Movie #132 Fantastic Mr Fox *2009*

George Clooney - Mr. Fox
Meryl Streep - Mrs. Fox
Jason Schwartzman - Ash
Bill Murry - Badger
Willem Defoe - Rat
Wes Anderson (Director)

Let me geek out on the technical elements of this film for a moment then I will provide my review.  Wow!  Fantastic Mr Fox is a stop-motion-animation film based on the book by Roald Dahl.  It is the story of a former chicken thief fox who has been domesticated.  He has two longings:  To be something bigger than he is, and to feel the rush of thievery again. 

Wes Anderson directed this animated gem and my God what a feat.  I saw this in theaters and had a blast watching it.  I also was stunned by the visual and left wondering "How'd he do that".  I can now find out.  I purchased the Blu Ray with all the extra features.  I can't believe everything that goes into a stop-motion film.  They take 32 pictures for 1 second of film.  In between each picture the dolls have to be moved ever so slightly.  That way, wen sped up they appear to be moving at a normal pace.

There were something like 24 different sets with hundreds of dolls that were in the process of being shot at any given day.  These dolls came in 4 sizes each so that they could films different depths of focus.  Big dolls for close up's and tiny dolls for wide or long shots.  Then just to make things even more difficult, have the most attention to detailed director working today make this movie.  Everything had to be perfect.  When shooting a diner scene, a plate the size of a dime had to have the same print as a diner plate Anderson ate on while in Bali. It is crazy the amount of precision that went into this film.

Now for the review.  It is bad ass.  Clooney is pitch perfect (pun intended) in his voice work for Mr Fox.  He has a cocksuredness that has a tiny bit of inadequacy woven in.  Like a knight armor with a hairline fracture in it.  Meryl Streep...Meryl Streep.  I don't think I need go on there.  I love Willem Defoe as the Rat.  he is sort of a long time rival of the fox.

The story is not a typical Hollywood one.  There are some real moments of truth in this picture.  The characters are forced to deal with issues (both external and internal) that most film makers wouldn't touch.  Forget about doing so in a kids movie.  Pixar is about the only studio I can think of that has enough balls to do this on any sort of regular basis.  Noah Baumbach co-wrote the script and it is noticeable.  He signature melancholy is all over this picture.  One thing that I love about the script is that it deals with a concept like "you can't change what you're made of" in a really original way.  The characters in the film stand upright, talk, even read and paint.  But they know at the end of the day that they are still wild animals.  I really enjoy the way that Anderson deals with that towards the end of the film.

I loved Fantastic Mr Fox when I saw it in the theater and I love it now even more that I can see how they did the wonderful shots like the cider cellar and the quarry and the waterfall.  I give Fantastic Mr Fox ★★★★.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.