Movie: Animated films in which a group of talking animals go on hilarious adventures are absolutely booming at the moment. The enormous success of "Madagascar" and "Ice Age 2" suggests that an end to the wave of success of such family-friendly animated films is far from in sight. Although enormously successful, a lack of originality was already noticeable with "Ice Age 2", and Disney's latest effort, the lame "Madagascar" clone "Animal Wild", continued this negative trend with a huge spike. But anyone who thinks that the makers of such films have finally run out of ideas and that there won't be any really successful animated films in the near future is very much mistaken. Because with "Ab durch die Hecke" one of the most amusing and affectionate representatives of its kind is now released on DVD.
The film tells the story of a group of forest dwellers around the turtle Verne, who have to discover after their well-deserved hibernation that a large part of their habitat has disappeared and given way to a modern suburban settlement. Now, of course, the question arises as to where the food will come from for the next winter. Salvation seems to appear in the form of Richie the raccoon, who tells Verne and his friends about what it's like behind the big hedge that separates the forest from the people's dwellings. There, he says, is an unlimited supply of delicious food just waiting to be picked up. The animals, with the exception of the skeptical Verne, are excited and ready to follow Richie through the hedge. What they don't know is that the gluttonous raccoon destroyed Bear Vincent's supplies a short time earlier and must now retrieve them - or Vincent will skin him alive. Richie only wants to exploit the naive forest dwellers for his own purposes. But he didn't expect to suddenly feel something like affection and friendship for the unsuspecting animals. But just as he begins to rethink his plans, things take an unexpected turn.
The makers of "Ab durch die Hecke"have not only created a really entertaining story with lovable characters, they've also managed to find a working mix of kid-friendly jokes and some more subversive satire for adult viewers when it comes to humor. As a result, the animated film has become a delight for the whole family, though one character in particular stands out: squirrel Hammy. In his frantic, completely over-the-top manner, Hammy could have easily become a major annoyance, easily getting on viewers' nerves. But once again, directors Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick pulled the handbrake at just the right moment and managed to make even seasoned viewers fall in love with this animated rodent - especially when he looks wide-eyed after a discarded cookie! Hammy is without question THE animation star of 2006!
To admit: at times the film does go a little overboard and not every gag really sinks in, but this minor flaw is completely made up for by a large number of wonderful small and big ideas. Surprisingly good is also the German dubbing: while in the original stars like Bruce Willis, William Shatner, Nick Nolte or the wonderful Steve Carell as Hammy lent their voices to the animals, in Germany Götz Otto, Bernhard Hoecker or even Jeantette Biedermann stood in front of the mic. And what may not sound particularly convincing when reading these names, has in the end become one of the best animation dubbing works since "The Incredibles". Especially Ben Becker as bear Vincent and Ralf Schmitz as Hammy do their job absolutely outstanding.
So only the large number of similar films, through which it has possibly come to a kind of oversaturation with the audience, could stand in the way of the success of the cute forest dwellers. But that would be a real pity. Because with its wonderful ideas and the excellent animation "Ab durch die Hecke" can fully convince in almost every respect. Since it can really only say: Off through the hedge and directly into the home theater!
Picture: It does not get better: absolutely clean picture, crisp colors, high degree of sharpness and very good contrasts. Optimal picture quality all around!
Sound:Good spaciousness occurs during the occasional action scenes, such as Richie's escape from the dog that is determined to play, but otherwise dialogue and the film score dominate the action. Good!
Extras: Of many films, a single disc and a double DVD with more extras are offered simultaneously. So the buyer can decide whether he wants to invest a little more money in additional material, or as of him the film disc is enough. As a rule, that's the case. However, what Dreamworks has allowed themselves to do with the 2 Disc Hammy Edition, in order to pull money out of the pockets of unsuspecting buyers and collectors, is really an outrage. Before going into the extras, just this: you get virtually no new video features on the bonus DVD! Most of the material is DVD-Rom games, which are hard to beat for infantility, and a few quite nice printouts, like gift tags, Halloween masks, coloring pages, or invitation cards. The short film featuring Hammy and his Boomerang adventure is also on the bonus disc, but the little film is also included on the single disc. The making of the short film is extremely superficial and also makes use of statements from the official making of the first disc. So there's really little reason to reach for the double DVD.
Disc 1, in fact, has all the really interesting material to offer. It starts off with an audio commentary by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick and producer Bonnie Arnold gives a good insight into the making of the film. Video extras include the aforementioned short film (with optional audio commentary), in which Hammy has to deal with a boomerang, a reinterpretation of "Jingle Bells", also interpreted by Hammy, and a commercial by exterminator Dwayne. In addition, the prominent speakers are introduced in a short feature (approx. 15 min.) and the viewer is granted a look behind the hedge (approx. 12 min.). For the little ones, there are a few more games, additional printouts as a DVD-Rom part and a featurette explaining which animals are in the film.
Conclusion: "Ab through the Hedge" is an extremely fun animated film that is even more fun on DVD, as it can be viewed here in the better original version (William Shatner as the possum is just wonderful!). Technically the DVD is more than satisfactory, for the extras it is enough to reach for the single DVD, because the bonus disc actually has nothing to offer except for additional printouts.
OT: Over the Hedge
Director: Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick
Number of discs: 2
Languages: English, Turkish, German (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles:German, English, Turkish
Image Format: 16:9 (1.85:1)
Extras: Audio commentary, short film, games, Behind the Scenes, DVD-Rom part with printouts, game demo u..m.
FSK: o.A.
Length: approx. 80 min.
Regional Code: 2
Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp
