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Vulpine Intervention | Your chickens, geese, squabs, and cider jugs are unsafe when George Clooney’s Mr. Fox is around in The Fantastic Mr. Fox

THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Directed by Wes Anderson. Featuring the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray. Opens Wed, Nov 25.
*****

The headlines write themselves with this one. It really is fantastic.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox is a rare treat, hitting the sweet spot of great performances, amazing visual artistry, dorky/hip soundtrack, and just enough sentimentality to make you weep just a little (with joy!). And after season after season of Disney/Pixar digital one-upmanship, it’s really breathtaking to see old-fashioned stop-action animation of this calibre. Though it was once derided for being cheesy and unrealistic (Clash of the Titans, I’m looking at you), The Fantastic Mr. Fox demonstrates that if we are allowed to admire stop-motion for what it is — miniatures brought to life through the power of meticulous frame-by-frame photography — there is nothing more magical.

It’s the perfect progression for director Wes Anderson: Steve Zissou’s cross-sectional mini-sets and animated sea life are only a hop and a jaunty, foxlike skip away from the intricate landscapes on display in Mr. Fox. And while some aspects of Anderson’s live-action films have come across as precious and twee, heck, those qualities actually seem like virtues when you’re dealing with cute animals!

From the opening “aerial” shot of farmland — each quarter section looking like a tiny piece of knotted carpeting — to the forest animals’ closing victory dance, Mr. Fox is entirely captivating. Like Where the Wild Things Are, it deviates slightly from the source material, but unlike Spike Jonze’s kidlit adaptation, there should be no controversy about whether Roald Dahl’s beloved story has been changed enough to diminish our early childhood love for the novel. Nor will parents bicker over whether it’s too frightening, too clever, or too dark for children; we’re too busy squealing with delight to notice.

The film neither talks down to kids (who should love the cute characters and goofy physical humour), nor is it self-consciously ironic, turning a children’s story into something ponderously adult. Of course, with Wes Anderson’s name attached to it, I suspect it will be a massive hit with hipsters as well. Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney) even dresses like Anderson, with his terrycloth shirt and corduroy jacket.

Utterly charming!

In fact, the details of the characters, sets and costumes are all a wonder. All those tiny shirts and dresses! A miniature of a miniature train set! The film’s official website hosts several informative mini-documentaries on how they developed the characters and sets; it’s amazing to see how wire-frames covered in fur (which almost begs to be touched!) become, to us, creatures more alive than anything Disney’s 3D digital animation could render in their seasonal blockbuster A Christmas Carol. It’s not even close. And it’s a marvel to step back and think of how the animators moved each character, frame by frame, the wind riffling through fur while they walk and talk!

The technical challenges Anderson’s team faced were complex, but the story is simple: Mr. and Mrs. Fox live a quiet life, until Mr. Fox’s drive to steal poultry from farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean becomes irresistible. The three farmers, outraged, set out to kill Mr. Fox, forcing the Fox family and the rest of the animal community to find safety underground. There are some changes here and there, but the lively spirit of Dahl’s book remains: we all cheer at the cleverness of Mr. Fox, and laugh at the clumsy farmers, despite their expertise with heavy machinery and high explosives.

And while adults will appreciate the little joke of casting Ocean’s Eleven star Clooney as a vulpine master thief, there is nothing gimmicky about his or anyone else’s performances. It’s real acting, warm and natural, with no goofy voices or weird tics. Meryl Streep is also wonderful as Mrs. Fox, a character whose responsibilities it’s nice to see have been expanded in the film version. And while the novel featured four Fox cubs, here they have an only child, Ash, played like a sullen Max Fischer by Rushmore’s Jason Schwartzman; plus his talented cousin Kristofferson (Eric Anderson). Also of note: Bill Murray as Badger and Willem Dafoe, basically reprising his nasty Bobby Peru character from Wild at Heart as the Rat. But Anderson is not above casting Mario Batali as a rabbit chef — a cute cameo you might not pick up on if you don’t sit through the credits.

And while the anthropomorphism is hilarious (Anderson himself plays the realtor weasel to a T), he also allows his civilized, corduroy-wearing animals to reflect their animal natures as well, wolfing down their food and snarling at each other in some of the funniest moments in the film. In fact, that’s the new angle on the story: be true to your animal nature, Anderson is telling us, and recognize and honour your inborn talents. Everyone has one.