he latest entry in the endless parade of computer-generated critters voiced by movie stars, Over the Hedge is a ho-hum adaptation about secondary residents fighting for their rights - specifically, the right to some abandoned junk food - in the looming shadow of suburb redevelopment.

Directors Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick, taking their inspiration from Mike Fry and T. Lewis' long-running newspaper comic strip "Over the Hedge" relays the tale of a motley crew of forest animals — opossums, porcupines, a squirrel and a turtle — who awake from their hibernation to find their hunting and foraging grounds replaced by concrete and cookie-cutter shelters for loud, obnoxious creatures who walk upright and drive SUVs.

The animals, led by a skeptical turtle (Garry Shandling), include a lovelorn skunk (Wanda Sykes), an attention deficit squirrel Hammy (Steve Carell), father-daughter possums Ozzie (William Shatner) and Heather (Avril Lavigne) and prickly porcupines Penny (Catherine O'Hara) and Lou (Eugene Levy).

They make the acquaintance of manipulative raccoon RJ (Bruce Willis), who offers an explanation for this change in their circumstances, as well as a remedy for their rumbling bellies. He'll train them to be surreptitious scavengers of a new bounty - the potato chips, cheesy nachos and candy that are the diet of the invaders. From that moment on, Over the Hedge is a story of awakening — a story of empowered exurban animal life - a story of togetherness, of disparate individuals working together to pillage shelves, plunder barbecues and hijack a wagonload of cookies.