It seems rather befitting that the first book Wes Anderson ever owned would become the story of his most successful animated creation to date. The Indie director’s desire to capture the spirit of the old stop-motion animated films of his youth, whilst simultaneously eager to craft a tale that retained the integrity and wit of Dahl’s loved novel, creates a wonderfully nostalgic medium for all watching to be drawn into, paying attention to every small detail you can imagine, right down to the purposeful imperfections.
Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) may be the purest distillation of Anderson’s specific, inimitable style. Visually, the movie is a wonder, with its profusion of detail and exquisitely focussed performances by the figurines, whom Anderson frames in images as precisely composed as those in his live-action work. If Fantastic Mr Fox feels like Anderson’s freshest film since Rushmore (1998), that can only be due to the animation. Beneath those tactile textures, there’s nothing you could strictly call “fantastic” per se.
The performances from all of the protagonists, including George Clooney, who voices Mr Fox, and Meryl Streep, who voices Mrs Fox, are hugely likeable. Clooney manages to voice Mr Fox with all the resonance, charm and character that you would expect from the actor; he makes Fox’s wit, persona, flaws and all – he brings the character to life, without an incessant need for a suspension of disbelief as a result. Here, Wes Anderson presents us with an anthropomorphic world that blends perfectly into the “real” one; it is clever in that way, as we transition from Mr Bean hunting Mr Fox with a shotgun, to Mr Bean conducting a hostage negotiation with a ransom note. Both worlds exist without question, creating an entertaining parallel throughout the trajectory of the story.
The only thing in question is whom the film has been created for. Anderson has given Dahl’s story both a sophisticated and sensitive edge that is not necessarily child friendly. The inexorable, omnipresent tension between nature and nurture, the failures of family, the bitterness of broken dreams, death and redemption are all explored here, buried beneath the fake fur and button eyes.
Meticulously crafted and wonderfully witty, Fantastic Mr Fox is both a smart caper for adults and a delightful treat for children – with, in my honest opinion, animation that has yet to be topped within the world of stop motion. The story, like many of Anderson’s films, revolves around family, but has a deeper meaning underneath, which ultimately is about mortality and survival. In many ways, this is a film too deep for young children, yet appeals to them just the same. For me, it is an ingenious adaptation of a children’s story that is not really intended for children.
Spotlight Magazine 
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