Over the Hedge is a newspaper comic created, written, and drawn by Michael Fry and T. Lewis. It follows the adventure of three woodland animals: a turtle named Verne, a raccoon, RJ, and Hammy, a squirrel. The animals have to deal with their home being turned into suburbs. The strip focuses on their problems of dealing with the increasing amounts of humans as well as the enticing technologies they bring with them.
In 2006, an animated film based on the comic was released by DreamWorks Animation. The plot of the movie involves RJ and the others as they first find out about the neighborhood that has been constructed in their home.
Over the Hedge comics contains examples of:
- Affectionate Parody: In one series of strips they discover a book called Eric's Prophecies, kicking off a short-lived parody of Good Omens.
- Animal Talk: All animals in the comic can speak with each other.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: From the August 11, 2011 strip, when RJ upset the balance of nature by making Verne popular, and then the Nature Police showed up:Nature Police: You're under arrest.
RJ: What for?
Nature Police: Tampering with a loser, humiliation without a license... and jaywalking.
RJ: Jaywalking!? I was Edgar Allen Poe for Halloween... he was my pet raven! - Art Evolution: The art was more scratchy in the first few years of the strip before taking on a somewhat smoother inking style. Also, the characters' shapes have gradually morphed (most notably RJ, whose head used to be rounder as opposed to a more realistic raccoon-like face; Verne's nose has also gotten much bigger).
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Hammy, among other animals.
- Balloon Belly: Frequently happens to RJ due to his gluttonous nature.
- Bathroom Control: RJ, Verne, and Hammy think that a missile is going to blow up the forest, so they decide to spend their last half hour hugging each other. Hammy then kills the mood by announcing that he has to pee. The other two yell at him to hold it.
- Batman Can Breathe in Space: Butterflies carry Verne into the exosphere with no trouble.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Parodied in an arc where Verne believes in an abominable snow turtle.
- Bigger on the Inside: In one strip RJ says that he knows Verne has "one of those cartoon shells that's bigger on the inside". It apparently has a solarium and an ice rink, complete with Zamboni.RJ: Verne, you've been holding out on us. Your air-conditioned shell is a mansion!
Verne: Actually... more of an abbey. - The Bus Came Back:
- One 2024 arc features the return of Clara, now a grown-up with a daughter of her own.
- Followed by an arc where Velma and Luby return.
- And in August of the same year, Plushie.
- Calvinball: One arc had RJ playing "Rolf", his own version of golf with no set rules. Among other things, this involves throwing the ball with a slingshot, or calling 50 mulligans in one round.
- Character Blog: Hammy has a Twitter account
. - Chromosome Casting: Wasn't always the case, but all recurring female characters have been gone for years. Apparently, the cartoonists didn't know how to be funny with them.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
- Verne's nephew, Plushie (or Plushy; Fry and Lewis could never make up their minds).
- In some early strips, RJ has a crush on a dog named Dotty.
- Velma and Luby, a female turtle and raccoon who are Distaff Counterparts to Verne and RJ.
- Additionally, Fred the Wood Tick was shaping up to be a part of the main cast in early strips.
- Some early strips have a beaver named Howard and a paranoid mole named Carl.
- Divergent Character Evolution: Over time, RJ and Verne grow to be less similar.
- Dumb Is Good: In an arc when Hammy turned smart, Verne deliberately convinced him that he'd be happier dumb.
- Fat Idiot: Most of the suburbanites in the comic are obese and easily outsmarted by the animals.
- Flanderization:
- The humans in general. In early years, we usually see or hear from ordinary people. The animals even befriend a little one. Now we're left with grotesque caricatures of couch potatoes who are completely identical to each other.
- Verne may used to be just as much into decadence as RJ is.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: A common practice among the animals, seeing as the humans mistake them for kids in costume. In one year, RJ and Verne went as the movie versions of themselves, though RJ had to ask what Verne was supposed to be and Verne replied, "I dunno, some sort of iguana thingy."
- Gassy Gastronomy: In one comic, Verne says his resting pulse is a 9. RJ googles this and finds that this means that he's either a human with deadly bradycardia or a turtle who ate a lot of chili, beans, and kale. Verne says that he's glad this is normal, and RJ puts on a gas mask.
- Genius Ditz: Hammy becomes brilliant when he takes Ritalin.
- Gift Shake: Verne, anxious to know what RJ got him, shakes his present and concludes it's not alive. RJ passes by and adds "Anymore..."
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: In one strip in 2000, RJ wanted to settle down, and one of Verne's suggestions was that he 'could find a life partner'; RJ asked, "Isn't that you?" Verne responded, "NO! I mean, NOOOOO...at least I don't think...NOOOOO!"
