Verne

"We want NOTHING to do with ANYTHING that's over that hedge!"

- Verne

Verne is the deuteragonist of the Over the Hedge comics and film. He is a wise, paranoid, no-nonsense box turtle who is the leader of a group of forest animals.

He is voiced by the late Garry Shandling.

Personality
Verne is "naturally tentative" box turtle, who is the leader of the foragers. He does not have much emotion when he talks. He has his own ways of doing the daily tasks which everyone else goes for, but his world is turned upside down when RJ introduces his chaotic lifestyle into the mix. He never really trusted RJ (and he was kind of right for not trusting him). He is genuinely caring for his family and will do anything to protect them. He is best known for his "tingling" tail when a situation is not right, he uses that as a sign to back off. After RJ saves them at the end, he gives up his place as leader to RJ whom he has finally accepted into their family.

Role
Verne and the other animals have woken up from hibernation. As Verne and the others eat berries they have found, Hammy the Squirrel sees a hedge and brings the other animals to it. Not knowing what it is, they name it Steve. They then hear Steve talking. (really a woman behind the hedge yelling at her son). Verne goes to the other end of the hedge and becomes victim to several accidents such as getting sprayed by a hose and hit by a hockey stick, sending him flying over the hedge.

It is then that RJ the Raccoon appears and reveals what Steve is actually called, before telling the animals of all the food that the humans have. Verne is uninterested, but the others agree and during the night, they eat the leftover food inside a garbage can, but a woman named Gladys Sharp arrives and chases them off. This causes Verne to by wary of the humans.

The next day, RJ uses Hammy's help to get a wagon full of cookies by making Hammy pretend to have rabies. When the two girls who have the wagon see Hammy, they start to attack him, hitting him with a book and spraying him. Verne comes to help, but ends up flying out of his shell and onto one of the girl's face. He falls of and the girls see his naked butt and flee. He then realizes he is nude and puts his shell on. They then flee as Gladys arrives, who starts to believe that the animals are vermin that are spreading infections.

RJ leads the animals on more raids, prompting Gladys to call the Verminator, a man who exterminates animals. Verne decides that to keep the humans from killing them, he must return to food. RJ tries to stop him, but they are chased by a dog and they fly into the air, and the food lands on Gladys' car, blowing it up. After Verne reveals he was the one responsible for losing the food, the other animals beome strained from him, but RJ helps them reconcil. Verne helps in a plan to steal from Gladys' house, but during the attempt, RJ tries to steal some spuddies, and when Verne tries to stop him, thinking they have enough, RJ reveals he has to take the food to a bear named Vincent because he lost all of Vincent's previous food at the beginning of the film, and both Gladys' and the Verminator arrive on the scene.

Verne and the animals are captured, except RJ who escapes with the food. However, RJ comes back, pushing the food in front of the van carrying the animals, knocking out the Verminator. However, Vincent arrives and, enraged at all the foob being destroyed, attacks them, but gets caught by several balloons and floats away. However, when they reach home, Vincent lands, and he, Gladys, and the Verminator all attack. In the fight, the bear and the two humans get cauught in one of their own traps, and while Vincent is taken to the Rockys, Gladys and the Verminator are arrested for using illegal traps. Verne then welcomes RJ to stay with them.

Trivia

 * A running gag in the film is that Verne is constantly being mistaked for an amphibian.
 * Verne's shell is also capable of coming off his body, continously showing his butt (another gag in the film)