In one of it’s key scenes, the main character in Wes Anderson’s first stop animation film “Fantastic Mr. Fox” suddenly asks his accomplice Possum friend, “Why a fox? I mean, why am I a fox and not a horse”. His possum friend, not a very bright fellow carelessly ignores the question, but Mr. Fox, the risqué hero of this engaging film, is entrenched in his own existential identity crisis throughout this wonderful and meticulous film about a family of Foxes, their community and the efforts of three farmers to get rid of all of them.
The film is an adaption of a children’s book by Roald Dahl and though the puppets that abound this tale could easily be found in any educational video for toddlers, this is a serious story about family, friendship and the search of one’s self.
That the story weighs heavily on questions of morality and the sometimes not-so-ethical decisions taken by its protagonist only provides the film with the serious gravity that its animated realm may disguise. Underneath the fur and shinny eyes of these animated actors there is an oeuvre of real life dilemmas that anyone who has ever felt a desire to find out who they are and what they are here for will immediately identify with.
After escaping a near death experience with his pregnant wife, Mr. Fox (George Clooney) decides that the way to go for the safety of his family is to retire from a career of chicken stealing and settle into a comfortable life as a newspaper columnist. His new life is dictated by his semi-famous published articles, (an item of uneasy insecurity since he is not convinced that many people actually read his column), a loving and artistic wife (Meryl Street) who’s body of work is to paint dazzling landscapes often ridden by thunderstorms, and a moody-angst ridden teenage son (Jason Schwartzman) constantly longing for his father’s approval.
After discussing his situation with his supporting wife (a brilliant dialogue where he talks about his aging life; he is 7 fox years old and nearing the end of his life) and considering the possibility of relocating somewhere more appropriate for his intended way of life (“I feel poor”, he tells his wife), Mr. Fox decides to move his family to a somewhat more affluent household against the advice of his attorney (Bill Murray) who is afraid that Mr. Fox will fall victim to three vicious farmers who will be his new neighbors. Yet where others see danger, Mr. Fox sees opportunity and he soon finds his way back to his old Foxy ways. What follows next is an uplifting, comic and witty examination of belonging to a family and consequently to a community while finding or perhaps not losing a part of one’s self in the process. Family dynamics are put to the test when Mr. Fox’s nephew, a precocious and naturally gifted teenager by the name of Kristofferson, moves in with the family, ensuing an ongoing competition for the attention of Mr. Fox by his teenage son and the new visitor.
As is the case with all children’s tale, the interaction between Mr. Fox and his farmer assailants is met with the levity that would make a children’s fable both entertaining and sufficiently clear for a child to understand, however, Anderson (The Royal Tennenbaums, Rushmore, The Life Aquatic with Steve Sizzou) packages such minute and dazzling details in the film, that such idiosyncrasies lend the film the appropriate gravitas that other films with human actors can only dream of.
Perhaps it is the combination of a fantasy animated world that disguise certain physical marks in the characters that make it somewhat more real when you see it coming from a puppet, or perhaps it is the tone of a completely fantastic world (the yellow tones that decorate the complete set are dazzling, hypnotizing and mood setting) which provides the story with the necessary realism to make you forget that your watching an animated feature.
No U Turns Allowed recommends Fantastic Mr. Fox as a must see film.
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