I had originally conceived it as a kind of SpongeBob-Over the Hedge crossover back when I was going through a SpongeBob phase, but I eventually abandoned that and decided on something more original. The plot is this:

One day, when Hammy is collecting nuts, he is suddenly captured by Stevenson (the late Edward Herrmann), a taxidermist/poacher who believes in “survival of the fittest” to such dangerous ends that he believes humans are destined to be superior in survival to animals, as revenge for being attacked as a young adult. He is essentially a Cruella de Vil-Van Pelt hybrid and just as ruthless, so much so that he makes the Verminator and Gladys look like animal rights activists. Stevenson is eager to capture and stuff a rare red squirrel, and he believes Hammy is his target, the Moby Dick to his Captain Ahab. However, just before Stevenson is about to kill Hammy in his mansion headquarters, a band of his other would-be victims trigger the alarm and Hammy bites Stevenson’s hand very hard and escapes with the gang. While making his escape and subsequent journey home, he investigates the capture of various animals and realizes that Stevenson is absolutely relentless in his hunt for Hammy. He soon befriends one of the escapees (whom I shall call Marshall and would be voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley, from “Princess and the Frog”) and they both encounter numerous obstacles, including a con artist weasel/muskrat (Christoph Waltz), all while trying to remain two steps ahead of Stevenson, who is fast on their trail.

I decided that since this would be a bit more dramatic than Over the Hedge, so too should the scope of it. There would be larger locations, such as Stevenson’s mansion/taxidermy office, the forest, and a cave. One challenge was in deciding how much of RJ and Verne were going to be featured. With the sad passing of Garry Shandling, if this had been made now, there would have to be some explanation of why Verne would be absent. If it had been made just after Over the Hedge, they might have smaller roles than in that film, but still be very important to the story. Another problem was about how best to balance the comedy with the drama, but the Chaplin movies were a source of inspiration, since they featured such fine balance between the two. In terms of filmmakers, David Burgess, who was an animator on Hammy, would serve as director, with Karey Kirkpatrick writing the screenplay and the late James Horner writing the music. For me, what worked best about this was how Hammy would be a more grounded character than usual, since this is an intense and serious situation for him, in that he might get captured by Stevenson again or even killed. I didn’t just want to see Hammy do a 90-minute burpfest; I thought he was capable of a wider range of emotions and even body language, but I mean no disrespect to T Lewis and Michael Fry, the original creators, who might have been brought on again as consultants. His speed could be put to good use, and such props as the boomerang would be used for various plot points.

Whoa, is this a mouthful. Just thought I would express my thoughts on this side project and share with some people.

I had originally conceived it as a kind of SpongeBob-Over the Hedge crossover back when I was going through a SpongeBob phase, but I eventually abandoned that and decided on something more original. The plot is this:

One day, when Hammy is collecting nuts, he is suddenly captured by Stevenson (the late Edward Herrmann), a taxidermist/poacher who believes in “survival of the fittest” to such dangerous ends that he believes humans are destined to be superior in survival to animals, as revenge for being attacked as a young adult. He is essentially a Cruella de Vil-Van Pelt hybrid and just as ruthless, so much so that he makes the Verminator and Gladys look like animal rights activists. Stevenson is eager to capture and stuff a rare red squirrel, and he believes Hammy is his target, the Moby Dick to his Captain Ahab. However, just before Stevenson is about to kill Hammy in his mansion headquarters, a band of his other would-be victims trigger the alarm and Hammy bites Stevenson’s hand very hard and escapes with the gang. While making his escape and subsequent journey home, he investigates the capture of various animals and realizes that Stevenson is absolutely relentless in his hunt for Hammy. He soon befriends one of the escapees (whom I shall call Marshall and would be voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley, from “Princess and the Frog”) and they both encounter numerous obstacles, including a con artist weasel/muskrat (Christoph Waltz), all while trying to remain two steps ahead of Stevenson, who is fast on their trail.

