Fantastic Mr. Fox
by Wes Anderson
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DVD details
Actor: George Clooney, Meryl StreepDirector: Wes Anderson
Brand: Fox
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
Published: 2010-03-01
DVD Release Date: 2010-03-23
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Fantastic Mr. Fox
DVD Review: 4.5 stars for this pretty fantastic little film.
Summary: 4 Stars
My family and I saw FANTASTIC MR. FOX on Thanksgiving, one of the busiest movie-going evenings of the year. We were in a group of about 30 folks watching this film...a sad statement. It's one of the wittiest (not just funny, but witty) animated films in a long time, and a truly original piece of filmmaking. When movies like PLANET 51 or ...CHANCE OF MEATBALLS can make 5 times as much at the box office, I can only bemoan how many people have caused their kids (and themselves) to miss out on the experience of seeing how challenging films can be, and how much FUN that can be.
Director Wes Anderson is one of my favorite filmmakers. I know there are MANY people who agree, and MANY MORE who disagree fairly vehemently. For everyone who loved DARJEELING LIMITED, many more found it inert, pretentious, boring or unemotional. Ditto ROYAL TENNANBAUMS. Double ditto LIFE AQUATIC. I admit, Anderson can be a bit "clever" in his style. He films everything from a lower than usual angle. His camera either sits still or moves side to side...seldom in and out. He keeps us at a distance this way...much like his characters tend to be emotionally distant or shut off. The humor in his scripts is often dry and laced with sadness. When his characters to express their emotional sides, it comes in short bursts that demonstrates a form of being stunted. His characters are super smart, and very unwise.
Yet in FANTASTIC MR. FOX, even Anderson's critics are finding much to love. The same filmmaking style is there, but there is also something charming about the way in which he trains his camera on these awkwardly animated figures. They are frequently filmed at "odd" angles, but what this does is allow us to SEE more of the character than we might in a more traditionally framed movie. His reduced depth-of-field works even better with animation...particularly animation this "crude." (It isn't really crude, don't freak out.)
Adapted from the Roahld Dahl story, MR. FOX follows its title character...a dashing, daring young scoundrel of a fox who gives up his dangerous life of chicken-thieving and living on the edge in order to settle down with the love of his life and have a family. Skip ahead some time, and the Foxes are living in an underground den, where dad is a newspaper reporter (an endangered species?) and his son constantly disappoints him by having a singularly UNdaring nature. Fox is a good husband and father, but his true nature constantly nags at him, and in a mad burst, he purchases an above ground tree in which to live. And from there, he can clearly see the facilities of three big, evil farmers. And it's a short step from there to returning (albeit without telling his wife) to a life of thieving and trickery. It makes him feel young again and makes him feel he's being true to his nature. It also gets him, his family and the whole animal community into some SERIOUS trouble.
There really isn't much to the plot, per se. The film is more about little incidents, observations and conversations. And it's all shown to us via stop-motion animation. These furry animals move in a manner frankly reminiscent of the original KING KONG. We see their fur move from frame to frame, where the animators clearly were manipulating the little creatures. They are primitively constructed...and yet the film is 100% true to its own aesthetic throughout. While many scenes look flat (and everything is brown)...there is a feeling of life in every moment. It may be the rippling fur, and it may be the outstanding voice work.
George Clooney plays Mr. Fox and his wife is voiced by Meryl Streep. Jason Schwartzmann is their cowardly, clumsy son. These 3 work together very well, and although I wasn't sitting there the whole time noticing that stars were doing the voices...there was also a sense of familiarity that was very welcome. Clooney has become a master of the "wacky" character (MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, BURN AFTER READING, LEATHERHEADS)...and this movie shows that it is his voice as much as his physicality that makes this work. Schwartzmann plays the "dreary" son much like we'd expect him to...infused with chagrin and sadness.
As I mentioned, Anderson's humor is often coupled with sadness...and we have that here too. Whether Fox is longing for his past life, or his wife wishes her husband was happy with what he had or their son wishes Dad was prouder of him...that sense of sadness is there. These are the richest animated characters in a long time (outside of most Pixar films)...and it's easy to care about these funny looking creatures. There are many delightful other characters as well, including badgers (Bill Murray, hilarious), moles and so on.
But the movie can be readily enjoyed without reading much into it. It's got loads of off-kilter humor (the shots of Fox eating are almost worth the price of admission!), a GREAT soundtrack (Anderson is almost as good as Tarantino at picking great music) and a satisfying conclusion, one that delivers a Hollywood feel, but is uniquely odd as well.
So please do yourself (and the film) a favor, and check out FANTASTIC MR. FOX. It is, indeed, fantastic.
Description of Fantastic Mr. Fox
George Clooney and Meryl Streep lend their voices to this hilarious and heartwarming animated adventure from visionary director Wes Anderson. Mr. and Mrs. Fox (Clooney and Streep) live a happy home life with their eccentric son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and visiting nephew Kristopherson. That is until Mr. Fox slips into his sneaky, old ways and plots the greatest chicken heist the animal world has ever seen. Based on the beloved, best-selling book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Fantastic Mr. Fox is family fun at its finest.The visually ravishing animated movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox follows a fox, voiced by George Clooney and dressed in a natty brown corduroy suit, as he cheerfully and recklessly takes his thieving ways a little too far and brings down the wrath of some sour-faced poultry farmers on his family and friends. Based on a lesser-known book by children's author Roald Dahl (who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach), the movie is the work of Wes Anderson (writer-director of Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums), who expanded and elaborated on the original story; the combination is inspired. Anderson's sensibility--his fondness for meticulous compositions, coordinated colors, and narrative filigree--can sometimes seem finicky and stiff in live-action movies, but it's exquisitely suited to the painstaking art of stop-motion animation. Every corner of the screen crackles with visual invention and whimsical humor. The top-notch vocal cast (which also features Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Owen Wilson, and others) create vivid personalities that perfectly mesh with the movie's lush colors and luscious textures. The Fantastic Mr. Fox is an off-beat gem, a giddy mix of adult emotional issues, wild animal behavior, and childlike delight. --Bret Fetzer
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