RJ (Over the Hedge)
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| RJ | |
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RJ Raccoon |
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| Debut Year | 1995 |
| Created by | Mike Fry & T. Lewis |
| Species | Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor) |
| Gender | Male |
| Voiced by | Bruce Willis |
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| Notable aliases | Raccoon, Ring-tailed Charlatan |
RJ is a fictional raccoon who appears in Mike Fry and T. Lewis's comic strip, Over the Hedge, as well as in DreamWorks Animation's movie adaptation of the same name. In the film, he is voiced by Bruce Willis.
[edit] Appearances
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
The film of Over the Hedge begins as an unsuccessful RJ attempts to steal a bag of chips from a vending machine. It is then that he makes the mistakable urge to steal food from a hibernating bear named Vincent's cave. As RJ is about to leave with the food, he accidentally awakes Vincent, while opening a can of Spuddies (an obvious spoof on Procter & Gamble's Pringles). Once the bear realizes what RJ is trying to do, he threatens to kill him. RJ begs for mercy, and reminds Vincent that the food is still in the cave, so technically, not stolen. Unfortunately, though, as he says these very words, he accidentally elbows the wagon containing the food he's about to sneak away with, sending it tumbling down the mountains leading up to Vincent's cave. Angry at RJ, Vincent chases him down the mountain, and prepares to eat him, once he has him captured, but the raccoon manages to save his life by making a deal with Vincent: he can repay him. However, he has only one week to do so, before Vincent kills him.
Panicked, RJ searches for food, but is unsuccessful, until he discovers the suburban development of El Rancho Camelot in Western Indiana. He knows that where there's a town, there are people, whatever and where there are people, there's bound to be food. Just outside Rancho Camelot, is a small forested area. In that forested area, lives Verne the turtle, and his woodland friends. They have just awoken from hibernation only to discover a huge hedge dividing their territory from the humans'. They all panic at first, but then RJ explains to them, that it's a good thing, since they're trying to collect food for their upcoming winter's nap, as the humans have enough food for them to collect in just one week, while it would otherwise take them 274 days to do the same thing.
Over the next week, RJ works with Verne and his friends to collect the food, which he secretly plots to use to pay Vincent back. But as they are raiding the kitchen of Gladys Sharp, the harsh president of the HOA, she catches them snooping around and quickly calls Dwayne LaFountaine (aka "The Verminator") to do them in. Seeing Dwayne arriving, RJ flees out the back door. Verne and the others try doing the same but are captured by Dwayne nonetheless.
On a hill just above the suburb, RJ meets up with Vincent, who just happened to be on his way over to kill the raccoon. RJ hands over the wagon with the replacement food, but then sees his friends being taken away by the Verminator. Realizing that he wants to become a "different guy", RJ snatches the wagon from Vincent and sends it rolling downhill, and colliding with Dwayne's truck, knocking the Verminator unconscious. In the collision, the animals are freed from their cages, and Verne is proud of RJ's decision. However none of the other animals are, and they refuse to let RJ into the van to safety from Vincent (who now wants to kill RJ once more). Bucky, Quillo and Spike, the porcupine kids take control of the truck and actually drive it down the highway. Outside the van, a chase between RJ and Vincent ensues, with RJ begging the other animals to let him in, but they refuse...until Verne explains that his tail isn't tingling (like it often does when he's nervous). Then they agree to let RJ in. But by now, Vincent has torn off the roof of the truck, and prepares to swipe RJ, but Penny the Porcupine strikes him with her quills. The porcupine triplets then drive the truck into a clown-shaped balloon sending Vincent floating away from the truck. The next thing the truck hits is a speed limit sign, sending the van hurtling through the air and crashing through the roof of Gladys's mansion, causing a lot of property damage.
Now that the Verminator is beginning to regain consciousness, RJ, Verne and the others flee through Gladys's backyard and to the woods on the other side of the hedge. They think they are safe now, but then Vincent reappears, wanting to kill them all. They flee to the backyard, only to see that an armed Gladys and Dwayne are there, also wanting to kill them. Now trapped inside the hedge, with Vincent on one side, and Gladys and Dwayne on the other, RJ has Hammy the Squirrel guzzle down a caffeinated beverage, which makes the squirrel so hyper that the world seems to come to a standstill to him. He then scurries across the backyard and over to the trap settings on the Depelter Turbo, an illegal trap that Dwayne set up sometime earlier. Hammy sets it to the highest possible setting (with a picture of a bear next to it), and hurries back across the yard, all in less than one second.
Meanwhile, on top of the hedge, RJ and Verne have Vincent positioned with RJ (wearing Verne's shell) in his mouth, but then Verne pulls RJ away with a fishing line, as Vincent continues to fall into Gladys's backyard, and topple her and Dwayne, setting off the Depelter Turbo pressure sensors. As a result, the three villains are shaved, caged and taken away (Vincent by park rangers and Gladys and Dwayne by the police).
Meanwhile, back in the forest, RJ makes up his mind to join Verne and the other animals.
