Director Anderson delivers a truly fantastic Mr. Fox

By: David Goldberg

Posted: 11/19/09

In The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson experiments with stop-motion animation to create a tinkering, visually splendid world that reignites an audience who are probably exhausted by computer generated imagery.

The 88-minute film, based on one of Roald Dahl's lesser-known novels, may not be intended for children, but it is obviously made with the imagination and excitement of a little boy with the keys to a toy store. The film's cast of forest creatures are not only lovingly-animated, but impeccably-voiced. Anderson has yet again assembled a perfect cast, which includes George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman and, of course, Bill Murray.

At first, the stop-motion animation of Fox is unsettling and seems contrived. Effects like fire made of crumpled cardboard can be cute, but in most movies, it would come off as an affected attempt of the director to seem art house. But as the story moves, the genius behind these "Robot Chicken"-meets-James-and-the-Giant-Peach graphics cannot be resisted. Even the clay has fur. Every hair, every paw and every tear of these characters is constantly moving and always alive. It's a motion picture that is always in motion. As more animated movies look like video games, a puppet saga that seems to be crafted with the director's bare hands stands out.

Mr. Fox (Clooney) used to be the wiliest of all foxes, until he met the love of his life (Streep), and settled down to raise their oddball son Ash (Schwartzman).

Now, at the age of seven human years old, Fox is terrified of eventually going to his grave without a few exciting final memories.

He returns to his old passion of chicken stealing, which inevitably attracts the wrong attention, as an insidious trio of poultry farmers attempt to hunt Fox down for revenge. Against the cries of his husky badger lawyer (Murray), Fox and his family fight back against the farmers, causing a battle of man versus animal, primal versus industrial.

As the hunt rages on, Mr. Fox must hold his marriage together and attempt to make reparations with his outsider of a son. The viewer does not know where he will stand in the end; if will he embrace civilized fatherhood or return to his wild vulpes vulpes genus.

Like The Life Aquatic or The Royal Tennenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox is, at its heart, about the healing of wounds between father and son. Schwartzman's runty Ash will do anything to impress his dad, and Clooney's Fox must learn to include his strange son in his spectacular plans. Anderson is known for crafting memorably plausible family dynamics, replete with misunderstandings, tensions and hard reconciliations. Fox is no exception.

Voice actors are either cast based on their celebrity or on their talent. In Mr. Fox, the actors may be all-star, but the performances fit. When the animals open their mouths, the voices that eminate feel right. Streep's Mrs. Fox is maternal, kind and intuitive.

The elasticity of Mr. Fox's movements and mad dashes is only matched by Clooney's ferocious and capricious performance. Willem Dafoe masterfully plays a rat that could cut Ratatouille in the face, and Michael Gambon shines as a menacing turkey farmer. It seems that the characters are designed for the performances, or the other way around.

Mr. Fox could be enjoyed by children, but the complex relationships and sharp writing leave the true joy for adults. The big eyed, darlingly designed characters are made real by a colossal cast. Anderson is a director with a Madonna complex, as he is always looking to reinvent himself. Now that he has successfully had his fun with a Chicken Run-animated saga, fans cannot predict his next move. But, as Streep's Mrs. Fox lovingly declares in the movie, "There's something kind of fantastic about that, isn't there?"