GET OVER IT.

RJ, a raccoon, helps a group of foragers steal food from suburban households, but he fails to tell his new buddies that he needs the food to appease an angry bear. Considering how many similar animated comedies about wisecracking, perky animals there are, it’s quite a surprise to learn just how good this one is. The directors are veterans in this area and the idea to expand the comic strip into a feature film works because the characters are very likable, the actors lend them terrific charisma (Bruce Willis and Garry Shandling make a great couple), the animated action is well paced and the gags very funny.

2006-U.S. Animated. 84 min. Color. Produced by Bonnie Arnold. Directed by Tim Johnson, Karey Kirkpatrick. Screenplay: Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, Karey Kirkpatrick. Comic Book: Michael Fry, T. Lewis. Voices of Bruce Willis (RJ), Garry Shandling (Verne), Steve Carell (Hammy), Wanda Sykes, William Shatner, Nick Nolte… Thomas Haden Church, Allison Janney, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Avril Lavigne.

Last word: “Someone came in from San Diego Zoo. It was great. What we learned was that these creatures are so cute in their natural state that we had to figure out what to do above and beyond to make them look more like animated characters. The porcupines were really adorable and a real bear, so to speak, to deal with in animation because their quills kept killing everybody around them. You have to tell the computer when a quill is going to intersect something.” (Kirkpatrick, indieLondon)

IMDb