Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers:

Roald Dahl (novel) and
Wes Anderson (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 November 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Dig the life fantastic.

Plot:

Angry farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with a sly fox, look to get rid of their opponent and his family.

Plot Keywords:

Fox | Farmer | Cider | Tale | Anthropomorphic

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

George Clooney	...	Mr. Fox (voice)
Meryl Streep	...	Mrs. Fox (voice)
Jason Schwartzman	...	Ash (voice)
Bill Murray	...	Badger (voice)
Wallace Wolodarsky	...	Kylie (voice) (as Wally Wolodarsky)
Eric Chase Anderson	...	Kristofferson (voice) (as Eric Anderson)
Michael Gambon	...	Franklin Bean (voice)
Willem Dafoe	...	Rat (voice)
Owen Wilson	...	Coach Skip (voice)
Jarvis Cocker	...	Petey (voice)
Wes Anderson	...	Weasel (voice)
Karen Duffy	...	Linda Otter (voice)
Robin Hurlstone	...	Walter Boggis (voice)
Hugo Guinness	...	Nathan Bunce (voice)
Helen McCrory	...	Mrs. Bean (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG for action, smoking and slang humor.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #45468) | Ireland:PG | Australia:PG | UK:PG | South Korea:All | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:PG | Canada:G (British Columbia/Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/Ontario) | South Africa:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In keeping with the use of "cuss" as a replacement for profanity, one of the buildings bears "CUSS" written as spray-painted graffiti.

Goofs:

Continuity: In long-shots, there is a building between the second and third of the four silos on the Bean farm ("E" and "A"). In closer angles, the silos are equally spaced and the building is not readily visible.

Quotes:

Mr. Fox: [in a cellar with many of the other animal characters] Allright, let's start planning. Who knows shorthand?
[Linda raises her hand]
Mr. Fox: Great! Linda! Lutra Lutra - you got some dry paper?
[she holds up some paper]
Mr. Fox: Here we go. Mole! Talpa Europea! What d'you got?
Mole: I can see in the dark.
Mr. Fox: That's incredible! We can use that! Linda?
Linda Otter: Got it.
Mr. Fox: Rabbit! Oryctolagus Cuniculus!
Rabbit: I'm fast.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References MASH (1970)

Soundtrack:

Love

Sartre and Satire

Fantastic Mr. Fox is acclaimed director Wes Anderson's first animation, specifically stop-motion, and it's, well, fantastic.

George Clooney's voice as the head fox of an animal clan that shouts diversity is straight out of Danny Ocean-- cool and witty with an overlay of sentimentality that would convince you to open your hen house door to let him have his way. That's after his little speech that tries existentialism on for size, foxwise that is: "Why a fox? Why not a horse, or a beetle, or a bald eagle? I'm saying this more as, like, existentialism, you know? Who am I?"

As the animals pull a caper against farmer Bean (Michael Gambon) and his thugs, the animation pulls away from the gloom of another winner this year, Where the Wild Things Are, and confirms the fun of a well told beast fable with loads of anthropomorphism to reaffirm our love of humanity and confirm that animals, like us, will always be animals. The ease with which Anderson/Clooney convince that this stealing and mayhem are what animals do is a tribute to script and performance that seduce us into the stylistic den of thieves known as the fox lair and all its attitude and custom, sanctioned by mother nature herself.

Mr. Fox: "The cuss am I? Are you cussing with me?" Badger (Bill Murray): "No, you cussing with me?" Mr. Fox: "Don't cussing point at me!"

Such an exchange is indicative of the fun Anderson has with kids and adults by not bombarding the youngsters with profanity but winking at the adults as if to say, "You know what I mean." And the most violent moment comes not from scenes with guns but rather where the animals steal chickens and break their necks, done so gingerly and quietly that it seems what it is: Just what foxes do and what humans must do to eat the chickens. Darwin meets the cartoons: Mr. Fox: "And how can a fox ever be happy without, you'll forgive the expression, a chicken in its teeth?"

That's Wes Anderson for you: Sartre and satire with a dash of dashing fox.