Over the Hedge
This article is about the comic strip. For the movie, see Over the Hedge (film).
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Over the Hedge is a syndicated comic strip written and drawn by Michael Fry and T. Lewis. It tells the story of a raccoon named RJ and a turtle named Verne who come to terms with their woodlands being taken over by suburbia, trying to survive the increasing flow of humanity and technology while becoming enticed by it at the same time.
Main Characters
RJ
A raccoon con artist, RJ takes pride in being extremely lazy. He apparently envisions himself as an intellectual; however, his "facts" are obviously false. He loves to ransack human homes, as well as watch them and their televisions through the windows. While he enjoys commenting on human life, most of his statements are false as well. RJ loves to eat ham, bacon, and sausages.
Verne
Hammy
A hyperactive squirrel, Hammy is the least intelligent character in the strip, spouting random comments at random moments. His comments usually state an unusual short lecture on a topic that the other characters do not find too much interest in.
The film
A computer-animated film adaptation, written by Michael Fry and T. Lewis, and produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures, was released on May 19, 2006 (June 30, 2006 in UK). The film adaptation features RJ befriending a group of woodlanders and introducing them to suburbia, with an ulterior motive of helping him replenish the food supply he stole from a bear. Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, Wanda Sykes and Nick Nolte star as RJ, Verne, Hammy, Ozzie (an opossum), Stella (a skunk), and Vincent (a bear) respectively. The film is also notable for containing Avril Lavigne's first major film role, as Heather, Ozzie's continuously embarrassed teenage daughter.
Trivia
- Many people mistakenly believe Hammy's original name was Sammy; in fact, Sammy was the second name after the creators killed off Hammy.
- Hammy's original name was restored in the comic during a series that ran from 12/12/2005 - 12/17/2005, in which Sammy traded places with his reflection from a parallel universe.
- The strip went into syndication in 1995.
- The strip's fourth book, Stuffed Animals, references an annual tradition in which NORAD comes to public attention at Christmas, when it tracks Santa Claus on his journey around the world delivering toys for the world's children. 2005 marked the 50th time of NORAD tracking Santa. This tradition started in 1955 when a local Sears store in Colorado misprinted the phone number and children who thought they were calling Santa called NORAD instead.