When opportunistic raccoon RJ (Bruce Willis) attempt to make off with the junk food stockpile of slumbering bear Vincent (Nick Nolte) he ends up biting off more than he can chew. Accidentally destroying everything – including the carnivore’s prized ruby-red wagon – the rapacious robber has one week to restore everything to Vincent’s den or else he’ll be the animal’s first post-hibernation snack.

Enter ever-cautious turtle Verne (Garry Shandling) and his extended family of woodland critters, hyperactive squirrel Hammy (Steve Carell), sassy skunk Stella (Wanda Sykes), melodramatic possum Ozzie (William Shatner), his exasperated teenage daughter Heather (Avril Lavigne) and homley porcupines Penny (Catherine O’Hara) and Lou (Eugene Levy) whose energetic three children bubble with manic energy. This group has just woken up from their own winter nap to a big surprise. Their habitat has been invaded by a monstrous green menace none has ever seen before. It’s a strange new visitor, a monstrous hedge seemingly extending into infinity hiding a world more exciting, more mysterious, more dangerous than any they’ve ever known: Suburbia.

RJ knows an opportunity when he sees one, quickly making friends with this jovial group of foragers and helping them explore the land on the other side of the hedge. Verne is suspicious of this supposed new addition to his flock, insisting to no avail that the raccoon’s motivations are not as they appear. And he’s right, RJ’s intention are less than pure, but when the entire group starts giving him their friendship, inviting the raccoon into their family with open arms, betraying them might be the one selfish act this sneaky mammal just can’t do.

Based on the popular comic strip by Michael Fry and T Lewis, the Dreamworks computer animated comedy “Over the Hedge” is a fast-paced family friendly delight. It is an exuberantly entertaining cartoon confection sure to delight children of all shapes and sizes. While it isn’t quite the same laugh out loud experience for adults as it is for their kids, the smiles it produces and the giggles it creates are still infectious enough it's easy to overlook the flaws.

This is a relief, because for a little while there I was starting to have my doubts. After a perfectly delightful opening featuring RJ and an uncooperative vending machine, this movie goes downhill, literally, fast. It was everything I hate about family entertainment; loud, obnoxious, an assault on the senses, the movie revels in bathroom humor. Nothing works for about fifteen long, almost nauseating minutes, and for the record I was stealing myself to having to sit through 90-plus minutes of hell.

Then the miraculous happens and “Over the Hedge,” thanks to RJ’s peppy prodding, turns into a frothy bit of effervescent fun. The woodland creatures spring to the other side of the hedge, thankfully bringing this movie to life the same moment they do so. Vern and his friends discover humanity and, in doing so, uncover a blissfully entertaining motion picture. The whole thing is a clash of species and cultures, an effortlessly winning menagerie of fur and fury so detailed and imaginative it was hard to believe the same people who made the turgid opening were responsible for the rest of it.

In a way, I almost couldn’t help but think this success was a direct results of the producers good fortune in bringing “Chicken Run” and “James and the Giant Peach” co-writer Kerry Kirkpatrick onboard. Making his directorial debut (alongside “Antz” veteran Tim Johnson), “Over the Hedge” has much of the same wit and acerbic ironic whimsy of that aforementioned Claymation feathered escape fantasy. While it doesn’t share the sheer abundance of laughs his poultry flavored “Great Escape” did, that’s okay, it’s still fun, and with so many family films unable to achieve even a smile this has to be considered nothing less than a minor miracle.

On the woodland side, the vocal actors really take to their animals, running with them gleefully and bringing a timely winsomeness that’s surprisingly touching. Sykes and Shatner are particular wonderful, while the giftedly dry Shandling nearly steals every scene he’s in. Only the human characters come up short, both Allison Janney (as the neurotic head of the homeowner’s association) and Thomas Haden Church (playing the Rambo of animal control professionals) not given near enough material to make their characters anything more than a couple of hyperventilating annoyances.

Yet the movie works. While it doesn’t have the subtle observational tenacity of the popular strip, the genuinely touching familial warmth remains intact, and watching RJ and Vern travel the road to friendship is admittedly priceless. Willis and Shandling are a great Mutt and Jeff team, their voices combining perfectly with the stupendous animation to form a beauteous symmetry that’s truly a joy.

Not that I didn’t want more then what the filmmakers ultimately delivered. These characters are so rapturously engaging I can’t help but feel they deserved a better story than the frenetic hokum they were given. But I had fun, and I certainly wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t make sure to say so. Kids will love it, and their parents aren’t going to regret watching it with them, making “Over the Hedge” an animated comedy worth scavenging the Cineplex trashcan for.