Over the Hedge (film)

Over the Hedge is a 2006 American computer-animated comedy film based on the United Media comic strip of the same name. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures,1 which acquired the live-action DreamWorks studio the same year,[5] the film was directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick from a screenplay by Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton and Kirkpatrick. Featuring the voices of Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, Wanda Sykes and Nick Nolte, the film was released on May 19, 2006 in the United States and earned $336 million on an $80 million budget.

Plot
While scavenging for food, RJ (Bruce Willis) the raccoon enters the cave of Vincent (Nick Nolte) the bear, who has a wagon full of human food taken from a nearby rest stop. RJ accidentally wakes Vincent from his hibernation, and in a race to escape, causes the stash to roll out onto the nearby highway and get run over by a large truck. To avoid being eaten himself, RJ promises Vincent that he will completely replace the stash within the week.

RJ heads towards a recently built suburban housing development in Chesterton, Indiana, separated from a forest glade by a large hedge. There he discovers a pack of animals recently awoken from their hibernation, led by Verne (Garry Shandling) the turtle; the others include squirrel Hammy (Steve Carell), skunk Stella (Wanda Sykes), porcupines Penny (Catherine O'Hara) and Lou (Eugene Levy), along with their triplet sons, Spike, Bucky and Quillo (Shane Baumel, Sami Kirkpatrick, and Madison Davenport); and opossum Ozzie (Williams Shatner) and his daughter Heather (Avril Lavigne). The animals are scared, as the development had been built during their hibernation and they fear they will be unable to forage for food in the small glade. RJ shows them the amount of food humans consume and waste and suggests they forage from the humans. Verne is hesitant but the other animals acquiesce. They make bold attempts to steal food directly from the humans, with RJ secretly guiding them to help collect the food he needs to replace Vincent's stash.

When the animals raid the trash cans of the homeowners-association chairwoman Gladys Sharp (Allison Janney), she calls an animal exterminator named Dwayne LaFontant (Thomas Haden Church), who offers to install in her backyard an illegal, lethal trap called the "Depelter Turbo". Verne sees this and tries to warn the others, but RJ insists they will be okay. Fearing for the safety of the pack, Verne attempts to return what they stole; he and RJ argue, causing a small rampage through the development and destroying the stash RJ had collected for Vincent. After a brief argument, RJ and Verne make up and RJ rallies the others to raid Gladys' home directly on the night before a large party. With Stella disguised as a cat to distract Gladys' own cat, Tiger (Omid Djalili), the others enter Gladys' home and collect all the food. RJ inadvertently reveals his duplicity to the animals, just as they are discovered by Gladys who calls Dwayne. RJ escapes with the food for Vincent but leaves the other animals to be captured by Dwayne.

As RJ returns the food to Vincent, he sees Dwayne's truck drive by and, consumed by remorse, uses the food to knock the truck off the road, enraging Vincent. Dwayne is knocked out while the animals get free, and Spike, Bucky and Quillo use skills they learned from a videogame to drive the truck back to the development. RJ pleads to be let in the truck as Vincent tries to catch him, but the others, angry at his treachery, refuse. Verne convinces the group to forgive RJ since he came back to save them. They return the truck to the development, crashing through Gladys' home, and the animals flee into the hedge. Gladys and Dwayne converge on the animals from one side with a String trimmer and a Cattle prod respectively, while Vincent tries to swipe at them from the other. To escape, RJ gives Hammy a caffeinated beverage, allowing the hyperactive squirrel to move incredibly fast. Hammy is able to manipulate Dwayne into capturing Vincent, causing Vincent, Gladys, and Dwayne to be trapped by the Depelter Turbo while the animals escape. The police and animal control arrive, and Vincent is sent to the Rocky Mountainswhile Gladys is arrested for using the Depelter Turbo. Dwayne escapes when Gladys gets arrested only to get bitten by Nugent (Brian Stepanek).

RJ and Verne apologize to each other, and RJ is brought into the group, as is Tiger, who became infatuated with Stella even after learning she was a skunk. Verne realizes they have not had a chance to forage for food until Hammy reveals that while sped up, he had been able to collect enough nuts for them all to last the year.

In a post-credits scene, the animals are at the vending machine from the beginning, and RJ hacks it to make all the snacks fall in. However, the large pile blocks the access bin from

opening.