- High on Catnip: In one arc Verne gets addicted to catnip mice, RJ tries to cure him by shoving his head in a frozen turkey.
- Hummer Dinger: One strip that wound up being adapted into the movie was RJ introducing Hammy to an SUV. Hammy asked how many humans can fit in it; RJ replied "One." (In the movie, the line was changed to "Usually?... one.")
- I Am Not Weasel: There is a Running Gag of Verne getting identified as an "iguana-thingy." He even mistook his movie counterpart for one.
- Inherently Funny Words: The number of "spleen"s in the strip is off the charts.
- No Fourth Wall: In the 30 April 2016 strip, RJ solves a problem by editing the online character descriptions to give Hammy a superpower.
- No Mouth: RJ, except for when he is yelling. He's even stuck his tongue out with no mouth visible around it.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: The female turtles in an August 2011 arc involving Verne becoming popular have them.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: The plot of the June 10, 2012 strip.
- Pet the Dog: Normally, Verne's crush Velma wouldn't give him the time of day, but after he accidentally shoots RJ, she comforts Verne as the raccoon is rushed to the vet.
- Product Placement: Twinkies are Hammy's and RJ's Trademark Favorite Food.
- Removable Shell: Verne's shell often comes off as part of a gag. He's sometimes shown wearing a thong underneath.
- Rule of Funny: Lampshaded in the June 06, 2013 strip, where Verne finds himself suddenly wearing high heels for a gag and complains that this goes against his contract's no-drag clause; RJ responds that the "anything for a gag" clause overrides everything else.
- Shout-Out:
- The January 29, 2012 strip has the TARDIS visiting Verne.
- The unicorn in the February 06, 2012 strip looks an awful lot like the original "My Pretty Pony"◊, the predecessor to My Little Pony.
- Rigby appears on a TV in the October 14, 2012 strip.
- Denny Crane appears in the October 11, 2012 strip via a reproduced photo of William Shatner.
- In one Christmas story arc, RJ tells the story of a squirrel who gets turned into a nutcracker. For extra points, the nutcracker squirrel is found by a girl named Clara.
- The May 18th, 2006 strip shows Hammy rubbing his eyes and seeing stars, then calls out five seemingly-unrelated names, Bruce, Garry, Steve, Wanda, and William. These are the first names of the voice actors for the film (which released the following day); Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carrell, Wanda Sykes, and William Shatner.
- Status Quo Is God: Invoked in the aforementioned Verne becoming popular arc. See the trope page for more detail.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Hammy or Sammy Squirrel, a continuity error that ended up being three seperate but largely identical characters (the original was Hammy, then he started being called Sammy, then this was explained in the May 14, 2005 strip by Hammy being killed and replaced by Sammy, and then, on December 17, 2005, Sammy was replaced by his mirror duplicate, also called Hammy, just in time for Hammy to appear in the movie.)
- Swallowed Whole: A dog does this to Verne in a May 2001 arc, eventually puking him out. On May 09, 2008, the exact same thing happens with RJ getting swallowed by a different dog.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Luby and Velma both have long eyelashes and a bow.
- To Serve Man: The Puma encountered on February 16, 2000 is shown to have eaten multiple human tourists in her life, which she gleefully regales RJ and Verne about.
- The Twelve Spoofs of Christmas: A story arc in December 2011 had RJ, Verne, Hammy and Larry the mouse singing a parody of "The 12 Days of Christmas", with the presents being rhymes or near-rhymes of those in the original song, except the last verse which is shortened when the animals can't take it anymore. One notable example is the "Partridge in a bare tree", played by David Cassidy.
- Tyrannical Homeowners' Association: The neighborhood HOA has been known to pull out Torches and Pitchforks when someone breaks their rules.
- We All Die Someday: In the August 12, 2009 strip, Verne tries to console Hammy about the "death" of his garden gnome Bernard by reassuring him that "We all die sometime." However, this sends Hammy into a Heroic BSoD. It turns out mortality is on the top of a list entitled "THINGS WE NEVER DISCUSS WITH HAMMY," which R.J. forces Verne to review.
- "Where? Where?": While breaking into Eustace and Irma's house at the beginning of one storyline, Verne and R.J. notice the security measures taken. When Verne asks what the couple's worried about, R.J. replies, "Intruders.", to which the former asks, "Where?"
- Wise Tree: The Tree That Knows Stuff. The animals often come to him for advice.
- Yet Another Christmas Carol: One storyline from 1999 has Verne get a visit from Martha Stewart, the Ghost of Christmas Classic, who comes to convince him to be more tasteful in his Christmas decorations.
