Opinion: Will The Movie Over the Hedge Become Dated In The Future?
Hey everyone, you missed me talking about the movie Over The Hedge here on my blog, right? But let's get to the point. As many of you know, Over The Hedge will be 20 years old this month, in 3 weeks, but many people ask if the movie will feel dated in a few years. Today I'm going to reveal my answer and opinion.
My answer is this: the movie won't become dated anytime soon, even 20 years after its release. You, the reader, might ask why? I'll list the main points of why it won't become outdated anytime soon.
The first point is the movie's story, which, despite being short, is timeless, as it addresses a family theme, something rare to see in animation today, since most animations only have comedic themes or deep critiques that only adults understand. Over The Hedge, in this respect, is quite timeless.
Another point that keeps Over The Hedge from becoming dated is the movie's character design. If you pay attention, the more time passes, the more current they become, since DreamWorks prioritized realism. This differentiates the movie from Madagascar, for example, where the characters are quite cartoonish. The best example of this is the opossums and the turtle, which still have a modern look.
Another interesting point is the movie's soundtrack, which, despite having instruments and sounds characteristic of the 90s/2000s, is still widely listened to today. This is because the entire movie uses rock and alternative rock musical genres, something very rare in animations nowadays, since current children's animations use varied genres or children's music. Over The Hedge is different. It uses music with adult themes, which makes the movie's soundtrack timeless.
Okay, since you listed three points that make the film timeless, what's the one point you think has aged poorly or become dated? Well, here's the second point where it aged poorly.
The first area where the movie has aged poorly is the texture and visual style of the movie's environment. For 2006, it was something new and beautiful, but by today's standards, the movie's visuals look far too dated. Why am I saying this? Well, let's compare it to Disney/Pixar's Cars 1, which is from the same year.
As you can see, the movie Cars 1 will also be 20 years old, just one month younger than Over The Hedge. However, even though Cars 1 is 20 years old, it still impresses with its timelessness, especially in its texture and graphics, which are still beautiful even today. This is something that doesn't happen with Over The Hedge, where the colors and textures seem lifeless after the movie left the 2000s.
• Movement of Fur and Vegetation
Another thing, though not a relevant one, is the movement of the animals' fur and the vegetation of the forest, which is already dated. However, this isn't very important since the studio can simply update the movie's CGI if they have the original files and make it more current.
Well, just to clarify, this isn't a criticism of the movie Over the Hedge, as it's one of my favorite movies. This is simply my opinion on what I think about the movie's 20th anniversary. I'll stay here for now, see you next time!
