Published in 1970, Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox was adapted into a stop-motion film in 2009. The adaptation was directed by Wes Anderson and starred George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson.
The film is a classic Wes Anderson, with all the tone and cinematography familiar to his films. The venture into stop-motion perfectly suits Wes Anderson's directorial nature, and is an ideal format for Anderson's first steps into animation. The stop-motion animation is spectacular, working with both animal and human figurines convincingly. Especially noted, despite the anthropomorphic nature of the animal characters, is the realism attempted in the character design. It's almost too easy to forget that the film is indeed animated. Most impressive is the fur on the animals - realistic, brilliantly assembled and designed, and beautifully adapted to any movement, including those of the jaw as each character speaks on screen.
Boggis, Bunce, and Bean are the main villains, each with their own farms and specified products. Walt Boggis is a large man who owns chickens and is known for eating at least twelve chickens a day. Nate Bunce is a small duck & goose farmer, and he only eats homemade donuts with mashed-up goose livers injected into them (well done, Roald Dahl, you've disgusted me entirely). Lastly, Frank Bean, tall and mean, is an apple and turkey farmer; his diet largely consists of his own strong alcoholic cider. All three men are angry and mean, growing slowly more desperate with each attempt to wipe out the animals, particularly the troublesome Mr. Fox, who steals from each of them.
Mr. Fox and Mrs. Fox, in the film, used to steal from the three farmers on a regular basis. But with a kit on the way, Mrs. Fox makes him promise to get a job and stop stealing entirely. With kit Ash growing up, Mr. Fox hits a mid-life crisis; he starts stealing again. It's a fairly simple dilemma, with Mr. Fox generally bored with his life, but it creates a series of rather hilarious problems. Mr. Fox, in all honesty, is hardly fantastic in character but his ability to get out of nearly every corner (which he's put himself in) is rather fantastic to watch.
Ash (on the right) struggles in subplot against his visiting cousin, Kristofferson, who seems to be better at everything and receives more attention from Mr. Fox. Ash is an unusual fox, one who doesn't get a lot of attention from his father, and suffers as he's overshadowed even more in favor of Kristofferson. Their relationship is really fascinating to see grow from Ash's jealousy to a sort of mutual respect, and to see how that affects Mr. Fox's behavior to his son. Ultimately, most of the character goes through a beneficial arc, resulting in a more positive attitude than the beginning of the film. However, Mr. Fox (as in the book) doesn't change all that much - he maintains his charm, his confidence, and his egotism, as expected; he does, though, end the film much happier (and less bored) than at the start. Check out the trailer below:
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