A scheming raccoon fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of food, by invading the new suburban sprawl that popped up while they were hibernating...and learns a lesson about family himself.
Boog, a domesticated 900lb. Grizzly bear, finds himself stranded in the woods 3 days before Open Season. Forced to rely on Elliot, a fast-talking mule deer, the two form an unlikely friendship and must quickly rally other forest animals if they are to form a rag-tag army against the hunters.
The story of an uptown rat that gets flushed down the toilet from his penthouse apartment, ending in the sewers of London, where he has to learn a whole new and different way of life.
In a robot world, a young idealistic inventor travels to the big city to join his inspiration's company, only to find himself opposing its sinister new management.
Barry B. Benson, a bee just graduated from college, is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry's life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue them.
Directors:
Simon J. Smith,
Steve Hickner
Stars:
Jerry Seinfeld,
Renée Zellweger,
Matthew Broderick
A woman transformed into a giant after she is struck by a meteorite on her wedding day becomes part of a team of monsters sent in by the U.S. government to defeat an alien mastermind trying to take over Earth.
Directors:
Rob Letterman,
Conrad Vernon
Stars:
Reese Witherspoon,
Rainn Wilson,
Stephen Colbert
The canine star of a fictional sci-fi/action show that believes his powers are real embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star from a threat he believes is just as real.
A local scientist is often regarded as a failure until he invents a machine that can make food fall from the sky. But little does he know, that things are about to take a turn for the worst.
When a son of a gangster shark boss is accidentally killed while on the hunt, his would-be prey and his vegetarian brother decide to use the incident to their own advantage.
When Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, meets the fiercely independent Jewel, he takes off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro with the bird of his dreams.
Director:
Carlos Saldanha
Stars:
Jesse Eisenberg,
Anne Hathaway,
George Lopez
RJ, a raccoon who needs food, accidentally takes food from a hungry bear named Vincent and he wants his food to be found in exactly the same place in a week. He finally finds that an animal family, with a tortoise named Verne as their leader, could help him restore the food from the suburbia, the gateway to the good life. But little does RJ know, there is a woman who has recently hired an exterminator to try to hunt them down.
Whenever R.J. is searching through his bag, he occasionally tosses out (among other things) an audio CD. Looking close in multiple shots, you can see it's a John Tesh CD, which apparently sold for ten cents. See more »
Goofs
RJ is repeatedly shown sleeping at night in this movie. However, raccoons are nocturnal. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
[RJ is trying to get a snack from the snack machine and it breaks]
RJ:
No! Come on!
See more »
Crazy Credits
Characters from the movie appear repeatedly during the closing credits, with the hedge as a background. Sometimes the characters perform actions that match the credits currently in display. For example, Stella sprays the screen when the effects credits appear; and during the lighting crew credits, some of the characters appear unlit (rendered in plain white), then a light flashes and they appear in full color. Halfway through the credits, there is an audio only scene in which R.J. introduces the others to television. See more »
Like most people, I was convinced that Pixar's "Cars" was going to be the animated movie of the year and that "Over the Hedge" was just another cheap attempt with the proved formula of cute talking animals. I was very surprised by the end result as it ended up not only being an enjoyable fable about friendship and the typical stuff, it is also a very witty commentary about our modern way of life.
Based on the syndicated comic strip written and drawn by Michael Fry and T. Lewis, "Over the Hedge" is the story of R.J. (Bruce Willis), a witty and knowledgeable raccoon with a problem: he must restore the food he stole from a bear in two weeks or he will have to be eaten in its place. To do it, he decides to raid the houses of the new suburban landscape, and to do it he recruits a group of naive animals who never had seen a human before. almost without knowing it he'll become a member of the family and will begin to have serious doubts about his plan of deceiving the gang.
Directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, "Over the Hedge" is a huge step forward from Dreamworks' previous animated feature, "Madagascar". Technically the movie looks beautiful and the animation is for the most part superb. Great care was taken with the characters' design and while they look quite different from their original versions, the change was definitely for the better.
