(2006) Furry and fluffy, animated-cartoon feature from DreamWorks, based on characters created by Michael Fry and T Lewis, directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, with songs by Ben Folds, is family fare (though PG-rated).

Rudely awakened from his hibernation a week early, Vincent the bear (voiced by Nick Nolte) finds RJ the raccoon (Bruce Willis) attempting to filch his red wagon filled with goodies (human snack foods). When the entire stash accidentally gets destroyed, Vincent gives RJ one week, until the full moon, to restore his pantry or "I will kill you."

Meanwhile, other hibernators emerge into spring to forage before the next winter. Taking seriously the responsibility for seeing to the welfare of his "family," Verne the turtle (Garry Shandling), overly protective, begins organizing tasks for filling a hollowed log with nature's nutrition when Hammy (Steve Carell), the hyper-manic squirrel, alerts everyone to a "weird thing" - a hedge separating the wilderness from a new housing development.

Suddenly RJ appears, pronouncing the hedge as "the gateway to the good life" of suburbia where a cornucopia of food can be had for the taking. Naturally cautious, Verne, having briefly experienced the other side, opposes introducing the others to what's over there. But once the porcupines, Lou (Eugene Levy) and Penny (Catherine O'Hara), the opossums, Ozzie (William Shatner) and Heather (Avril Lavigne), and the others get a whiff of salty flavored snack food with BHT and MSG, Verne can't keep them from following RJ into the backyard of the president of the homeowners association.

As they're sampling scraps from the silver garbage cans, Gladys (Allison Janney) comes out of her home swinging a broom at the vermin. After RJ enlists Hammy in a scheme to swipe a red wagon full of cookies from two girls in brown uniforms, Gladys calls an exterminator. Dwayne the Verminator (Thomas Haden Church) arrives with his traps and lasers: "Adios animal infestation."

Shunning Verne (who attempts to return all the stolen items in hopes of placating the humans) for calling them "stupid and naïve," the critters look to RJ for leadership toward satisfying their craving for more junk food; the raccoon, desperate to appease his own nemesis, makes a pact with Verne, who apologizes to everyone, and hatches a plan to elude Dwayne's multitude of snares, involving Stella the skunk (Wanda Sykes) disguised as a sexy feline to distract Gladys's Persian pet, Tiger (Omid Djalili).

Impressed by RJ's clever tactics, Vincent compliments the thief: "You take the food and they take the fall." But RJ, though formerly proud of being a family of one, having been deeply affected by his association with a real family of friends, sets off to rescue the others from Dwayne.

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Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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