Fantastic Mr.Fox
When I was a young Connoisseur, knee-high to a grasshopper, I was an avid reader; my favorite author at the time was Roald Dahl. Among all the magical tales Dahl wrote in his life, my favorite by far was Fantastic Mr. Fox. Aside from the fact that the tale’s protagonist was my favorite animal of all time, a red fox, the story’s imaginative take on a world of intelligent and civilized animals cleverly bamboozling a trio of miscreant farmers at every turn struck a chord with me. I remember staying up late with my twin brother, Connoisseur Jon, back in 5th grade when we shared a room and recounting the story and elaborating upon it until we were spinning tales all our own of what life was like after the book ended for the animals. So profound was my love for this story that I gave my only copy to my high school art teacher and mentor, Kathi, as a wedding present. Needless to say, when I heard that my favorite story of all time was being adapted into a movie, I was excited. The fact that it was going to be directed by Wes Anderson struck me as fitting, even though I am not the biggest fan of Mr. Anderson’s Prozac-hipster style of moviemaking, I couldn’t really picture a better choice except for maybe Michel Gondry. When I found out that the movie would be made using stop-motion animation, I knew this would be a real treat. Stop-motion animation has always been near and dear to my heart and my own artistic aesthetic. The weekend Fantastic Mr. Fox came out in the theatre, I rallied the troops and headed out, braving throngs of little kids whose parents seemed more intent on seeing this film than they did.
From start to finish I was glued to the screen. Wes Anderson drew together a seriously talented cast of actors to voice the characters, dipping once more into the well of Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman, and adding in as leading fox and vixen, George Clooney and Meryl Streep. The story, as told in the book, makes up the body of the film, with a lovely bit of back-story and a satisfying continuation and conclusion penned by Anderson added in.
The dialogue is pitch perfect, full of Anderson’s copious dry wit and understated humor, with enough pratfalls to keep the less attentive in the audience amused. The stop-motion animation is the perfect context for the folksy music and charming set pieces.
The story follows Mr. Fox as he becomes a family man, turning his back on his prior life of poultry pilfering to become a marginally successful newspaper columnist. Dealing with a mid-life crisis and what he sees as the diminished status of living in a hole in the ground, he moves the family to a mighty tree on a hill overlooking a fertile valley,
and the farms of Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, three wholly unsavory farmers, each with a certain fowl of expertise and a well-deserved nasty reputation.
This sparks old habits in Mr. Fox who reneges on his vow to his wife never to filch fowl again and, in so doing,
stirs up a hornets’ nest of revenge from these three villainous agrarians which threatens the safety of the forest-dwelling creatures as a whole.
All the while we are let in on the family drama without which no Wes Anderson film would be complete. The drama results in a heartwarming comedy as imperfect humanity is transposed to the animal kingdom in a way we can all relate to.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is easily my favorite film of this Oscar season, though it didn’t win any Academy Awards for which it was nominated. It’s a timeless tale of self-acceptance, community, and love set in a magical world where the animals are all more intelligent than mankind. I can’t recommend this film enough and was certain to pick it up as soon as it came out on DVD.
As a side note, this movie also thoroughly entertained my cat, Snacks.