By: debbie lynn elias
Known for his own imaginative films like “The Royal Tennenbaums”, “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and “The Darjeeling Limited”, it comes as no surprise that Wes Anderson would be the person to adapt the beloved Roald Dahl children’s book, Fantastic Mr. Fox for the big screen. Not only is Fantastic Mr. Fox the first book Anderson ever owned, but it is also the first book he ever read. And although not published until 1970 when I was already going into my teens, that didn’t stop me from also falling under the spell of yet another Dahl classic. For those of you unfamiliar with Roald Dahl (perish the thought), he is the genius behind award winning books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda and The Witches, of which all of these have long ago been translated to film. Calling on stop motion animation that harkens us all back to our youth and the days of Rankin-Bass, a vivid Crayola color palette, the fun and inventive characters and creations of Roald Dahl, and voicing talents of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, Anderson brings FANTASTIC MR. FOX to life, moving on screen from one picture to the next, much like a storybook, turning the pages with anticipated excitement and then just leaping off the page. In short, FANTASTIC MR. FOX is just that – FANTASTIC!!!!
Mr. and Mrs. Fox have the perfect life, or so it seems. (In case you haven’t figured it out, they are foxes.) Once a preeminent chicken thief, Mr. Fox is now working as a newspaper man having long ago settled down with the Mrs and their son Ash. Unfortunately, his contentment is wearing thin and he longs for more – more excitement, more adventure, one more grand caper – not to mention better housing above ground.. And that‘s exactly what Mr. Fox sets out to do. Moving his family into an above ground tree house with all the comforts of a home and a spectacular view, he is now on his way to complete happiness; especially since the three meanest and wealthiest farmers in the business – Boggis, Bunce and Bean – have their farms directly within the eyeline of the Fox family residence. Reverting to his youthful ways, Fox quickly returns to form, sneaking into each farm on a nightly basis, grabbing up all the chickens, turkeys, ducks and cider he can manage, showering his newfound blessings on the little woman and his friends.
But what happens when the farmers catch him in the act? Determined to “blow him to Kingdom Come”, with the meanest man in the land, Mr. Bean, heading the mission, they join forces but only succeed in blowing off his tail. Undeterred by the foxiness of Mr. Fox, however, they call on every resource their money can buy and tunnel deeper and deeper into the ground in search of Fox. But the deeper Boggis, Bunce and Bean go, so must the Fox family go, a fact which angers and exasperates Mrs. Fox. And as the land above is obliterated, the consequences of Mr. Fox’s thieving are quickly felt by the entire woodland community who are also forced underground and starving.
But Mr. Fox has a plan, a grand plan, that will save them all. Or so he thinks.
Could there be anyone better than George Clooney to take on the persona of Mr. Fox? I think not. There is no doubt in my mind that he had to be the actor in Anderson’s mind to voice Fox when the script was being done and Anderson was visualizing the film. He is sooooo “Foxy”. Sly, witty repartee, Fox is an amalgamation of Danny Ocean pulling a heist and Miles, the wily, self-obsessed attorney in “Intolerable Cruelty.” Smooth, slick delivery by Clooney. You see his face and his mannerisms in everything that Fox does; right down to fearful grinning when in trouble with the missus. Foxy may want a chicken between his teeth but even as a Fox (which is perfect typecasting), women everywhere will want Clooney……
The rest of the voice casting is equally as impeccable. Retaining the English countryside and the English farmers of Dahl’s book, Anderson chose to have the animals voiced by American actors, thanks in large part to his selection of Clooney as the sly Mr. Fox. Meryl Streep is almost unrecognizable with the soft sultry voice of Mrs. Felicity Fox. What I really appreciate with her character is that her appearance and dress changed over the years. Hippie-esque in her carefree youth with beaded headbands and flowing gauzy fabrics, to button down apron-wearing June Cleaver as a married lady. Bill Murray is PERFECT as the attorney Badger. His voicing is fun and well…animated. Not surprised that Anderson called in his troops with Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson to voice Ash and Athletic Coach, Skip, respectively. Schwartzman really surprised me. He textured his tonal qualities and really pulled off the attitude of an indignant kid wanting to please dad. Nicely done. But talk about a casting coup – – Michael Gambon, the beloved Professor Dumbledore in the world of Harry Potter, voicing the meanest man in the land of Roald Dahl – Mr. Bean!!!!!! WOW!!! And nice touch with Chef Mario Bertali as the Chef Rabbit and a too die for performance by Willem Dafoe as the villainous Rat.
Capitalizing on Dahl’s already fertile imagination, the anthropomorphism is out of this world. Not to go unnoticed are many winking asides as well as the educational factors, introducing children and ignorant adults to the inherent traits and characteristics of each woodland creature, all of which parallels human life and experience of being who you are. Animals and people really aren’t that much different in that regard. I am beyond impressed with what Anderson has done with this film. I have always loved the book (actually anything by Dahl) but his translation and adaptation takes Dahl’s imagination to new heights. Finding even more humor and fun that on the written page, Anderson evokes untold emotional joys with every frame and every word of dialogue. Interestingly, instead of the usual method of recording dialogue separate and apart from the actual filming magic, Anderson had his actors actual perform together as if doing radio theatre, acting out their roles while the dialogue was recorded.
A pantheon of vivid visual delights, kudos to production designer Nelson Lowry and animation director Mark Gustafson. I am long a devotee of stop motion animation and here, Anderson has really hit the mark and set the bar high. Although the basic process of stop-motion has remained the same for over 100 years, using digital cameras as opposed to film plus adding in elaborate CGI has made the stop-motion animation slicker and more polished than ever before. But that’s not the look Anderson wanting, opting instead for a more hand-made, herky jerky look for his characters and the film. The stop motion puppetry is amazing as is the intricacy and attention to detail in each of the individual furry friends. Puppet fabrication supervisor Andy Gent, who also worked on “Coraline”, had his hands full accommodating Anderson’s demanding exactness but came through with flying colors, right down to creating suits for Mr. Fox based on fabrics of suits that Anderson wears as well as hand embroidering a teeny tiny badge only 2 ½ millimeters high. As was done by Henry Selick with his adaptation of “Coraline” with puppets and stop motion, the texturization of fur, skin, clothes, the land, the sewers and the inventiveness behind each fabrication and machination is simply pure genius. Using a variety of camera angles and extended pan shots, the visuals are engaging, entertaining and complex.
And of course, as comes as no surprise, the soundtrack is eclectic and fun combining everything from “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” to several tunes by Burl Ives (the voice of the Snowman narrator in “Rankin Bass’ “Rudolph the red-Nosed Reindeer”) to Mozart, the Beach Boys, Cole Porter and the Rolling Stones.
FANTASTIC MR. FOX IS NOTHING SHORT OF FANTASTIC FUN!!!!!!
Mr. Fox – George Clooney
Mrs. Fox – Meryl Streep
Badger – Bill Murray
Ash Fox – Jason Schwartzman
Bean – Michael Gambone
Directed by Wes Anderson. Written for the screen by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach based on the book by Roald Dahl.
