DVD Review - “Over The Hedge”
GRADE: A-
This has been a historical year for computer animated films; Over The Hedge, Cars, The Ant Bully, The Wild, Barnyard, Monster House came out this past summer, Open Season is out now and Happy Feet, Charlottes Web, Flushed Away and Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D are coming soon.
It turns out ”Over The Hedge” surprised me when it came out this past summer, and it is a great DVD purchase for multiple viewings, I enjoyed it a lot.
The voice talent alone is fun: Bruce Willis, Katherine Ohara, Eugene Levy, Gary Shandling, Steve Carrell, Wanda Sykes…
I laughed so hard and loud at points I embarrassed myself. This cartoon is why adults and kids spend money on merchandising and tickets, it’s sweet, innocent and the characters are super cute! I don’t like Avril Lavigne, but after this movie where she plays a teenage possum, I kinda even like her! Steve Carrell does the best comedic character voice work as Hammy the squirrel.
The story was pretty ingenious! It touched on urban sprawl and litter, consumption, waste and human greed. There was a scene where RJ the raccoon is going over all the food we eat as humans that is witty, silly and ingenious. The messages were not heavy handed, they were subtle of course, but done in a funny way. The jokes are fresh and at times racy.
I loved the Alison Janey character who was the home owners association lady. Her and the exterminator, voiced by Thomas Hayden Church, have some hilarious scenes.
This cartoon is quite beautiful, and the vivid colors and textures are state of the art. The smooth animation and background art are very detailed and flawless. I loved the colors and natural style the animators used, making this movie less cartoony and more realistic.
This is one of my favorite animated films of the year, and I bet, will be one of the three movies nominated for Best Animated Film at the Oscars .
October 13th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
I also LOVE animated shows, especially movies. I’ve seen three of them this summer…Over the Hedge, The Barnyard, and Open Season. Over the Hedge easily surpassed the other two in animation, storyline, and humor. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt the next day.
I can’t wait to see it again, it’s already in our Netflix cue.
November 14th, 2006 at 7:18 am
Dave…
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November 17th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Dave…
Interesting topic… I’m working in this industry myself and I don’t agree about this in 100%, but I added your page to my bookmarks and hope to see more interesting articles in the future…