Disney, who have been at loggerheads with Pixar for most of the period, have been trailing a poor third - something which the underachieving The Wild did nothing to change. $7.4 billion might change something though - Disney shelled out that much to buy Pixar in May. Will the two united animating behemoths steamroller the entire market - or can Over the Hedge keep Dreamworks in the race?

RJ (Bruce Willis) is a scavenging raccoon who has just made a massive error. On a particularly greedy day he tries to steal all of Vincent's (Nick Nolte) food - Vincent beaing the local grizzly bear. He fails miserably, of course, and all of the food is destroyed. Vincent gives him an ultimatum: he must get all of it back before the moon becomes whole, or he'll be eating him instead. RJ manages to find the perfect team - a group of animals just out of hibernation who discover their surroundings have been turned into a new suburban development. RJ decides he'll teach them about their new world and get what he needs in return.

In the past ten years the quality of the cartoon has increased tenfold - not just visually but also in the writing. The bar has been raised so high by films such as Finding Nemo and Shrek that every new release is met with the expectation that it may top the previous best. And its under an expectation such as this that films such as Over The Hedge collapse.

What sets out a truly great animated movie from the rest is the emotional content. Finding Nemo was such a rousing success because we actually cared about the characters, despite the fact that they were merely computer generated effects. You'll never find yourself really caring too much about any of the "wacky" animals on display here although some attempts are made.

Instead, it's best to compare Over The Hedge to the god-awful set of animated films that were released before the resurgance started by Toy Story. And with that comparison, it shines. The animation is yet again flawless. It's a wonder anyone still makes hand-drawn animation any more and there's a danger now that computer generated animation is the norm to forget how amazing it looks. Along with the animation, it does manage to possess a strong comic sense and an enjoyably frenetic pace.

The jokes come thick and fast and beneath the kiddy surface there are some clever adult jokes. Firstly there is a bitter tone running through the film, mostly based towards the urban sprawl taking over America. One of the arch nemeses, a property developer of course, is driving and on her phone - "of course I can talk, I'm just driving". There are also a number of jokes referencing Citizen Kane and A Streetcar Named Desire for example, not your norm in childrens fare.

The voice cast is also strong. Bruce Willis, Wanda Sykes and Eugene Levy all perform well, but the real standout is Steve Carell's excitable squirrel. It's a knockout comic performance and he'll definitely become a kids favourite.

In the end, it's not going to threaten the big boys in the genre - the plot is waferthin - but it's one of the more enjoyable animated offerings of late. Its Looney Tunes style comedy and barbed humour give it a broad appeal and it'll be interesting to see if Pixar's summer flick Cars will match it.

  share with:  Facebook | Digg | other sites