Fantastic Mr. Fox

One of the wittiest films of the year turns out to be another stunning example of clever animation (puppets) and to be fully aware of how witty it is (extremely).  Wes Anderson certainly knows what he’s doing, both in the sense of how to make films and in the tongue-in-cheek quality that his films so often exude.  The characters in Fantastic Mr. Fox are intelligent (some of them, anyway), their wit acerbic and dry, and the entire film follows suit.  Yet another in a line of hilarious and well made animated films from this past year with no pretense otherwise.

Wielding this rapier wit, Fox and his compatriots take on Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, corporate power-mongers on the other side of the fence. They deal in chickens, alcoholic cider, and, ultimately, fox-killing.  Having been a professional thief many fox-years ago, Fox decides to tackle the Big Three in one final heist.  ”One final heist” never turns out well.  Fox gets himself and his entire community into a huge hole (pun very much intended), and it’s his job to dig them out.  Based on the book by Roald Dahl (of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame), this story has a simple premise and lovable, engaging characters, who know exactly what they’re doing and will often narrate likewise (though nearly always unsolicited).

The voice-acting, not to mention the dialogue, could not be much better, among them many a familiar face from previous Wes Anderson films. George Clooney and Meryl Streep are Mr. and Mrs. Fox, while Bill Murray plays the Badger, Fox’s lawyer. Jason Schwartzman plays Ash, the Foxes’ son, Willem Defoe plays the Rat, one of the many nemeses, and Owen Wilson has little more than a cameo as Coach Skip.  Each of the voices fits exceedingly well.

Additionally, it appears that Anderson has incorporated a few clever conventions in order to make the film both farcical and appealing to children, though it really isn’t a children’s film. For instance, all expletives are replaced by the word “cuss.”  ”What the cuss?” is a recurring colloquialism in this world.  At one point, he includes a song which is played by a folk band in full view of the audience, only to be silenced by one of the Big Three, as if they are a part of his extended posse.  Another humorous word game Anderson plays is differentiating between a “phobia” and a “fear.”  Each works to great comic effect. Finally, the cross-sectional presentation of the sets works conventionally for several reasons.  The tree house and the sewer environment are both shot as if a half has been literally cut off – the slice is visible in at least a few of the scenes.  Like so much of what Anderson includes here, including the movement and textures of the characters, the cross-sectional sets remind us that we are watching stop-motion, serving as a subtle nod to the fantastic work by the animation team.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is Anderson’s animation debut, and it reigns up there with the best of them, certainly of this year, but possibly beyond as well, to include some of the great stop-motion films in recent years, including the Wallace and Gromit series and The Nightmare Before Christmas.  It succeeds for many reasons, not the least of which is its ability to be clever and entertaining without seeming pretentious or absurd. Anderson has done it again.  If you enjoy him or stop-motion, you’re almost certainly bound to enjoy this one as well.

Rating: 3.5/4 Stars