Over the Hedge (2006)

Vincent did nothing wrong. Dude just wanted his food.

I found <em>'Over the Hedge'</em> to be a rather dull affair. The cast try, the likes of Bruce Willis, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, Nick Nolte and Thomas Haden Church are all fine and probably help the film avoid an even lower rating from myself.

It's just everything else that I didn't click with, from the lame plot set-up to the animation to the humour. Just real forgettable. Of course I'm not the target audience and all that, but still. Either way, it's a film that failed to hold my attention sufficiently.

I will say there is one gag in there that got a chuckle out of me and that was the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PomZJao7Raw" rel="nofollow">THX ident</a> one - there's never been a truer scene! I remember that and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAUJKRYieSM" rel="nofollow">Icon Entertainment</a> one making me rush under my duvet with minor fright as a young kid when watching DVDs at night. Just me? Probably.

Anyway, to summarise my thoughts on this 2006 release: Not good, kinda surprised to see it rated rather well on here - to each their own, as always. It does have a catchy end credits song though, I'll give it that.

Alright, let's talk about "Over the Hedge"! Seriously, this movie? A solid 10/10! It's like, super underrated, you know?

First off, the animation is just... wow! It's so colorful and lively. The characters move in such a fun, cartoony way, and all the little details, like the fur on the animals or the shiny gadgets, are amazing. It's way better than just "average" animation.

And the story! It's so clever. You've got these woodland critters waking up from hibernation and finding a giant hedge and a whole new world of human stuff. RJ the raccoon is hilarious and sneaky, and the rest of the gang, like Verne the turtle and Hammy the squirrel, are just so lovable. It's funny, but it also has a really sweet message about family and sticking together.

The jokes? Oh my gosh, they're so good! There are jokes for everyone, from silly slapstick to smart, witty lines. You'll be laughing the whole time. Plus, the action scenes are super exciting, like when they're trying to steal all the human food. It's a rollercoaster ride!

Seriously, "Over the Hedge" is a masterpiece. It's got everything: great animation, a funny and heartwarming story, and characters you'll totally fall in love with. If you haven't seen it, you absolutely have to! It's way, way above average, and it deserves way more love!

I finally re-watched this movie in 2026, and I still like it really much.

The story itself is simple: Animals need to get a ton of food so a bear doesn't kill them. (or, well, one of them)
Along the story it has bits of trust, betrayal and, most importantly, "found family", which I consider lovely.
The characters are fun and adorable.

RJ and Vern kinda represent Woody and Buzz from Toy Story a bit, just with some personality pieces shifted around. Both are adorable in their own ways but also have their flaws to overcome. Mostly RJ. 😁
Stella is a lovely, strong woman that won't take shit and is cool for it!
Hammy is totally crazy, his boundless energy is really fun without, at least for me, going on one's nerves, especially combined with his genuine emotional side.
Ozzie and Heather, the opossums, are a lovely cute "family within the family", and it's nice to see her attitude towards her father as "you're kinda embarrassing...but I love you." Also, Heather's damn nice and cute! ❤️
Lou and Penny sadly have relatively small roles, but leave a nice impression and their kids are fun.

I feel that, in general, the movie has many things and emotions similar to Toy Story. Sadly it falls a bit shorter. Maybe it should've been half an hour longer to allow more character establishment for each of the group? More importantly, I would've really loved a sequel for this. And hey, I still won't give up hope for it!

I generally love movies and games that depict "smart animals in a human world and how they deal with human technology and stuff", and this movie is nice for that!

Visually, it still holds up okay. The fur already looks fine enough, the humans aren't "good-looking", but already far better than at Toy Story (1) times. So, I think you can, and should, still watch this if you're a fan of the old DreamWorks stuff, especially if you wanna see cute critters.

I wanna hug Heather and listen to punkrock with her! ❤️