YMMV / Open Season

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Ian is a Jerk Jock, vain, pushy, and a bully. But on the other hand, he isn't a coward and does seem to be a pretty good leader of his herd. Also, Elliot is a loser and an idiot, and while we never find out what he did to be thrown out, it's pretty likely he did something.
• Base-Breaking Character: Elliot. Some find him funny and lovable, while others find him an intolerable prick. The fourth film, where his more negative traits are Flanderized, hasn't done any favors.
• Catharsis Factor: For those who dislike Elliot, his Amusing Injuries and humiliations (some of which come from Boog himself) qualify — even the ones involving him being beat up by Ian and pursued by Shaw.
• Crazy Is Cool: Shaw's insanity makes him one of the most hilarious characters in the movie. He knows the animals are sapient and strives to kill them in a bid to stop them from rising against humanity, owns a truck that is both airtight and can drive in water, lights matches with his gold tooth, and was willing to fight (and even suplex) a bear with his bare hands.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Boog and Elliot are the stars, but each film usually has a few side characters that stand out.
  • From the first film, McSquizzy the Braveheart-referencing squirrel and Buddy the cute blue porcupine.
  • From the second, Roger the cat.
  • Alistair from the third film might count, too.
• Fanfic Fuel: In Open Season 2, Elliot reveals that he spent the winter with McSquizzy while Boog was hibernating. Elliot and McSquizzy don’t interact much in the films themselves, but they apparently got along so well here, that McSquizzy is Elliot’s first guess when Boog mentions his "best friend".
• First Installment Wins: The first film is the only one you'll actually hear people admit they like.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The sequels were greenlit as a result of the film's massive success in Russia and even released theatrically over there.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Mr. Weenie looks remarkably similar to another dachshund from an animated film released a decade later.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Many people see Elliot as a terrible friend to Boog and a bad character in general, as, despite his claims that he only wants to be friends with Boog, his actions still got him separated from his loving owner, Beth, among other things. Shaw, meanwhile, gets a lot of praise from fans for being an entertaining villain, having so many hilarious moments, targeting Elliot, and displaying a significant amount of Villainous Valour. This is also the case in Scared Silly, where Elliot's negative qualities are Flanderized, while Shaw gets even more funny bits and shows his valour once again, up to and including going one-on-one with Boog, a grizzly bear, even after his gun is destroyed in the climax.
• Love to Hate: Shaw the hunter is over the top and entertaining.
• Memetic Badass: Shaw. It takes some serious fucking guts when the first thing he does when he realizes his home's invaded (by a bear no less) is to draw his knife and stalk his home invader. He also fights a bear one-on-one, and even when his gun is lost, he refuses to back down.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Dumpy^Explanation During the scene in the convenience store, Boog sticks his butt directly in front of the camera and shakes it around. The bit was later rotoscoped for a viral animation of a crewmate from Among Us twerking, leading it to widely catch on as a subject for edits and further redraws.
  • It's not easy being the family comedian^Explanation A Tik-Tok video where two people argue over the first film during the convenience store scene, which initially started with one of them hating on the movie only to turn a 180 when Boog started to shake his rump (calling him "Freddy Faz-Gyatt"). This resulted in another argument where the older man tries to have the other kicked out for being inappropriate.
• Romantic Plot Tumor: The third film puts great focus on Boog and Ursa, as well as Elliot and Giselle's family, to the detriment of other plots and characters.
• Rooting for the Empire: More than a few viewers were openly rooting for Shaw to kill Elliot, given the latter's profound insensitivity and problematic behavior.
• Sequelitis: The three DTV sequels were not as well-received as the original (especially Scared Silly).
• Signature Scene: The first film has the convenience store scene, due to the variety of gags from Boog and Elliot, the memetic scene of Boog shaking his butt, and "I Wanna Lose Control (Uh Oh)" playing in the background.
• So Okay, It's Average: The general reaction to the first film, and to a lesser extent the second. They're perfectly serviceable children's animated movies, but the story, jokes, and characters aren't anything new.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Several fans tend to ignore the sequels mostly because Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher didn't return for any of them.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Elliot is supposed to be seen as a foolish but well-meaning character who just wants to befriend Boog since he is regularly bullied by Ian and hunted by Shaw. That said, he gets Boog in trouble with the law, relocated from his loving owner, and humiliated in the forest. He twists the knife by revealing he never even tried to get Boog home and just wanted his company. Accordingly, he instead comes off as a self-centered and remorseless jerk.
• The Woobie:
  • Boog from the first film, suddenly removed from his home due to a misunderstanding and desperately trying to return.
  • Beth after being forced to relocate Boog (who she raised since he was a cub) to the Timberline National Forest and ends up leaving him there when she finds out how much he's changed. Considering her absence in the other films, it's safe to say that she never sees him again.

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