Based on the comic strip of the same name, the film was directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick from a screenplay by Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton and Kirkpatrick, and features the voices of Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, Wanda Sykes and Nick Nolte.

Gladys Sharp, the neighborhood Home Owners Association president, notices the animal problem and hires exterminator Dwayne LaFontant.

The squirrel Hammy disables the Depelter Turbo while the striped skunk Stella steals Gladys' Persian cat Tiger's collar, which enables entry into the house.

Two minor human characters named Lunch Table Larry and BBQ Barry who appear during the dog chase scene, were voiced by Lee Bienstock and Sean Yazbeck, two participants on The Apprentice 5 as part of a reward for winning a task.

It was picked up one year later by DreamWorks Animation under the leadership of its co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, with Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, and Karey Kirkpatrick replacing the original screenwriters.

While production was based at DreamWorks' Glendale campus, a satellite crew working out of the Pacific Data Images studios helped with additional animation, effects, and lighting support.

It features Steve Carell, Bruce Willis, Madison Davenport, Shane Baumel, Sami Kirkpatrick and Garry Shandling reprising their roles from the main film.

Developed by Edge of Reality, Beenox and Vicarious Visions, it was published by Activision for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance.

[28] Shane Baumel, Sami Kirkpatrick, and Madison Davenport were the only ones to reprise their roles for the video game while the other characters were voiced by different actors.

[30][31] On its opening weekend, Over the Hedge finished in second place to The Da Vinci Code,[32] but its gross of $38,457,003 did not quite live up to DreamWorks Animation's other titles released over the past few years.

[36] The film closed on September 4, 2006, after 112 days of release, grossing $155,019,340 in the United States and Canada, along with $180,983,656 internationally for a worldwide total of $336,002,996,[2] against a production budget of $80 million.

The site's consensus states: "Even if it's not an animation classic, Over the Hedge is clever and fun, and the jokes cater to family members of all ages.

"[40] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times give the film three out of four and called it "Not at the level of Finding Nemo or Shrek, but is a lot of fun, awfully nice to look at, and filled with energy and smiles.

"[41] Nick De Semlyen of Empire give the film three out of five and wrote, "You'll soon be sick of digital furballs, but there's plenty of fun here and Hammy is up there with Ice Age's Scrat in the pantheon of lunatic movie rodents.

"[42] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film two out of five, writing "The spoilt and wasteful American consumer is satirised in this patchy animated comedy from DreamWorks.

"[43] In May 2007, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said that Over the Hedge would not receive a sequel due to its box office performance, saying that "It was close.