Over the Hedge (comic strip)

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Over the Hedge
Over the Hedge Comic.png
Comic Strip Header(2017)
Author(s) Michael Fry
T. Lewis
Website gocomics.com/over_the_hedge
Current status/scheduleRunning
Launch dateJune 12, 1995
Syndicate(s) United Feature Syndicate
Genre(s)Humour
Gag-a-day

Over the Hedge is an American syndicated comic strip, written by Michael Fry, and drawn by T. Lewis. It tells the story of a raccoon, a turtle, a squirrel, and their friends, 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. The strip debuted June 12, 1995. [1]

Contents

The comic strip was adapted in the 2006 animated film Over the Hedge, produced by DreamWorks Animation.

History

Cartoonists Michael Fry and T. Lewis began collaborating through an agent who represented both of them. At the time, Lewis was a children’s book illustrator, and Fry was a freelance writer. They originally conceived another comic strip called The Secret Life of Pigs, featuring two anthropomorphic pigs. This idea was rejected by editors, who thought that readers would not relate to the strip’s rural setting or the use of pigs as characters. In response, the two changed the lead characters to an ordinary raccoon and turtle, and in 1995, the strip was approved by United Feature Syndicate.

According to the Detroit Free Press , one factor in the strip’s initial success was the ending of Calvin and Hobbes in December 1995; when that strip ended, over 110 newspapers chose to run Over the Hedge as its replacement. [2]

Main characters

Film adaptation

An animated film adaptation, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures, was released on May 19, 2006 (June 30, 2006 in Britain). The film adaptation features RJ befriending a group of woodlanders (two of whom are Hammy and Verne) and introducing them to suburbia, with an ulterior motive of helping him replenish the food supply he stole from a bear named Vincent.

Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, Wanda Sykes, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, and Nick Nolte star as RJ, Verne, Hammy, Ozzie (an opossum), Stella (a skunk), Lou and Penny (porcupines) and Vincent (a bear), respectively. The film features Avril Lavigne’s first major film role, as Heather, Ozzie's continuously embarrassed teenage daughter.

The film grossed $336 million worldwide. [7] Following DreamWorks acquisition by Comcast in 2016, the film's rights are now owned by Universal Pictures.

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References

  1. Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 302. ISBN   9780472117567.
  2. Neal Rubin (January 1, 1996). "Readers have a say: Quirky 'Over the Hedge' replacing 'Calvin & Hobbes'". Detroit Free Press . pp. 1E, 6E. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Michael Fry  ( w ),T. Lewis ( a ). Over the Hedge .May 3, 2018, United Feature Syndicate .""RJ is a racoon who likes Twinkies. He also naps a lot. The end.""
  4. Fry, Michael; T. Lewis (14 May 2005), Over the Hedge , retrieved 9 October 2010
  5. Fry, Michael; T. Lewis (15 December 2005), Over the Hedge , retrieved 2 August 2010
  6. "Over the Hedge by T Lewis and Michael Fry for Jul 14, 2016 - GoComics.com". Gocomics.com. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  7. "Over the Hedge". boxofficemojo.com. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.