Fantastic Mr. Fox - 2009

The wily Mr Fox and family attempt to outwit a trio of ruthless farmers, in Wes Anderson's stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic.

'Fantastic Mr. Fox' is visionary director Wes Anderson's first animated film, utilizing classic handmade stop motion techniques to tell the story of the best selling children's book by Roald Dahl (author of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'James and the Giant Peach'). The film features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson and Jarvis Cocker.

Mr. and Mrs. Fox (Clooney and Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristopherson (Eric Anderson). But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with not enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers - Boggis, Bunce and Bean - who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr. Fox at any cost.



George Clooney's smooth Mr Fox is in theory a mild-mannered newspaper columnist. But by night he is a daring robber and – without telling his wife – he plans to rob these three farmers of their livestock just as stylishly as Clooney's Danny Ocean famously knocked over three Vegas casinos.


First, though, he needs help, starting with the dopey possum who fixes the sink in his new tree home. Then he employs the teenage cousin Kristofferson, who has come to stay in the family home and study at the local school – to his son's chagrin, Kristofferson turns out to be a natural athlete and martial artist who furthermore winds up going steady with the class babe.

The farmers begin a military-style fightback against the vulpine invaders and Mr Fox and his crew have to dig for victory – and survival.

Patriotic British filmgoers may, however, be disconcerted to note that with Mr Fox being voiced by George Clooney, Mrs Fox by Meryl Streep and their moody teen boy by Jason Schwartzman, the good guys are American. The baddies, led by a trigger-happy meanie voiced by Michael Gambon, are Brits. The local village appears to be from Olde Englande, with a pub and red post boxes. Yet the Fox family attend an all-American high school over the hill, with a sports coach voiced by another Anderson repertory regular: Owen Wilson.

There is a charm and simplicity to the central characters and – unlike some of Anderson’s recent creations – they feel more rounded and less like stylistic puppets, which is ironic given that they literally are puppets.


Schwartzmann’s voice over work is especially noteworthy, hitting a precise tone of innocence and weariness as a young fox trying to find himself in the world.

The original book was accompanied by the distinctive artwork of Quentin Blake and Anderson – and his creative team – have opted for their own bold approach, using stop motion animation instead of CGI.

Instead of the smooth textures of Pixar and Dreamworks, the visuals here bear a resemblance to Coraline, Corpse Bride or the work of Nick Park and Aardman animation.

It won’t do the same numbers as Up or Ice Age but there is definitely potential here for some decent box office, especially in Britain where Roald Dahl is still very popular with a huge amount of readers.

Fantastic Mr. Fox - Trailer 2


Cast:

George Clooney ... Mr. Fox (voice)
Meryl Streep ... Mrs. Fox (voice)
Jason Schwartzman ... Ash (voice)
Bill Murray ... Badger (voice)
Wallace Wolodarsky ... Kylie (voice)
Eric Chase Anderson ... Kristofferson (voice)
(as Eric Anderson)
Michael Gambon ... Franklin Bean (voice)
Willem Dafoe ... Rat (voice)
Owen Wilson ... Coach Skip (voice)
Jarvis Cocker ... Petey (voice)
Wes Anderson ... Weasel (voice)
Karen Duffy ... Linda Otter (voice)
Robin Hurlstone ... Walter Boggis (voice)
Hugo Guinness ... Nathan Bunce (voice)
Helen McCrory ... Mrs. Bean (voice)

FANTASTIC MR. FOX was selected to open this year’s London Film Festival on October 14th. FANTASTIC MR. FOX is scheduled for limited release by Twentieth Century Fox on November 13th and wide release on November 25th.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

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The soundtrack album is a perfect compliment to the film as great music plays a critical role in FANTASTIC MR. FOX. The songs and score bring added dimension to the characters and narrative of Roald Dahl’s story and Wes Anderson’s vision for it.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (Original Soundtrack)