Over the Hedge (film)

Over the Hedge (film)
Over the Hedge is a 2006 American animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Based on the comic strip of the same name created by Michael Fry and T. Lewis, the film was directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick (in the latter's feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton and Kirkpatrick, and features an ensemble voice cast that includes Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, Wanda Sykes, and Nick Nolte. Set in Indiana, the film centers on a raccoon named RJ, who is forced to deliver food to a bear named Vincent after accidentally destroying his stockpile of food, whereupon he manipulates a family of woodland animals who have recently awakened from hibernation into helping him steal food in order to speed up the process.
Over the Hedge was theatrically released in the United States on May 19, 2006, as the first film by DreamWorks Animation to be distributed by Paramount. Upon release, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, grossing $339.8 million worldwide on an $80 million budget.
Plot
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. RJ blames Verne for the destruction of the food while Verne attempts to convince his family not to follow RJ for their own safety, 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 when she tries to resist arrest. 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.
Voice cast
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.
Thomas Haden Church as Dwayne LaFontant, 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". 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.
Production
Initial development
Over the Hedge originally began development at 20th Century Fox Animation, when studio head Chris Meledandri was impressed by the comic strip's humor and acquired the rights to the strip. Melendandri then hired the screenwriting team of Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, best known for writing Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Doc Hollywood and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, to script the project, which was initially set up at Fox Animation Studios. However, Fox Animation Studios shut down in 2000 following the disappointing performance of its second and final film Titan A.E., prompting Fox to put the film in turnaround. It was picked up one year later by DreamWorks Animation under the leadership of its co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, with Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, and David Hoselton replacing the original screenwriters.
Casting
Bill Murray and Harold Ramis were initially considered as the voices of RJ and Verne, respectively. In July 2002, Jim Carrey was announced to co-star in the film as RJ, with Garry Shandling as Verne. However, Carrey dropped out in October 2004 and was replaced by Bruce Willis, although some of the former's lines remained. Gene Wilder was offered a role in the film as well, namely an owl named Norbert, but he turned it down. Nick Nolte was extended a role as Vincent, the main antagonist, which he accepted; Nolte did extensive research on bears to provide the ideal tone and inflections to his character.
Music
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".
Release
Theatrical
Over the Hedge was originally going to be released in November 2005; however, in December 2004, the date was changed to May 2006. That same year, distributor Paramount Pictures' parent company Viacom purchased the rights to DreamWorks Pictures (and subsidiaries, including DreamWorks Animation), and thus, Over the Hedge became DreamWorks Animation's first film to be distributed by Paramount. The film was screened as a "work-in-progress" on April 29, 2006, at the Indianapolis International Film Festival, and premiered on April 30 in Los Angeles. Nolte, Willis, Lavigne, Shandling, Sykes, O'Hara and Steve Carell attended the premiere.
The film was theatrically released in the United States on May 19, 2006. In select New York and Los Angeles cinemas, it was accompanied by the short film First Flight. The film was also screened out of competition on May 21, 2006, at the Cannes Film Festival.
Home media
Over the Hedge was released on DVD by DreamWorks Animation's newly-formed home entertainment division and Paramount Home Entertainment on October 17, 2006. The film was released on Blu-ray on February 5, 2019, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment as a Walmart exclusive, and was subsequently given a wider release on June 4.
The film's home media releases feature Hammy's Boomerang Adventure, a short film taking place after the events of the film that was also later added in the Madly Madagascar (2013) DVD as a bonus feature. It features Steve Carell, Bruce Willis, Madison Davenport, Shane Baumel, Sami Kirkpatrick and Garry Shandling reprising their roles from the main film.
Tie-ins
Video games
A video game based on the film was released on May 9, 2006. Developed by Edge of Reality, Beenox and Vicarious Visions, it was published by Activision for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance. Shane Baumel, Sami Kirkpatrick, and Madison Davenport were the only ones to reprise their roles for the video game while the other characters were voiced by different actors.
Three different versions of the video game Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts! were released by Activision in the fall of 2006: a miniature golf game for Game Boy Advance, an action adventure game for Nintendo DS, and a platform game for PlayStation Portable.
Picture books
Scholastic published a series of picture books to tie-in with the film. Two books, Over the Hedge: Meet the Neighbors and Over the Hedge: Movie Storybook, were both authored by Sarah Durkee and illustrated by Michael Koelsch.
Reception
Box office
On its opening weekend, Over the Hedge finished in second place to The Da Vinci Code, but its gross of $38,457,003 did not quite live up to DreamWorks Animation's other titles released over the past few years. The film had a per-theater average of $9,474 from 4,059 theaters. In its second weekend, the film dropped 30% to $27,063,774 for a $6,612 average from an expanded 4,093 theaters and finishing third, behind X-Men: The Last Stand and The Da Vinci Code. Since it was Memorial Day Weekend, the film grossed a total of $35,322,115 over the four-day weekend, resulting in only an 8% slide. In its third weekend, the film held well with a 24% drop to $20,647,284 and once again placing in third behind The Break-Up and X-Men: The Last Stand, for a $5,170 average from 3,993 theaters. The film closed on September 4, 2006, after 112 days of release, grossing $155,019,340 in the United States and Canada, along with $180,983,656 internationally for a worldwide total of $336,002,996, against a production budget of $80 million.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "Certified Fresh" rating of based on 172 reviews, with an average score of 6.80/10. The site's consensus states: "Even if it's not an animation classic, Over the Hedge is clever and fun, and the jokes cater to family members of all ages." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 67 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Ken Fox of TVGuide.com praised the film for being "a sly satire of American 'enough is never enough' consumerism and blind progress at the expense of the environment. It's also very funny, and the little woodland critters that make up the cast are a kiddie-pleasing bunch." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times give the film three stars out of four and called it "Not at the level of Finding Nemo or Shrek, but is a lot of fun, awfully nice to look at, and filled with energy and smiles." Nick De Semlyen of Empire give the film three stars out of five and wrote, "You'll soon be sick of digital furballs, but there's plenty of fun here and Hammy is up there with Ice Age's Scrat in the pantheon of lunatic movie rodents." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film two stars out of five stars, writing "The spoilt and wasteful American consumer is satirised in this patchy animated comedy from DreamWorks."
Accolades
Possible sequel
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."
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.
References
External links
2006 films
2000s English-language films
2006 comedy films
2006 computer-animated films
2006 directorial debut films
2000s children's comedy films
2000s children's animated films
2000s American animated films
American children's animated comedy films
American computer-animated films
American buddy comedy films
Animated buddy films
Animated films about friendship
Animated films about turtles
Animated films about squirrels
Animated films about cats
Animated films about bears
Films about raccoons
Films about skunks
Films about consumerism
Films about food and drink
Films set in Indiana
Works about suburbs
Animated films based on American comics
Films based on comic strips
Annie Award-winning films
Films directed by Tim Johnson
Films directed by Karey Kirkpatrick
Films produced by Bonnie Arnold
Films with screenplays by Karey Kirkpatrick
Films scored by Rupert Gregson-Williams
DreamWorks Animation animated films
Paramount Pictures animated films
Paramount Pictures films
Animated films set in the Midwestern United States