What do you remember most about the film ‘Over the Hedge’? Was it the hilarious moments that made you cry with laughter, or perhaps the Ben Folds soundtrack? There are many reasons this animated film was one of the best in its decade, and that’s because not only did we love the characters and the storyline, but it also taught us many life lessons too. There were many hilarious parts, but also some very sad moments throughout the film as well. ‘Over the Hedge’ was created by Dreamworks, and was released in 2006. Here you can see more of Dreamworks best-animated films.
The film started off with a Racoon called ‘RJ’ who’s scavenging for food. He first notices a vending machine with lots of tasty treats but is unsuccessful in retrieving them. He then notices a Bear cave on top of the hill, and decides to check it out; once he reaches the Bear cave he finds a sleeping Bear called ‘Vincent’, along with a trolley full of food. This is obviously to prepare him for after hibernation – but that doesn’t bother RJ. He tries to quietly, and carefully pull the trolley of food out of the cave without waking Vincent, and at the last glance he notices Vincent holding a tube of ‘Spuddies’ crisps whilst sleeping; being greedy he goes back to grab the crisps, eventually waking him up. Once Vincent realizes the Racoon’s intention of stealing the food, he becomes angry and threatens him, and whilst RJ tries to make a swift exit, he knocks into the trolley, pushing it down the hill – the trolley then gets knocked over by a car. In a fit of anger, Vincent chases after RJ and attempts to eat him, but in a desperate plea to survive, RJ reassures the Bear that he will get the food back. Vincent gives him a week (until the moon is full) to retrieve his food for when he wakes up from hibernation.
The story then turns to a family of wildlife that lives behind a hedge; they live naturally and peacefully away from human life. They eventually cross paths with RJ, who convinces them to start scavenging for ‘real food’ in people’s bins, and houses. ‘Verne’ the Tortoise, who is another key character in the film doesn’t agree with going over the garden hedge and mixing with people, he strives for a natural life where they keep to themselves. Once homeowners begin to discover that wildlife is living behind the hedge, they set up animal traps to get rid of them. Ultimately there is nothing better than having beautiful wildlife in your garden, so if you have a hedge that wildlife is thriving in, but just needs a trim, you might want to get in touch with Tree Surgeon Poole based companies, or ones nearer you to help with tidying up the garden hedge. Over the hedge showed many different sides to their characters, like RJ for example who at first appeared to be a manipulating and scavenging Racoon, as he was just using the others to get food for Vincent. As the film progressed though, it showed him in a more vulnerable and lonely light, his character very much developed throughout the film as he had come to care for his new friends, and saw them as family.
