Up front, just know that I don’t consider The Royal Tenenbaum’s to be a masterpiece or even Wes Anderson’s best film. From the perspective that the quality of Anderson’s films declined sharply after Rushmore, which is terrific, Fantastic Mr. Fox seems like a glorious return to what made Anderson’s original style so endearing. The hipsters among us relish the small flourishes of style Anderson adds to his films; maybe a character wears a hat at all times, makes all his clothes out of duct tape, or something equally “hip”. Rushmore featured a balance of these pretentious sentiments while still managing to deliver a perfect blend of levity and melancholy. Between Rushmore and Fantastic Mr. Fox, Anderson’s style got bogged down in catering to that nuanced sensibility – but he went overboard. The film’s became little more than mediums for demonstrating how precocious he could be. Mr. Fox shows Anderson’s return to the balanced blend but does so in a visually fascinating way with the (typically) great cast and sharp writing he’s become known for.
Mr. Fox (George Clooney) has long since retired from the thievery game in favor of a quiet family life settled in a hillside with his wife (Meryl Streep) and son Ash (Jason Schwartzman). Life moves on at a relaxed pace and Mr. Fox gets restless, he longs for the days of excitement and intrigue of stealing chickens, evading traps, and romancing his once similarly-minded wife. While humans go out and buy expensive cars during their mid-life crises, Mr. Fox does something similar and revives his glory days by planning the ultimate heist on local tycoons Bean (Michael Gambon), Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), and Bunce (Hugo Guinness). Amidst the secretive excitement of his newfound nightlife, Mr. Fox attempts to coach his son into a better man while heaping praise on his visiting nephew Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson). While Fox’s plans have filled his pantry with delicious goodies, it has also incited the anger of the tycoon trio, who have vowed to hunt down the woodland creatures in an act of vengeance. Eventually, the Foxes, Badger (Bill Murray), and the others go into hiding as they devise one last plan to strike back at the humans above before they’re wiped out for good. Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Brian Cox, and Adrien Brody also star.
Like most Anderson films, there’s a certain charm to the rapport of Fantastic Mr. Fox; characters say “cuss” in place of any expletive (helping bolster it as a high-brow children’s film), clever dialogue flashes back and forth like lightning, etc. All of this is supplemented by the stop-motion animation’s particular cadence in how the puppets cock their head to the side while simultaneously making us feel like we’re back in an 80s or 90s after school storybook special. After all, that’s exactly what it is. Something about Roald Dahl books beg to be adapted in stop-motion. It worked exceptionally well for James and the Giant Peach, and the attention to minute details on the animal puppets here prove that it may be the ultimate method for recreating the imagination of Dahl.
The aforementioned intricacies of these furred puppets stand out better than they ever did in the theater on Blu-ray. The simple audioscape of the film doesn’t make full use of the format’s sound capabilities, but then stop-motion animation really doesn’t either. The only times the hi-def is worthwhile is when you’re willing to stop and soak in the well-designed models.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The combo pack has the Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy versions. With a stop-motion feature it’s not surprising that there’s a making of featurette giving a detailed, step by step look at the models, the sets and their design – some of which is doubled over again in a puppet specific featurette. Other featurette’s look at the choices made adapting the script to the screen, a talk on stop-motion features, a series of cast interviews (with Bill Murray doing most of the talking – so we’re not complaining), and a funny “guide to Whack-bat” the odd sports game that Ash is no good at. Finally, there’s the expected tribute to the visionary Roald Dahl.
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" is on sale March 23, 2010 and is rated PG. Adventure, Animation, Comedy. Directed by Wes Anderson. Written by Roald Dahl (book), Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach (screenplay). Starring Bill Murray, Brian Cox, George Clooney, Jason Schwartzman, Meryl Streep, Michael Gambon, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe.
