The Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009): USA

Reviewed by Jackson Bishop. Viewed at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood for the AFI Festival 2009.

It was hard to avoid the feeling of excitement building around the Grauman’s Chinese as the line was ushered into the ornate theater for Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox, starring George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Jason Scwartzman, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson, and based on the story by the classic children’s author, Roald Dahl. The film centers on the story of the titular Mr. Fox, as he’s coming to a turning point in his life. As much as he the thrill of stealing chickens from local farmers, it’s time to settle down and raise his family, but only after he takes on the meanest farmers around for one last score.

The story, as with most of Anderson’s films, is negligible because what really matters are the characters and the world Anderson creates. He’s kinda like Tim Burton in that sense, only without becoming a caricature of himself. The characters and world on Fantastic Mr. Fox are unforgettably perfect for the film, and help to set that which Wes Anderson is a master of, tone. Like The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Anderson sets a quirky, comedic tone that makes watching the film feel like a trip to that wierd part of the city that your parents never want you to go to, but you do and they have awesome by-the-slice pizzarias.

The acting in the film, both voice and puppet, is also incredibly strong. You get the feeling that these creepy little creatures are really alive. The voice talent is obvious, there’s not a single miscast actor here, and I kinda want George Clooney to start doing audio books or at least narrating documentaries about penguins because his voice is awesome. But the stop motion animation is also a key factor here. Anyone who saw Coraline earlier this year knows that stop motion has advanced to a place where it’s almost indistinguishable from CGI, and that’s great and incredibly impressive, but it lacks a certain flawed charm. The real joy in the stop motion for Fantastic Mr. Fox is that it’s not perfect. It’s reminiscient of Rankin Bass animation, or the Willis O’Brien King Kong stuff where you see the fingerprints of teh animators on the fur. The movie has a built in sense of nostalgia due to this that makes you feel almost like you’re rediscovering it rather than seeing it for the first time.

So anyone that’s already a fan of Anderson will have lots to love here. It’s not his best film, but it ranks up there, and it’s a Wes Anderson film you can show kids, which I find to be delightful and a bit disturbing. People who aren’t fans of Anderson should check this out too, if only for the hilarious characcters and nostalgic animation.