Over the Hedge by T Lewis and Michael Fry for November 15, 2014

Many years ago, I went to see a Marx Brothers marathon at a local cinema. Lots of fathers there with young children. When the first film started, you could hear a lot of grumbling from the kids; B & W, all adults in the movie so it looked like an “adult” movie, no animation. All the dads were telling the kids to just be a little patient and they would love it, just watch, etc. Within a few minutes you heard a giggle off to the right, then one up front, then behind and to the left, and before long the kids were laughing like, well, ………. kids. They loved Harpo of course, since he is really a child himself. They loved Chico because he’s incorrigible and usually in cahoots with Harpo somehow. Groucho went right over their heads, but he’s there for the grown-ups anyway.