Over The Hedge: Alternate Ending
Warning: The following contains content that probably isn't suitable for children. Read at your own risk.
Does anyone remember the movie, Over the Hedge? It was a 2006 film about a family of animals who have to get food to store for winter. But a hedge takes away half of the forest. So, with the help of a raccoon named RJ, they learn how to steal food from the humans. But what they don't know is that RJ is really using them to get the food to pay back an angry bear named Vincent. Eventually, RJ chooses his family over paying back the bear and decides to save them when the Verminator is about to take them to be killed.
Or at least that's the ending we all know. But did you know that there was an alternate ending to this movie? It was so messed up, that I can never think of Over the Hedge the same way again.
It all started one day when I was in my house, playing guitar. Right when I was about to learn a new song, I heard a knock on the door. I went to see who was there, but there was no one there. But I wound up seeing a package on my doorstep. I picked it up and I saw a DVD, labeled "Over The Hedge: Lost Ending".
"Over The Hedge has an alternate ending?" I thought to myself, amazed at my discovery.
I put the DVD into my DVD and I set back to watch a piece of lost media. I thought I was so lucky that someone managed to mail me a piece of lost media, yet alone from my favorite movie. Oh, how that feeling would go away quickly.
A warning popped up, reading:
"This alternate ending of Over The Hedge was cut from the final product, due to it being too emotional for children and due to the scenes of animal cruelty. If you get scared or emotional easily, turn back now. You have been warned!"
"Animal cruelty?" I said, in shock. "I doubt it has that."
The scene opened with Verne's cage being slammed on all the other cages by the Verminator, after the family was trapped by him in Gladys' house.
"You've just been Verminated," said The Verminator, with a laugh, before sniffing a very angry Gladys. "Phew! You stink!"
"That's because you let them into my HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" yelled Gladys.
"Hey Nancy! Stop your honking!" said The Verminator. "These little guys will be disposed of quickly and humanely."
"NO! NOT HUMANELY!" yelled Gladys. "As inhumanely as possible!"
"It was a pleasure doing business with you, ma'am," said The Verminator, as Gladys walked back into her house.
It then cut to Verne and the rest of the family watching RJ, bringing the wagon load of food up to Vincent. Instead of the usual score that played in this scene, a single piano started playing as, one by one, the cages containing the family were rolled into the van.
"What's he gonna do to us, mama?" asked Quillo.
"I don't know, baby," said Penny, in a realistic sad tone.
Then, it showed the two possums, Ozzie and Heather, in a cage. But Heather was crying realistic tears while she said her line.
"I don't want to die, Dad," said Heather. "Not for real."
"There, there, there, sweetheart," said Ozzie. "We'll be OK."
It then showed Hammy in his cage, looking visibly scared, before Stella held his hand to calm him down. I was crying at this point, because of the mood of this scene so far.
"You were right about him, Verne," said Lou, also in a realistic sad tone. "We should've listened. Sorry there."
"No," said Verne. "I knew we couldn't trust him and I got us into this. I should've known better."
It then showed Verne's POV, now that the Family was in the van and driving to where they were to be euthanized. He saw RJ and Vincent watching the van drive past them, before they walked away. A few seconds later, it cut to show the van at the euthanasia place, and the Verminator bringing the family into various sections of the factory to kill them.
The methods he used were enough to scar me for life. Hammy was gassed in a chamber. Heather and Ozzie were drowned in a pool of boiling water. Stella had her head cut off. Lou, Penny, Bucky, Spike, and Quillo were electrocuted and wacked with a club. As for Verne, he was crushed to death by a rolling pin and was boiled alive. Verne screamed realistically, as he was being boiled, as if his actor, Gary Shandling, was being hurt badly.
Then, it slowly faded to black, before a message appeared on the screen: "If only RJ hadn't betrayed his family. Maybe they would still be alive." Then, it faded to black, ending the scene.
I was in shock at that scene. Who would make that scene? Why was it made? What was the meaning behind it?
I ended up smashing the DVD into bits after taking a couple screenshots. Then, I emailed Dreamworks and Michael Fry, the creator of Over the Hedge, about it. Apparently, there was an animator by the name of Roddy Fatone, who used to work at Dreamworks, and he was responsible for this scene. During the test screenings, he included the ending into the showings and caused millions of kids to be traumatized by it. So, Dreamworks fired him and he wound up getting sued by all the parents at the test showings and the ending was altered to be the one we know today.
Roddy Fatone is the newest animator in the Troublesome Animator club. So, if you find one of his creations or an alternate version of this scene, destroy it immediately! Most importantly, cherish your family. You never know what you have until they are gone.
Credited to Kadin7366666
Originally uploaded on September 25, 2022
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