OVER THE HEDGE
Starring the vocal
talents of:
Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, Nick Nolte, Thomas
Haden Church, Allison Janney, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Avril Lavigne,
Omid Djalili and William Shatner
Directors:
Tim Johnson & Karey Kirkpatrick
Running Time:
83 mins
Out to buy on DVD 04/12/06
"...but I like the cookie"
Waking up after hibernating for the winter, Verne the tortoise (Shandling), Hammy the squirrel (Carell), Stella the skunk (Sykes), Ozzie (Shatner) and Heather (Lavigne) the possums and Lou (Levy), Penny (O'Hara) the rest of the porcupine family discover that their forest has just got a whole lot smaller. They discover a huge hedge and humans living on the over side. Not knowing what to do or where they are going to get their food from now, RJ the racoon (Willis) offers them a possible solution; they take the food from humans.
The computer generated animation juggernaut continues to show no sign of slowing down, DreamWorks brings us another talking animals tale but can 'Over the Hedge' standout from the crowd?
With Pixar and DreamWorks themselves setting the standard for CG animation with hits like 'Finding Nemo', 'Monsters, Inc' and 'Shrek' but while many of these movies do turn into box office gold, it doesn't guarantee that the film will be any good. 'The Wild', 'Chicken Little' and 'Valiant' didn't quite live up to expectations and critics and viewers alike blamed this on the audience getting a little tied of talking animal movie but the good news is that 'Over the Hedge' hits much more than it misses.
Like all of the Pixar and DreamWorks' own 'Shrek' movies, 'Over the Hedge' concentrates on the most important things that can be the difference between a hit and a miss, that is story and character. The ensemble cast of loveable characters is what makes this movie so enjoyable. Each cute and superbly animated animal has a real personality and each of them has just enough screen time to adhere themselves to the audience. RJ and Verne are complete opposites, with one taking risks and embracing the new world and the other just wants things to stay the way they were. Ozzie the possum just wants to show his daughter the benefits of playing dead. Stella has given up on every finding someone to be with because of her smell. Lou and Penny are raising their three kids the best they can. It is Hammy the Squirrel that steals the show however, with his completely manic behaviour and his love of cookies.
What also sets the film apart from many other animated movies is the fact that the vocal artiest actually give performances and are not just extensions of their off screen personas. You can't tell that it is Steve Carrel as Hammy, Thomas Haden Church as Dwayne the Verminator or Allison Janney as the angry owner of the house that the animals have targeted, as they are giving a performance and creating a character and not just reading the lines.
The storyline is a little basic but it hits all the right notes to keep children and adults amused for its relatively short eighty-three minutes. There is lots of fun to be had from these wild animals discovering human food for the first time and the sight of Hammy falling in love with cookies and potato chips is as charming as it is hilarious. Action scenes are suitably interspersed throughout as well, adding to the fun.
'Over the Hedge' is a smart and funny piece of family entertainment. With characters that will become firm family favourite and jokes that will have you laughing out loud, this is another CG film that will be one that kids will love and adults will adore.
BONUS FEATURES
Hammy's Boomerang Adventure (4.20 mins)
With optional commentary from director Will Finn, this is an animated
short that features all of your favourite characters from 'Over the Hedge'.
Here we see RJ and the rest of the gang having some fun at Hammy's expense
when they give him a boomerang to play with. High jinx ensue until Verne
comes to see what all the laughing is about. This is a great addition
to this DVD and you will welcome another chance to watch your favourite
characters.
DWK (DreamWorks Kids)
Play an interactive game called 'Backyard Obstacle Race', where you show
Hammy which way to go in a garden full of traps and get the 411 on all
the animals in the movie.
Behind the Hedge (12.01 mins)
Directors Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, comic creators T. Lewis and
Michael Fry, producer Bonnie Arnold, supervising animators David Burgess
and Jason Reisig, character designers Jeffery B. Light and Dick Walsh,
composers Robert Gregson Williams and Hans Zimmer and stars Bruce Willis
and Steve Carell talk about bringing the comic strip to life. They talk
about designing the characters, taking them from 2D drawing to 3D characters,
using real animals for inspiration and the new programs needed to create
the realistic fur need to make RJ, Verne, Hammy and the gang look authentic.
Meet the Cast (15.44 mins)
Directors Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick and stars Bruce Willis, Garry
Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, William Shatner, Nick Nolte, Thomas
Haden Church, Allison Janney, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Omid Djalili
and Avril Lavigne talk about RJ, Verne, Hammy, Stella, Lou, Heather, Ozzie,
Penny, Vincent, Tiger, Gladys and Dwayne. Each of them talks about their
characters and what it like doing a vocal performance.
Verm-Tech Infomercial
Dwayne La Fondont reveals how you could become a trained Verm-Tech investigator
and the advantages of working in the field.
The Tech of Over the Hedge (6.04 mins)
Production designer Kathy Altieri, chief technical officer Ed Leonard,
CG lighting supervisor Michael Necci, supervising animators David Burgess
and Craig Ring and DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffery Katzenberg reveal
how the animators created virtual lighting, quills, furs and how the animals
hugged and touched.
Filmmaker's Commentary
Directors Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick and producer Bonnie Arnold
provide a commentary track.
Galleries
View images of set designs, package designs, characters sketches and storyboards
Trailers
Previews of 'Shrek 3', 'Bee Movie', 'Flushed Away', 'Wallace & Gromit:
The Curse of the Were Rabbit', 'Madagascar', 'Antz', 'Avatar' and 'Sponge
Bob Squarepants'
OVERALL
DreamWorks have done a good job with the DVD treatment of 'Over the Hedge'. The interactive materials are good and the featurettes are informative and fun. It is the inclusion of 'Hammy's Boomerang Adventure' that makes this even better and a must rent/buy for fans of the film.
DVD
Over The Hedge TM & (c) 2006 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved
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2006