Fantastically Fun

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Director: Wes Anderson

Voice Actors – George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and Willem Dafoe

PG - Rated PG for action, smoking and slang humor.

Oscar nominee Wes Anderson combines the genius of his movie “The Royal Tenenbaums” with some of the most entertaining stop animation yet to create a marvelously entertaining, if not odd, “Fantastic Mr. Fox. This movie plays like a children’s picture book, but is so unique in presentation it captures the imagination of the old and young alike. This film flourishes on rich the rich texture of the furs and fabrics and stop motion that gives the “Wallace and Gromit” series a run for its money. There is true artistry in the movie, and I felt like I could stop the movie at any second and just stare and the hand crafted detail for hours.

In fact all the pleasure of reading a particularly amazing picture book to an interested child is captured in the beauty of “Fantastic Mr. Fox”. The plot is simple enough to follow so that a three or four-year-old can watch the movie sitting on his 30-year-old father’s lap, while dad is also held captive to the screen enjoying the more sophisticated jokes. While the film is a little twisted in that there is a darker side to the movie, it is a film nonetheless that a whole family could take delight in while watching, though the movie can aptly be described as weird.



Mr. Fox (George Clooney) is a reformed chicken thief in a land where the line between animal and human is blurred. Animals live in the woods; in trees and holes, but they have nice furnishings and wonderfully intricate clothes. Humans live in the city but there is no apparent lack of communication between humans and animals, they all seem to speak English, though the villains have rather ominous British accents. Mr. Fox decides to go for one last chicken raid and succeeds only in causing a war between three farmers and the animals. Here we get this “Over the Hedge” feel to the movie that blends in nicely with the humor and wit of “The Royal Tenenbaums”.

George Clooney steals the movie and dwarfs the other voice actors. His rich baritone gives Mr. Fox this Danny Ocean quality that makes the dialogue very fun to listen to. Meryl Streep plays Mrs. Fox, but she has so few lines and they are delivered in such a flat monotone I couldn’t help but wonder if she was merely a money name to draw viewers. However the movie was so fun to watch this little conundrum weighs little on my mind.



“Fantastic Mr. Fox” is a fun family film that can be enjoyed as a wonderfully artistic picture book, and as a film with slightly deeper implications. As with other Wes Anderson films (and with the books written by Roald Dahl – author of the children’s book “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”) there is more to film than just the funny story and witty dialogue. This movie scores a 7.5 out of 10 in my books. I enjoyed it, but it was a little weird to be truly great. Visually this is a treat, intellectually it is a bit of a puzzle, but a really fun one.



Sex/Nudity – none

Violence/Gore - 3 out of 10 – There is some shooting and a little bit of cartoon blood. A fox catches and kills chickens; we see their broken necks in the fox’s mouth. A fox and a rat have a fist fight, the rat has a switch blade knife. There are references to killing and death.

Profanity – 3 out of 10 – there are no traditional profanities but the word “cuss” is substituted for any and all swear words. There are many uses of phrases like “what the cuss”, “are you cussin’ me”, “cluster cuss” and the like.