Fantastic Mr. Fox

About the time that 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' was released I got to thinking about other Roald Dahl books that have not yet been made into films. My favourite book was always 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' and I thought I might have a go at adapting the book myself and write the script. So it was with some disappointment and excitement that I heard Wes Anderson had beaten me to it.

I'm really glad Wes did it. I re-read the book last week before I saw the film and much like 'Where The Wild Things Are' the plot is very slim and would have needed expanding for a feature length film. Wes and Noah Baumbach have done a brilliant job of adapting the book and doing a far better job than I could have. They have taken the basic story from the novel and added a lot more action and adventure, as well as characters. It plays out much like a kids version of the 'Ocean's' trilogy. Wes has done a good job of translating his visual style to animation. As you know my favourite form of animation is stop-motion. This film has a very old fashioned look to it. It does not look as polished as a lot of other stop-motion animated films these days. It suits Wes's very quirky sense of humour. And the humour sure is very quirky. On the surface I think it suits adults but I think kids will love it too. The humour is very dry and the jokes told in a very deadpan way. There are also lots of great visual humour too with some very funny situations. I also loved the music score and a very funny musical number in the middle of the film.

As mentioned above the film plays much like one of the 'Ocean's' films so it is only fitting Mr. Fox is played by George Clooney. The only problem being that George has a very distinctive voice so you kind of see him in Mr. Fox but it was a minor quibble. Meryl Streep on the other hand plays here role very cool and calm, despite her character being put in outrageous situations. You can't really tell it is Meryl which is good. Wes has brought in most of his favourite actors from previous films to fill out the rest of the cast. Jason Schwartzman is excellent and very funny as Mr. Fox's son Ash. Also very funny is Wally Wolodarsky as Mr. Fox's side kick Kylie.

Another excellent adaptation of a Roald Dahl book. His stories seem inspire the best in film makers. Don't let the fact that it is animated or aimed at kids put you off. There is still lots of Wes Anderson's quirky humour that keeps the adults interested.