Yesterday we saw Fantastic Mr. Fox by Wes Anderson. It's based on a Roald Dahl book about a wily fox who is known for his athletic prowess, debonair charm and penchant for thieving chickens. But one day he and his wife are captured while stealing chickens and about to be killed when his wife announces she is pregnant. They manage to escape but 'Foxy', as he is known, has to promise that he won't steal anymore, now that they have a family. The style is stop-motion animation, Wes Anderson style; which means not clay-mation but handmade models of woodland animals with real fur. Anderson shows his signature attention to detail in the beautiful way that the fur would often move and shimmer like the wind was blowing it, and the teeth of the foxes looked snaggly and imperfect -and real, in a taxidermied way, and even though Mr. Fox is suave, when he eats his toast he growls and tears at it like a real wild animal. The clothes the animals wear is the biggest giveaway that this is a Wes Anderson movie: the stylish pajamas, the smoking jacket, the insistence by Mr. Fox on wearing bandit hats. Mr. Fox's lawyer Badger wears the same suit as Royal Tenenbaum.
So anyway, Foxy being the dandy that he is, feels that the den his family lives in isn't good enough, so against his lawyers advice he purchases real estate in a nice tree on top of a hill. The tree has a beautiful view over the valley and of the three biggest farms of Boggus, Bunce and Bean, who farm chicken, duck, turkey and make hard cider. Naturally, Foxy can't inhibit his wild animal instincts and enlists the help of a goofy opossum in thieving the delicious fowl and the golden alcoholic cider!. The farmers join forces in trying to wipe out the Fox family putting the rest of the woodland animals in danger too. Bean is the smartest and most ruthless of them all, and he is voiced by Michael Gambon who sounds perfect and scary. George Clooney is also the perfect actor for Foxy since he is the perfect charming thief, reprising similar characters from Ocean's 11 and Out of Sight. The style of animation is perhaps somewhat jerky compared to today's animation, which is completely intentional. Wes Anderson has a style in all of his movies that is sentimental nostalgia. 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' works well for people like me who listened as children to audio tapes of The Wind in The Willows about Mr. Toad who goes joy riding in a motor car or for people who have a fondness for handmade, yet charming flaws over more fluid styles that hide the effects of the hand. The Wes Anderson touches, like the stylishly old fashioned clothing and scenery work well here, since it is with animation and it is easier to give in to your suspension of disbelief. The scenery is great too. I loved the scenes of them digging tunnels through the earth, and there is a great musical montage scene sung by farm workers - with Jarvis Cocker as a banjo playing farm hand. To sum it up, this was a really good Thanksgiving movie to watch. The palette is very yellow and earthy and autumnal. The light always looks like it is around sunset. In the end Mr. Fox makes really good toasts of familial gratitude over a couple of meals. And we have a new name for our basement where we keep Colleen's cider inspired by this film, 'Bean's Secret Cider Cellar'.
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