Fantastic Mr. Fox

B
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Rated PG; Directed by Wes Anderson; Starring the voice talents of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe

Director Wes Anderson, the most unlikely of directors to take on an animated feature, manages to move from quirky films like The Royal Tannenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zizzou to the equally quirky Fantastic Mr. Fox. The film feels different than most animated films. This one uses the old-fashioned stop-motion animation, making it a beauty to look at and enjoyable to watch.

With a voice cast including George Clooney and Meryl Streep, the tale of Mr. Fox, who isn’t happy settling for a boring existence and wants to return to his chicken-killing ways, is a fascinating little story. Based on a Roald Dahl story, it is not a perfect film, but it offers more than many animated movies. When Mr. Fox (George Clooney) takes on the humans Boggis, Bunce, and Bean the film goes in some crazy directions. Try to imagine human-like animals that can easily take on the machinations of tricky humans… and do it with style.

The animation is gorgeous. In golden earth tones, the film’s designers created a stylish looking film. The character animation is also effective. Each character is distinctive. The character of Mr. Fox’s grumpy son, Ash (voice of Jason Schwartzman), is a standout, as is Mr. Bean (voice of Michael Gambon), the cider-loving, gun-toting human.

Fantastic Mr. Fox aims at more than young children in the audience. This is the kind of kids’ movie that adults will enjoy. The movie offers a good outing for all ages. Wes Anderson’s films are sometimes too strange for most audiences, but his style works well when the characters are foxes and badgers.