I decided that since this would be a bit more dramatic than Over the Hedge, so too should the scope of it. There would be larger locations, such as Stevenson’s mansion/taxidermy office, the forest, and a cave. One challenge was in deciding how much of RJ and Verne were going to be featured. With the sad passing of Garry Shandling, if this had been made now, there would have to be some explanation of why Verne would be absent. If it had been made just after Over the Hedge, they might have smaller roles than in that film, but still be very important to the story. Another problem was about how best to balance the comedy with the drama, but the Chaplin movies were a source of inspiration, since they featured such fine balance between the two. In terms of filmmakers, David Burgess, who was an animator on Hammy, would serve as director, with Karey Kirkpatrick writing the screenplay and the late James Horner writing the music. For me, what worked best about this was how Hammy would be a more grounded character than usual, since this is an intense and serious situation for him, in that he might get captured by Stevenson again or even killed. I didn’t just want to see Hammy do a 90-minute burpfest; I thought he was capable of a wider range of emotions and even body language, but I mean no disrespect to T Lewis and Michael Fry, the original creators, who might have been brought on again as consultants. His speed could be put to good use, and such props as the boomerang would be used for various plot points.

Whoa, is this a mouthful. Just thought I would express my thoughts on this side project and share with some people.

I had originally conceived it as a kind of SpongeBob-Over the Hedge crossover back when I was going through a SpongeBob phase, but I eventually abandoned that and decided on something more original. The plot is this:

One day, when Hammy is collecting nuts, he is suddenly captured by Stevenson (the late Edward Herrmann), a taxidermist/poacher who believes in “survival of the fittest” to such dangerous ends that he believes humans are destined to be superior in survival to animals, as revenge for being attacked as a young adult. He is essentially a Cruella de Vil-Van Pelt hybrid and just as ruthless, so much so that he makes the Verminator and Gladys look like animal rights activists. Stevenson is eager to capture and stuff a rare red squirrel, and he believes Hammy is his target, the Moby Dick to his Captain Ahab. However, just before Stevenson is about to kill Hammy in his mansion headquarters, a band of his other would-be victims trigger the alarm and Hammy bites Stevenson’s hand very hard and escapes with the gang. While making his escape and subsequent journey home, he investigates the capture of various animals and realizes that Stevenson is absolutely relentless in his hunt for Hammy. He soon befriends one of the escapees (whom I shall call Marshall and would be voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley, from “Princess and the Frog”) and they both encounter numerous obstacles, including a con artist weasel/muskrat (Christoph Waltz), all while trying to remain two steps ahead of Stevenson, who is fast on their trail.

I decided that since this would be a bit more dramatic than Over the Hedge, so too should the scope of it. There would be larger locations, such as Stevenson’s mansion/taxidermy office, the forest, and One challenge was in deciding how much of RJ and Verne were going to be featured. With the sad passing of Garry Shandling, if this had been made now, there would have to be some explanation of why Verne would be absent. If it had been made just after Over the Hedge, they might have smaller roles than in that film, but still be very important to the story. Another problem was about how best to balance the comedy with the drama, but the Chaplin movies were a source of inspiration, since they featured such fine balance between the two. In terms of filmmakers, David Burgess, who was an animator on Hammy, would serve as director, with Karey Kirkpatrick writing the screenplay and the late James Horner writing the music. For me, what worked best about this was how Hammy would be a more grounded character than usual, since this is an intense and serious situation for him, in that he might get captured by Stevenson again or even killed. I didn’t just want to see Hammy do a 90-minute burpfest; I thought he was capable of a wider range of emotions and even body language, but I mean no disrespect to T Lewis and Michael Fry, the original creators, who might have been brought on again as consultants. His speed could be put to good use, and such props as the boomerang would be used for various plot points.

Whoa, is this a mouthful. Just thought I would express my thoughts on this side project and share with some people.

I thought that they used Steve Carrell sparingly enough that he didn’t get on my nerves… however, he did suffer from some poor dialogue written for him. The fact that “I’ve finally found my nuts!” is the last piece of dialogue in the movie is something I find particularly groan-worthy.