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Wes Anderson is a love-him-or-hate-him type writer/director. Quirky characters like Max Fischer from ”Rushmore” and Steve Zissou from ”The Life Aquatic” might just be a little too– how should we say– odd for your liking. But whether you’re drinking the Anderson Kool-Aid or not, it’d be hard to watch his newest flick, “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” and not fall straight in love with the cuddly, furry Mr. Fox. After all, the character is voiced by George Clooney, so right there we have a running start to things.
At first glance, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” might seem like a divergence for Anderson, as it is a stop-motion animated movie. That is, he filmed the entire thing with puppets, moving them ever so slightly between each shot to make all of their movements come to life on screen. But Anderson’s dialogue and the interplay he creates between characters– even animated characters– is classic to his style. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is based on a 1970 Roald Dahl children’s book of the same name, but Anderson’s style still comes through in every scene of the movie.
When Mr. Fox’s wife (aptly called Mrs. Fox, and voiced by Meryl Streep) becomes pregnant, Foxie vows to give up his life of robbing hen houses and become a responsible father. Years pass and their young son, Ash (voiced by Jason Schwartzman), begins to grow up; in the meantime, Foxie has become a respected newspaper columnist, and even wears a suit and tie to work everyday. He wants to move his family out of their lowly hole in the ground, and they eventually wind up in a beautiful, real home– a tree. When Foxie realizes his new proximity to the meanest farmers around, Boggis, Bunce and Bean, he’s ready to pull one final heist. But returning to his no-good roots is a no-good plan, and the Fantastic Mr. Fox ends up facing his biggest challenges to date.
The story is simple, of course, with its children’s book roots, but the characters are all rich and wonderfully voiced. Schwartzman brings complexity and humor to Ash’s struggles to compete with his cousin Kristofferson, and Bill Murray’s Badger is delightfully dumb. Clooney and Streep are wonderful as our central couple, interacting as animated foxes much as you would expect them to interact in live-action roles: loving, knowing and understanding of each other’s shortcomings. Willem Dafoe as Rat, Mr. Fox’s intermediary to the farmers, is a classic villain, while Owen Wilson as Coach Skip provides some much-needed diversion to the primary story line.
When Anderson’s career began in 1994 with “Bottle Rocket,” things were not looking great. The movie was a commercial bomb, earning only $1 million to its $7 million budget. But Anderson followed in 1998 with “Rushmore,” and the comedic combination of Schwartzman and Murray was instant movie gold. The writer/director’s cult following began to grow, and all the while he kept true to his off-center sensibilities on screen. Like many other filmmakers who realize when they’re working with a solid crew, Anderson has stayed true over the years to his actor friends, repeatedly casting Schwartzman, Murray, Dafoe, Owen and Luke Wilson and Anjelica Huston in his films.
Anderson comes through yet again with “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” and in many ways, more so than he ever has before. This newest film is a real crowd-pleaser, with a basic moral tale children will love, the character intricacies that parents will appreciate and a classic Anderson feel that film buffs won’t miss. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at this year’s Golden Globes, but against powerhouse “Up,” it didn’t stand a chance of winning. With the Oscar nominations fast-approaching, we hope to see “Fox” get another nod, even if it doesn’t win. It would be Anderson’s first Academy recognition since 2002′s “Royal Tenenbaums,” and for attempting stop-motion animation alone, he deserves it.
