Introduction
Welcome to my corner! This week, I'm sharing my thoughts on the film Over the Hedge. The Emil M. Larson Public Library will be showing Over the Hedge as part of their Summer Reading Program Movie Lineup on August 7 at 2:00 p.m. Go and enjoy!
Over the Hedge
Over the Hedge is a 2006 American animated comedy film directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, and written by Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton and Kirkpatrick. It is based on the Over the Hedge comic strip by Michael Fry and T. Lewis, and was produced by DreamWorks Animation. The voice cast stars Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, Wanda Sykes, and Nick Nolte. The plot follows RJ (Willis), a raccoon who is forced to deliver food to a bear named Vincent (Nolte) after accidentally destroying his stockpile of food, whereupon he manipulates a family of woodland animals, led by a turtle named Verne (Shandling), into helping him steal food from a local housing development in order to speed up the process.
Over the Hedge premiered in Los Angeles on April 30, 2006, and was theatrically released in the United States on May 19 by Paramount Pictures. The film received positive reviews from critics for its humor, charm and animation. It was a commercial success, grossing $339.8 million worldwide on an $80 million budget.
Plot: When Verne (Garry Shandling) and fellow woodland friends awake from winter's hibernation, they find they have some new neighbors: humans, and RJ (Bruce Willis), an opportunistic raccoon who shows the others how to exploit the suburban bounty laid out before them.
(Voice) Acting: My favorite title is Over the Hedge for the following actors, unless stated otherwise.
Bruce Willis voiced RJ, an intelligent, charismatic and manipulative raccoon. His four most notable titles include Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense, and the Moonlighting television series. My favorite is Look Who's Talking.
Garry Shandling voiced Verne, a cynical and timid turtle who is the leader (later second-in-command) for the foragers. His four most notable titles are Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 2, and as a writer on The Larry Sanders Show and It's Gary Shandling's Show.
Steve Carell voice Hammy, a happy-go-lucky, hyperactive red squirrel. His four most notable titles currently include The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Big Short, Foxcatcher, and The Office television series. My favorite so far is the Despicable Me franchise.
Wanda Sykes voiced Stella, a short-tempered and sassy striped skunk. Her four most notable titles currently are Monster-in-Law, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Evan Almighty, and Bad Moms.
William Shatner and Avril Lavigne voiced Ozzie and Heather, an opossum father and teenage daughter respectively. His most notable titles are within the Star Trek franchise. My favorite is the Haven television series.
Allison Janney voiced Gladys Sharp, the president of the El Rancho Camelot Estates Homeowners Association. Her four most notable titles currently include The Help, Juno, The Hours, and I, Tonya. My favorites so far are Juno, Hairspray, and Drop Dead Gorgeous. It's hard to pick one!
Thomas Haden Church voiced Dwayne LaFontant (aka the Verminator), and overzealous pest exterminator who is hired by Gladys to get rid of the animals. His four most notable titles currently are Sideways, Spider-Man 3, Spiderman: No way Home, and Easy A. My favorite is George of the Jungle.
Nick Nolte voiced Vincent, a greedy, predatory American black bear, to whom RJ owes food. His four most notable titles, currently are Warrior, Affliction, The Prince of Tides, and The Thin Red Line. My favorite is The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara voiced Lou and Penny, an easygoing 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. His four most notable titles currently include A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, and American Pie. Her four most notable titles are A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, Frankenweenie, and For Your Consideration. My favorite for both of them is the Schitt's Creek television series.
Minor roles were voiced by Paul Butcher as Skeeter, a boy who asks to poke Ozzie when he is under the impression that he's dead; Omid Djalili as Tiger, Gladys' snobbish Persian cat; Shane Baumel, Sami Kirkpatrick and Madison Davenport as Spike, Bucky and Quillo, who are Lou and Penny's triplet children; Brian Stepanek as Nugent, an excitable Rottweiler whose only spoken word is "Play!" He otherwise communicates by barks; Debra Wilson as Debbie, Timmy's mother who hits Ozzie with her car and prevents Skeeter from poking Ozzie; Lunch Table Larry and BBQ Barry who appear during the dog chase scene, were respectively voiced by Lee Bienstock and Sean Yazbeck, two participants on The Apprentice 5 television series as part of a reward for winning a task.
Background information: 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, Carry 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, and that character was ultimately scrapped.
Production officially began on July 15, 2002. While production was based at DreamWorks' Glendale campus, a satellite crew working out of the Pacific Data Images studios helped with additional animation, effects, and lighting support.
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".
The film was originally set up at 20th Century Fox through its 20th Century Fox Animation division. The idea of the film was conceived when Don Bluth and Gary Goldman showed the comic strip to its head Chris Meledandri, who was impressed by its humor and acquired the rights to the strip. He asked the screenwriting duo of Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman to write the screenplay for the project for Bluth and Goldman's Fox Animation Studios; however, in February 2001, due to the disappointing performance of its recent film Titan A.E. and its closure in 2000, it was later picked up by DreamWorks Animation under the leadership of its CEO Jeffrey Katzenburg when Fox put the film in turnaround.
Final Thoughts: Over the Hedge is a kids movie that the whole family can enjoy.
I vaguely remember when this movie came out in 2006 (when I was six-years-old), and I wanted to see it so bad. It wasn't until years later that I finally got a chance to watch Over the Hedge at a friend's house. They were lucky enough to have it on DVD. I was so excited to finally see it, and I wasn't disappointed.
My favorite scene was where Verne first goes through the hedge to explore the human garden and then proceeds to get scared out of his mind and whipped around the yard.
My favorite quote is "The human mouth is called a 'piehole', the human being is called a 'couch potato'." —RJ.
Rated: PG
Where to watch it: According to Google, Over the Hedge is not currently available to watch on any streaming service. But you can purchase or rent a digital copy for a few dollars.
The Emil M. Larson Public Library will be showing Over the Hedge as part of their Summer Reading Program Movie Lineup on August 7 at 2:00 p.m. Go and enjoy!
