Wes Anderson is a familiar name in the realm of animation (and Hollywood). I, however, have not yet had the chance to familiarize myself with him or his work. With Fantastic Mr. Fox being the first Anderson film I have seen, I had no idea what to expect. I’ve heard good things, but animated films (other than Disney) are not typically something that I seek out or even look forward to. With that being said, Anderson (with a piece of literary genius from the famed Roald Dahl) produces a film that, on the surface, appears to be a film for children but is ultimately entertaining for audiences of all ages. A film full of gripping ideas, a beautiful combination of outrageous and dry comedy and a number of touching sentiments brings to life the mysterious, but colorful underworld of the world’s wildlife.
The titular character, Mr. Fox (George Clooney) raids farms for a living. He steals chickens, squabs, turkeys and whatever else he can get his hands on. When he and his wife, Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) become pregnant, He makes a promise to her that he will find a real job, one that pays and can provide for them and their child, Ash (Jason Schwartzman), without having to put his, or his family’s, life in danger. As Mr. Fox’s life begins to change for the better (he finds a job, he has a beautiful family and he has found and purchased a new home near three booming farms), he falls back into his old ways and begins stealing from farms again. This time he does more than put his own life in danger, he puts the rest of the town in danger. As the three farmers attempt to exact revenge on Mr. Fox and anyone connected to him, he must find a way to make things right for him and everyone around him.
George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray (Badger) and Michael Gambon (Franklin Bean) are just some of the Hollywood A-listers who provide impeccable voice acting for Fantastic Mr. Fox. Some of the phenomenal actors who help make the film so appealing are known to many as comedic actors. Murray and Schwartzman, in particular, have been known to dabble quite brilliantly in comedy, each portraying a sense of honesty and realism in their humor. Their ability to convey humor in this film is well received and the two bring subtle, but powerful comedy to the film. I do not often associate Clooney with comedy, but he, too, is able to reach audiences by way of humor and perfectly feeds off of the other characters. The precise influxes in his voice throughout the film help to provide audiences with a specific and clear understanding of the characters, the situations and the mood from beginning to end.
Stop-motion animation seems like a somewhat outdated approach to creating a viable and successful animated film. While it is clearly different, I compare it to the likes of claymation. It seems that there are a number of more effective ways to bring the necessary visuals to life and provide audiences with an enjoyable product. However, I digress due to the fact that stop-motion, in many ways, strengthened some of the more humorous moments of Fantastic Mr. Fox. The closeups of Mr. Fox’s grim, yet expressive smile adds humor to nearly every scene in which he plays a part. There are even parts of the film that seem as if time were not in fact linear but somewhat divergent. While this seems to be insignificant in the grand scheme of things, it provides audiences some insight into how athletic, slick and generally sneaky Mr. Fox is. Stop-motion is something that Anderson has become quite fond of and proficient in since he first began developing films. While this is the first Anderson film that I have seen, I feel as if Fantastic Mr. Fox might be one of his best representations of stop-motion to date.
A children’s film with adult content (including cussing and sexual innuendo) and animation that takes a step backward in order to take another ten forward is maybe the simplest way to sum up Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. It finds ways to reach audiences of all ages (and keeping younger audiences in the dark regarding some of the more inappropriate humor) and, even better, it has audiences in hysterics throughout. I am genuinely impressed with what Anderson is able to bring to the table and create using the award winning novel of the same name. Fantastic Mr. Fox is brilliant for audiences of all ages and is bound to have you in tears of joy at some point during Mr. Fox’s thrilling adventure.
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