Fantastic Mr. Fox

Stephen Mick

Stephen Mick

Totally Usable
Saw this the other night with Mr. and Mrs. Wookie.

I have to admit, while I loved "Bottle Rocket" and "Rushmore," and really enjoyed "The Royal Tennenbaums" and "The Darjeeling Limited," I don't consider myself a huge Wes Anderson fan. I applaud filmmakers who have a strong voice and what some might call a "signature style," I find that often Anderson's style overwhelms the story. All of this is to say that I went into "Fantastic Mr. Fox" with expectations locked in the "modest" position.

This is one of the best animated films I've seen in a long, long time, and it may be the best "family" film I've ever seen.

The stop-motion animation style really fit with Anderson's aesthetic, and it seemed to give him the freedom to create a world that seemed both completely real and at ease with his personal style. The performances across the board were authentic and involving, and not over the top like you find in most animated films.

Now, some will argue that this isn't really a "family" film. There's no singing teapots and animated crustaceans going on about how wonderful life is, or about the value of just being yourself. In the world of Mr. Fox, there's greed, destruction, pride, selfishness, identity issues and family dysfunction.

But to me, it's a great "family" film because it doesn't gloss over the challenges or difficulties of being a kid. It doesn't pretend that parents don't have issues. But in the end, the film delivers a positive message about family, community and the things that matter.

For the first time since "Tennenbaums," I'm excited to see what Anderson does next, animated or otherwise.
 
I agree this was a lot of fun. Saw it in VT last week over the T-Day weekend.

I'm not a fan of Anderson in general. His short film Hotel Chevalier is by far the best thing I think he's ever done.

I too liked this because it hinted at his mannered aesthetic without being drenched in it.

Loved when they suddenly break out into "animal" behavior, then settle back into their suits and go on with a conversation. :)
 
And if you are in NYC and want a real treat a dozen or more of the actual sets used in the movie along with many copies of the character puppets are now in the windows of the Bergdorf Goodman at 59th and 5th. It's a blast to see the the real thing - and at a variety of scales!
 
Rented this last night.

I'm a fairly big Anderson fan, and this was great!

A movie I could imagine kids watching and still enjoying legitimately into adulthood.

A shame the majority of American children probably had their parents take them to see crap like Alvin and the Chipmunks 2...
 
I really, really loved this film. I thought it was so awesome. A really cool score too. My next favourite Wes Anderson film after Rushmore. Aside from being a really well written and made film, it was actually super fun to watch.
 
This movie was awesome. so funny, best of wes since rushmore, mos definitely. Bringing out the best in stop-motion. I was looking at the credits afterwards and I think I saw the infamous Huy Vu, is it true? If so nice work! And I'd love to hear more about behind the scenes? Any interesting experiences or set-ups?
 
For reasons totally opaque to me, during awards season the studio sent us this big beautiful lavish promo package for the movie - that did not include a copy of the movie!

Whatever. Borrowed a friend's copy and fell in love with it. Great stuff.
 
Yeah it came out a few weeks ago. Watched it on blu-ray and it looked stunning...Despite my frustration with Wes Anderson's limited storytelling interests, I found myself laughing more often than not and enjoyed it.
 
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