Fantastic Mr. Fox

Welcome to another episode of The "D" List.

Today's review is Fantastic Mr. Fox. Directed by Wes Anderson. Written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbauch. Based on the children's book written by Roald Dahl.

With the dozens of CG animated films that come out every year, it's nice to see a change of pace in this genre. It's even nicer to see a stop motion film. Stop motion is a lost art that deserves to be recognized for the amazing detail that is required to make these movies happen. For those who are not familiar with the process, stop motion is done by creating the set and placing the puppets in their place and little by little the puppets' positions are adjusted then a frame of film is shot. This is done hundreds of times to create the eventual moving shot that you see on the screen. With technology as advanced as it is today, it's a little easier to make a stop motion film which increases the respect I have for the stop motion masters back in the days of old.

I never read Fantastic Mr. Fox the book so I went into this film with no prior knowledge of the story i.e. what was taken out or added and I have to say this was a fun very entertaining film that may have an outside shot of challenging UP for best animated film at the Oscars.

The story takes us to a land populated by farms and the many forms of wildlife headlined by Mr. Fox voiced by George Clooney. Mr Fox and his wife Mrs. Fox voiced by Meryl Streep make their living stealing chickens until Mrs. Fox informs Mr. Fox that she's pregnant. This forces Mr. Fox to change his lifestyle. The cub Ash is born voiced by Jason Schwartzman and Mr. Fox has now become a domesticated fox but his urge to steal chickens burns deep inside of him. This is where the story goes into full gear.

As always I will reveal no more of the plot. What I will comment further on is the technical aspects of this film. The scenery was beautiful. It actually felt like a real world. The animation was top notch and seamless at times. The performances of the actors were reinforced by the animation. The script was sharp and the dialogue was very clever and at times very funny.

This was a very big surprise for me considering Wes Anderson was the director. His filmography consists of films like The Darjeeling Limited (2007) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Rushmore (1998). Now all of these films are comedies but it just struck me in a weird way that he was helming an animated film but after seeing it there's no doubt in my mind that he was the right man for the job.

Anderson used some creative ways to record the actors dialogue. He had them record outdoors in farm locations which gave the talent a chance to identify with the environments that their characters were going to be in. It was evident in their performances. Anderson did more than change the location of the VO sessions. He knew the material inside and out and more importantly he respected the material which by what I'm told is not very extensive. The book is not very long so Anderson had to beef up the story to make it fit into a feature length run time.

All told, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a wonderful film that has something for both the kiddies and the big kiddies that would take them to see it. I really liked it and would be shocked if it's not nominated for best animated film and this year's academy awards. The oscar will most likely go to UP and deservedly so but I truly believe that there is a strong contender to take on the Pixar crown.

On the 5 star scale. Fantastic Mr. Fox gets the full house 5 stars with a "Worth Every Penny" recommendation.

That's all for today. Up next is Invictus. The Matt Damon/Morgan Freeman film directed by Clint Eastwood. This one is a no brainer for me. Damon and Freeman are 2 of my favorite actors and Dirty Harry is one of Tinseltown's best directors. This movie is already good and I haven't seen a single frame.

Until Next Episode....."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"