally illegal contraband device called the Depelter Turbo, which turns the entire yard into a death trap when activated.

Verne apologizes to RJ for his actions and reconciles with the other animals. On the night of the full moon, RJ sees that Gladys has bought a massive stockpile of food and enlists the help of the animals to invade her home and steal it. Hammy successfully disables the Depelter Turbo while Stella steals Gladys' pet Persian cat Tiger's collar, which enables entry into the house's pet door, by posing as a cat and seducing him. The animals stockpile another wagon full of food, but just as they're about to leave at sunrise, RJ sees a can of chips and becomes determined to get them as Vincent had specifically requested them. While trying to justify his motivation to get the chips, RJ reveals his true intentions for the food to the animals just as Gladys comes downstairs and catches them red-handed. RJ escapes with the food while Verne and the other animals are captured by Dwayne, who puts them all in cages. Dwayne takes them away in his truck to dispose of them.

As RJ delivers the food to Vincent, he sees Dwayne's truck driving past and feels remorse for his selfish actions towards the other animals. Deciding to rescue them, RJ sends the wagon of food careening and crashing into the truck, which knocks out Dwayne, frees the animals and enrages Vincent. The porcupine triplets commandeer the truck and drive it back to the neighborhood with their video game skills while Verne convinces the others to forgive RJ. The animals crash the truck into Gladys' home and return to the hedge, only to be attacked from both sides of it by Vincent, Gladys and a now-awake Dwayne. RJ gives Hammy an energy drink, making him hyperactive enough to the point of moving at warp speed and allowing him to reactivate the Depelter Turbo. RJ, who is wearing Verne’s shell for protection tricks Vincent into leaping over the hedge to eat him, resulting in Vincent, Gladys and Dwayne being caught in the Depelter Turbo and blasted with a massive dose of radiation, finally leaving them trapped inside a cage in the ensuing crater.

The local animal control service ships a dazed and now-furless Vincent to the Rocky Mountains while a now bald Gladys is arrested for possessing the illegal Depelter Turbo but puts up a fight with the police. Dwayne attempts to escape but is attacked by Nugent. RJ rejoins the woodland creatures permanently alongside Tiger, who remains in love with Stella even after learning she is a skunk, because he cannot smell. After Verne thinks they have wasted a whole week without gathering food for the winter, Hammy reveals that he has finally found nuts he stored for the previous winter, replenishing the animals' food supply.

In a post credits scene, RJ and the animals rig the vending machine shown at the start of the movie so that all of the items get pushed forward and fall to the bottom. RJ, however, is unable to open the vending machine, much to his chagrin.

Bruce Willis and Avril Lavigne at the film's premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival

• Bruce Willis as RJ, an intelligent, charismatic and manipulative raccoon. He starts out as a con artist to deliver food to a greedy Bear named Vincent who will kill him if he doesn't deliver. Despite this, he is revealed to have a sensitive side to his personality, developing feelings of guilt over using his newfound companions to his own ends.
• Garry Shandling as Verne, a cynical and timid ornate box turtle who is the leader of the foragers. He has his own ways of doing their daily tasks, but his world is turned upside-down when RJ introduces his free-spirited lifestyle into the mix. Though Verne genuinely cares for his family, he sometimes comes off as condescending. Verne's shell falls off regularly and is laughed at as a running gag, as well as that he is commonly mistaken for an amphibian despite the fact that he is a reptile.
• Steve Carell as Hammy, a hyperactive American red squirrel whose mouth moves as fast as his feet. He is naïve and childish in nature, with an extremely short attention span.
• Wanda Sykes as Stella, a short-tempered and sassy striped skunk. She later goes undercover as a black cat to distract Tiger, but ends up falling in love with him when he reveals he has no sense of smell.
• William Shatner and Avril Lavigne as Ozzie and Heather, a Virginia opossum father and teenage daughter respectively who see the world from different points of view. Ozzie often embarrasses Heather when he constantly feigns death to get away from danger.
• Nick Nolte as Vincent, a greedy, predatory American black bear to whom RJ owes food, motivating the story. He makes a cameo in Bee Movie.[5]
• Thomas Haden Church as Dwayne LaFontant,[6][7] an overzealous pest exterminator who is hired by Gladys to get rid of the animals. He can detect the species of any animal that has recently been in the area by smell. He is nicknamed the "Verminator", a spoof of the Terminator.
• Allison Janney as Gladys Sharp, the president of the El Rancho Camelot Estates Home Owners Association who is disgusted by wild animals and strict on H.O.A. rules. It is implied that she is not taken seriously by the other residents of the housing development, much to her irritation.
• Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara as Lou and Penny, an easygoing North American porcupine couple; Lou has an overly friendly and optimistic attitude and a strong Minnesota accent, while Penny encourages her children to partake in the wonders of suburbia.
• Omid Djalili as Tiger, a snobbish Persian cat whose full name is "Prince Tigerius Mahmoud Shabazz".[8] Initially hating the forest animals, he guards Gladys' house against them until Stella seduces him disguised as a black cat. He later joins the other animals after he falls in love with Stella even after realizing she is a skunk.
• Shane Baumel, Sami Kirkpatrick and Madison Davenport as Spike, Bucky and Quillo, Lou and Penny's triplet children who enjoy playing video games and are the most enthusiastic about exploring beyond the hedge.
• Brian Stepanek as Nugent, an excitable Rottweiler whose only spoken word is "Play!" He otherwise communicates by barks.

Two minor human characters named Lunch Table Larry and BBQ Barry who appear during the dog chase scene, were voiced by Lee Bienstock and Sean Yazbeck, two participants on The Apprentice 5 as part of a reward for winning a task.[9]

The soundtrack for the film was released on May 16, 2006, by Epic Records. Rupert Gregson-Williams composed the original score while Hans Zimmer served as an executive music producer and Ben Folds contributed three original songs, along with a rewrite of his song "Rockin' the Suburbs" and a cover of The Clash's "Lost in the Supermarket".[15]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[16]

In May 2007, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said that despite the company exceeding Wall Street's expectations during the second consecutive quarter of 2007, Over the Hedge wouldn't get a sequel due to its box office performance, saying that "It was close. An almost."[49]

In October 2010, an article explaining the possibility of a sequel was posted on the official Over the Hedge blog, saying that if a sequel doesn't perform as well financially as the first film, DreamWorks could lose money and the sequel probably wouldn't happen until DreamWorks Animation was bought by a large studio, which eventually happened in 2016 when NBCUniversal bought the studio.[50]

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• Official website
• Over the Hedge at IMDb
• Over the Hedge at The Big Cartoon DataBase
• Over the Hedge at AllMovie
• Over the Hedge at Box Office Mojo