Squirrels = Comedy Gold

Published on May 20, 2006 By pseudosoldier In Movies & TV & Books

There are a number of trends in computer animated children's/family movies.

One is the "rip off" trend. Madagascar->The Wild, for example.

The other is the "squirrels are teh funny" trend. There are more examples of this strewn through the genre recently. Ice Age and Ice Age: The Meltdown feature Scrat, a sabretooth squirrel. Following on his heels is Twitchy from Hoodwinked. ("I don't drink coffee.") The squirrel from The Wild had a thing for an unlikely female character... and then Hammy the Squirrel from Over The Hedge takes a page from Twitchy (going as far as ripping off his caffeine schtick at the end of the film, although in a different way, ala "bullet speed", all of which also feeds into the rip off trend, mentioned briefly above).

Honestly, I think this is where Doogal (our NetFlix selection for this edition of Daddy Weekend) falls short. No squirrel. Also, they didn't bother to rip off anything good. Anything.

John Stewart, providing the voice of the evil cold-manipulating spring... um, what was I saying? Oh, right. He panned the movie on his own show before its debut. And he was the villainous lead.

Squirrels. Definitely.

Comments

Texas Wahine

on May 20, 2006

My kids aren't really interested in Doogal.

And I didn't see The Wild because it SCREAMED crappy Madagascar rip off.

Hoodwinked was cute because it gave the kids a little mystery to solve.

Over the Hedge was HILARIOUS. We really enjoyed it. You didn't like it?

I don't mind the whole squirrel thing. It's still working for me. Particularly when voiced by Steve Carrell. He does great with the "stupid" thing, ala Brick from Anchorman.

pseudosoldier

on May 21, 2006

Oh, no, we enjoyed Over The Hedge a lot. My kids were even able to get over the fact that we had to sit in the second row because we got there during the previews (pseudo jr is particular about... everything, really).

I think Hammy might take issue with you referring to him as stupid.

He did when Vern said it...

I think the tone of my article may have come off as overly harsh. I was just rambling, really. I honestly think that (right now at least) squirrels are the way to go for kids movies. Scrat, Hammy and Twitchy were my boys' favorite characters in their respective films.

dharmagrl

on May 21, 2006

Doogal is actually a rip off of a show called 'The MAgic Roundabout' that I used to watch as a kid in the UK. It was originally a french show, but the brits took it and made it popular. I had a Doogal puppet and me and my bro used to make Zebedee's out of toilet rolls and construction paper.

I have a comedy gold show in my yard every day. Those little bastards are sneaky - but they make me laugh.

Locamama

on May 21, 2006

Don't you get the feeling that there are no original ideas out there anymore? I haven't seen Over the Hedge yet. I wanted to go to the drive-in this weekend but my hubby had to work both Friday and Saturday.

Maybe I should start writing screenplays. If only I could come up with an original idea. Maybe just a family of crazy, funny squirrels = success. I'll have to give it some thought.

Locamama

on May 21, 2006

Oh and don't forget Sandy the Squirrel from Spongebob. They even found a way to put a squirrel under the ocean. The funniest was the one where Spongebob and Patrick were ripping on Texas. "Don't say anything bad about Texas" Sandy or maybe the one where she is hibernating and huge and drooling and they shave all of her hair to keep warm. Or when Sandy tells spongebob she's a mammal and he says "maybe you didn't notice but I'm all ma-male" ha ha. I love Spongebob. It's the only kids show that I don't mind at all but I do like the songs from Kim Possible and Fairly Odd Parents. I know I need more adult time.

singrdave

on May 21, 2006

My wife took the kids to see Over the Hedge yesterday. They loved it, especially Hammy the Squirrel. Go figure... comedy gold.

Spc Nobody Special

on May 21, 2006

Don't forget Slappy and Skippy on animaniacs. Also, I think the squirrel on caffeine is a direct ripoff of an old Sluggy Freelance, where the hyperactive ferret did the same thing. Meh.

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