An extended cartoon story, with superb animation.

Rating: Null/10 (2 November 2006)

Even before I saw "Over the Hedge" I was reflecting on where animation has gone the past 6 to 8 years. I remember being blown away by "A Bug's Life" and "Disney's Tarzan." The animation was so great and the stories were equally good. But more recently, as animation has gotten even better, we are getting used to it, and enjoyment depends on there being an excellent story. Movies like "Shrek" and "Monsters Inc" qualify. But many are just good animation, ad I find myself getting tired of just watching good animation.
This movie falls somewhere in between extremes for me. I found the story moderately interesting, but not good enough to sustain an 80 minute story. I most liked the squirrel character Hammy, voiced by Steve Carell. He can do so much with his voice acting, and the animators met the challenge with his animated character.
The main part of the story has Bruce Willis as RJ the raccoon stealing from a hibernating bear, getting caught, and then RJ trying to con the rest of the animals to do his reparations for him, collect all the things that RJ inadvertently destroyed. Mostly this involves the animals traveling across the hedge separating their woods for the subdivision. One plan has them trying to get the collar from a cat, because the collar has a device that electronically opens the pet door. This will allow them entrance to the home and its store of food items.
The voices are an all-star cast, with Garry Shandling as Verne, Steve Carell as Hammy, Wanda Sykes as Stella, William Shatner as Ozzie, Nick Nolte as Vincent the bear, Thomas Haden Church as Dwayne the animal control man, Allison Janney as Gladys the home owner, Eugene Levy as Lou, Catherine O'Hara as Penny, and Avril Lavigne as Heather.