Family fun with positive messages

Rating: 8/10 (3 June 2006)

I am weary of a recent trend in animated features - films which freely mix adult themes with children's entertainment. I'm also no big fan of anthropomorposed animal movies. However, this film has a great big heart, and includes positive messages from which both young and less-young alike could profit.
The story is about a raccoon (whose voice is so well played by Bruce Willis that you will immediately forget whose voice you are hearing) who owes a mean-spirited bear a whole season's worth of food, and whose very life hangs in the balance. The raccoon encounters some naive critters who are about to go gathering their stores for the winter and contrives a plan to steal vast amounts of food from a local suburban development and then steal that same food away from his compatriots to pay back the bear.
The hedge is a brand new phenomenon for the extended family of forest creatures among which the raccoon finds himself, and the ecological message is not lost on thoughtful viewers. The film lampoons a lot of uniquely human values and the treatment of various animals whose lands we often usurp as "vermin".
The voice talent is particularly wonderful. Most memorable for me was Steve Carrell - who plays the huge-hearted ADHD squirrel. And the animation is a lot of fun, though not particularly innovative (as this genre has advanced so quickly over the last few years).
I recommend Over the Hedge to anybody looking for a thoughtful, family-oriented and heart-warming film about love, working together, nature, and honesty.