Great cartoon

Rating: 7/10 (18 June 2006)

OVER THE HEDGE will delight young-uns and adult-type folk alike, as it mixes Looney Tunes-type destructive humor with loads of Baby Boomer references. A wily raccoon (Bruce Willis) helps a bunch of naive furry critters headed up by a thoughtful turtle (Gary Shandling) find food after they find most of their forest has been replaced by hundreds of cluster housing units. Talk about a timely topic, by the way. HEDGE is based on a comic strip, and the characters in this theatrical release are fully realized and all quite hysterical, each in his or her own right. There is a sweet porcupine family headed by Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, a silly father (William Shatner) and daughter (Avril Lavigne) possum team, a sassy skunk (Wanda Sykes) and and a manic squirrel (Steve Carrell). They all play their parts to perfection. HEDGE is not as brilliant as CARS nor quite so smarmy as ICE AGE 2; it strikes a nice balance and moves the beat of to its own internal rhythm. Make sure you hang around for the closing credits.