DreamWorks' animated film, "Over the Hedge," is a backyard ecological comedy outfitted with some fine, silly slapstick and clever animal characters. DreamWorks is playing it safe here with a PC comedy that delivers an ecological message while pitching family values to the point that one wants to shout, "Enough already!" The CG animation is routine, but the writers (working from the popular comic strip) and character animators under the supervision of directors Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick do a crackerjack job of filling the screen with lively, ingratiating creatures. The humans are crudely drawn, but the two prominently featured have distinctly evil personalities that make up for their rudimentary design.

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