The plot at its core is once again the typical story of an outcast who finds a family, but it's spiced up by the satire and wit of the original comic strip and that's what makes the movie different from others. This balance between the comic strip's sharp social commentary and the funny and simpler slapstick comedy makes that the film can be enjoyed by both children and adults without being overtly filled with pop-culture references. The characters are very well written although due to the large number of them some may feel a bit underdeveloped.
The voice cast is appropriate, although like in most Dreamworks movies, movie stars are preferred over professional voice actors creating a bit of a mixed bag. Bruce Willis is good, although nothing spectacular, and Garry Shandling as Verne, the gang leader, was also not as surprising. On the other hand, Steve Carell makes a brilliant job, as well as Wanda Sykes and a surprising Avril Lavigne. Wanda Sykes, William Shatner and Thomas Hayden Church are also brilliant.
Frankly, the movie's biggest flaw was the large amount of characters it has. While everyone has their moment to shine (and in most cases is very well used), at the end one has the feeling that either the movie was too short or that there was one or two characters too many. The movie's plot also may be predictable to most people, however, the way the director handles the movie truly makes up for the unoriginal storyline. Tim Johnson proves his talent once again and demonstrates why he is a very underrated director.
To summarize, I was very surprised by the way "Over the Hedge" developed and I truly enjoyed it. It's great assemble of characters and the witty script makes up for its defects and the final product is a very good one. While it probably be overshadowed by the more popular "Cars", this sleeper hit definitely deserves a watch. 7.5/10
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Like most people, I was convinced that Pixar's "Cars" was going to be the animated movie of the year and that "Over the Hedge" was just another cheap attempt with the proved formula of cute talking animals. I was very surprised by the end result as it ended up not only being an enjoyable fable about friendship and the typical stuff, it is also a very witty commentary about our modern way of life.
Based on the syndicated comic strip written and drawn by Michael Fry and T. Lewis, "Over the Hedge" is the story of R.J. (Bruce Willis), a witty and knowledgeable raccoon with a problem: he must restore the food he stole from a bear in two weeks or he will have to be eaten in its place. To do it, he decides to raid the houses of the new suburban landscape, and to do it he recruits a group of naive animals who never had seen a human before. almost without knowing it he'll become a member of the family and will begin to have serious doubts about his plan of deceiving the gang.
Directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, "Over the Hedge" is a huge step forward from Dreamworks' previous animated feature, "Madagascar". Technically the movie looks beautiful and the animation is for the most part superb. Great care was taken with the characters' design and while they look quite different from their original versions, the change was definitely for the better.
The plot at its core is once again the typical story of an outcast who finds a family, but it's spiced up by the satire and wit of the original comic strip and that's what makes the movie different from others. This balance between the comic strip's sharp social commentary and the funny and simpler slapstick comedy makes that the film can be enjoyed by both children and adults without being overtly filled with pop-culture references. The characters are very well written although due to the large number of them some may feel a bit underdeveloped.
The voice cast is appropriate, although like in most Dreamworks movies, movie stars are preferred over professional voice actors creating a bit of a mixed bag. Bruce Willis is good, although nothing spectacular, and Garry Shandling as Verne, the gang leader, was also not as surprising. On the other hand, Steve Carell makes a brilliant job, as well as Wanda Sykes and a surprising Avril Lavigne. Wanda Sykes, William Shatner and Thomas Hayden Church are also brilliant.
Frankly, the movie's biggest flaw was the large amount of characters it has. While everyone has their moment to shine (and in most cases is very well used), at the end one has the feeling that either the movie was too short or that there was one or two characters too many. The movie's plot also may be predictable to most people, however, the way the director handles the movie truly makes up for the unoriginal storyline. Tim Johnson proves his talent once again and demonstrates why he is a very underrated director.
To summarize, I was very surprised by the way "Over the Hedge" developed and I truly enjoyed it. It's great assemble of characters and the witty script makes up for its defects and the final product is a very good one. While it probably be overshadowed by the more popular "Cars", this sleeper hit definitely deserves a watch. 7.5/10