Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

For those not familiar with "Over The Hedge," the strip is set in a suburb where RJ the raccoon, Verne the turtle, Sammy the squirrel and their friends routinely help themselves to the creature comforts of their human neighbors. Their scavenging goes beyond garbage scraps - they'll go straight into homes and raid refrigerators and cupboards and even take furniture and appliances. RJ in particular eats junk food in supersized proportions.

In the March 6 strip, an environmentalist couple living in the neighborhood discovers the trio lounging on a beat-up overstuffed chair watching television. Next day, as RJ sleeps on the chair and dreams of Froot Loops and dumpsters, they decide that something must be done:

Husband: "Let's rescue this poor creature from the corrosive touch of man."
Wife: "We'll clean up his forest home and erase all human influences."
Husband: [carrying armload of furniture, appliances, and food] "There you go, little buddy...you're free to dream your natural raccoon dreams."

RJ wakes up, the stuff is gone, and RJ panics. Verne explains their motives:

They want to see nature in all her naturalness...at arms length...behind a sliding glass door...inside their climate-controlled mcmansions...

You realize, of course, that this means war. RJ throws a spear and misses. Verne considers the idea that maybe the little band of animals have become too dependent on those implements of humanity - until RJ informs Verne that they took his loofah; Verne attacks, yelling "WHERE IS IT, YOU ECO-IDIOT?! WHERE??." In today's strip, RJ stages his next act of defiance, breaking into their house and replacing their stash of wheat germ with pure cane sugar. Stay tuned.

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