Line #29 ComicStrip/OverTheHedge


1	%%Tropes and content exclusive to the movie go on WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge. Thanks.
2	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/over_the_hedge_stuffed_animals.png]]
3
4	''Over the Hedge'' is a newspaper comic created, written, and drawn by Michael Fry and T. Lewis. It follows the adventure of three [[WoodlandCreatures 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.
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6	In 2006, an [[AnimatedAdaptation animated]] [[WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge film]] based on the comic was released by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation. 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.
7	----
8	!!''Over the Hedge'' comics contains examples of:
9	%%* AnimalStereotypes: Squirrel, raccoon, turtles, and others are played straight.%%How?
10	%%* AnimalTalk
11	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: From when RJ upset the balance of nature by making Verne popular, [[http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2011/08/11 and then the Nature Police showed up]]:
12	-->'''Nature Police:''' You're under arrest.\
13	'''RJ:''' What for?\
14	'''Nature Police:''' Tampering with a loser, humiliation without a license... and jaywalking.\
15	'''RJ:''' Jaywalking!? I was Edgar Allen Poe for Halloween... he was my pet raven!
16	* ArtEvolution: 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).
17	* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Hammy, among other animals.
18	* BathroomControl: 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 [[MoodWhiplash kills the mood]] by [[CallingYourBathroomBreaks announcing that he has to pee]]. The other two yell at him to hold it.
19	* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Butterflies carry Verne into the exosphere with no trouble.
20	* BiggerOnTheInside: 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.
21	-->'''RJ''': Verne, you've been holding out on us. Your air-conditioned shell is a mansion!\
22	'''Verne''': Actually... more of an abbey.
23	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Usually done by Hammy, but sometimes the other characters partake as well.
24	* ButtMonkey: Verne. Given the sheer extent of his mistreatment, he might have graduated (been downgraded?) to TheChewToy.
25	* TheBusCameBack:
26	** One 2024 arc features the return of Clara, now a grown-up with a daughter of her own.
27	** Followed by an arc where Velma and Luby return.
28	* {{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.
29	* CharacterBlog: Hammy has a [[http://www.twitter.com/hammyhimself Twitter account]].
30	* ChromosomeCasting: 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.
31	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
32	** Verne's nephew, Plushie (or [[InconsistantSpelling Plushy]]; Fry and Lewis could never make up their minds).
33	** In some early strips, RJ has a crush on a dog named Dotty.
34	** Velma and Luby, a female turtle and raccoon who are {{Distaff Counterpart}}s to Verne and RJ.
35	** Additionally, Fred the Wood Tick was shaping up to be a part of the main cast in early strips.
36	** Some early strips have a beaver named Howard and a paranoid mole named Carl.
37	%%* CloudCuckooLander: Hammy, even more than his film counterpart.
38	%%* ConMan: RJ.
39	* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Over time, RJ and Verne grow to be less similar.
40	* DumbIsGood: In an arc when Hammy turned smart, Verne deliberately convinced him that he'd be happier dumb.
41	* FatIdiot: Most of the suburbanites in the comic are obese and easily outsmarted by the animals.
42	* {{Flanderization}}:
43	** 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.
44	** Verne may used to be just as much into decadence as RJ is.
45	* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: 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."
46	%%* FriendshipMoment: They're few and rather far between, but they're there.%%Like?
47	%%* FunnyAnimal: Pretty much the entire cast.
48	* GassyGastronomy: 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.
49	* GeniusDitz: Hammy becomes brilliant when he takes Ritalin.
50	%%* GenkiGirl: Hammy's a boy, but definitely a Genki Squirrel.%%How?
51	* GiftShake: Verne, anxious to know what RJ got him, shakes his present and concludes it's not alive. RJ passes by and adds "Anymore..."
52	* HeterosexualLifePartners: 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, [[BigNo NOOOOO]]...at least I don't think...[[RuleOfThree NOOOOO]]!"
53	* HighOnCatnip: In one arc Verne gets addicted to catnip mice, RJ tries to cure him by shoving his head in a frozen turkey.
54	* HummerDinger: 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.")
55	* IAmNotWeasel: There is a RunningGag of Verne getting identified as an "iguana-thingy." He even mistook his movie counterpart for one.
56	* InherentlyFunnyWords: The number of "[[UselessSpleen spleen]]"s in the strip is off the charts.
57	%%* JerkAss: RJ, especially to Verne.
58	%%* {{Keet}}: Hammy.
59	* NoFourthWall: In the [[http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2016/04/30 30 April 2016]] strip, RJ solves a problem by ''editing the online character descriptions'' to give Hammy a superpower.
60	* NoMouth: RJ, except for a few early strips which had him yelling. He's even stuck his tongue out with no mouth visible around it.
61	* NonMammalMammaries: The female turtles in an August 2011 arc involving Verne becoming popular have them.
62	* OhNoNotAgain: [[http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2012/06/10 This strip]].
63	%%* OnlySaneMan: Verne, all the way.
64	%%* ThePhilosopher: Verne.
65	* ProductPlacement: Twinkies are Hammy's and RJ's TrademarkFavoriteFood.
66	%%* RascallyRaccoon: RJ.
67	* RemovableShell: Verne's shell often comes off as part of a gag. He's sometimes shown wearing a thong underneath.
68	* RuleOfFunny: {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d [[http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2013/06/06 here]], 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.
69	%%* SarcasmBlind: Hammy, [[http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2013/10/11#.UlgSJVCGy88 evidently]].
70	* ShoutOut:
71	** The January 29, 2012, [[http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2012/01/29 strip]] has [[Series/DoctorWho the TARDIS]] visiting Verne.
72	** The unicorn in [[http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2012/02/06 this strip]] looks an awful lot like the original [[http://www.ponylandpress.com/prettypony/fullsize/prettyponypink.jpg "My Pretty Pony"]], the predecessor to ''Toys/MyLittlePony''.
73	** [[WesternAnimation/RegularShow Rigby]] appears on a TV in [[http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2012/10/14 one strip]].
74	** [[Series/BostonLegal Denny Crane]] appears in [[http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2012/10/11 this strip]] via a reproduced photo of Creator/WilliamShatner.
75	** In one Christmas story arc, RJ tells the story of a squirrel who [[Theatre/TheNutcracker gets turned into a nutcracker]]. For extra points, the nutcracker squirrel is found by a girl named Clara.
76	* StatusQuoIsGod: Invoked in the aforementioned Verne becoming popular arc. See the trope page for more detail.
77	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: 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 [[https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2005/05/14 explained]] by Hammy being killed and replaced by Sammy[[note]]This did happen, but he [[https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/1999/11/01 got better]] -- and was already called Sammy[[/note]], and then Sammy was [[https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2005/12/17 replaced]] by his mirror duplicate, ''also'' called Hammy, just in time for Hammy to appear in the movie.)
78	* SwallowedWhole: A dog does this to Verne in [[https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2001/05/24 one arc]], eventually puking him out. Later, [[https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2008/05/09 the exact same thing]] happens with RJ getting swallowed by a different dog.
79	%%* SweetTooth: RJ.
80	%%* TalkingAnimal
81	* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Luby and Velma both have long eyelashes and a bow.
82	%%* TitleDrop:%%Quotes aren't context.
83	%%-->'''RJ''': What brings you to our neck of the woods?
84	%%-->'''Hog''': New worlds, civilizations... I'm ex-spandin' the wild... lookin' fer new frontiers... to boldly go where no hog has gone before!
85	%%-->'''RJ''': It's over the hedge, across the patio, through the door... take a left.
86	%%->'''Verne''': I'll get the guest towels.
87	%%-->'''Hammy''': The bidet tickles!
88	* ToServeMan: The [[https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2000/02/16 Puma]] encountered is shown to have eaten multiple human tourists in her life, which she gleefully regales RJ and Verne about.
89	%%* TheTrickster: RJ.
90	* TyrannicalHomeownersAssociation: The neighborhood HOA has been known to pull out TorchesAndPitchforks when someone breaks their rules.
91	* WiseTree: The Tree That Knows Stuff is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, the animals often come to him for advice.

Context ComicStrip / OverTheHedge