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Fantastic Mr. Fox (film)

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Fantastic Mr. Fox
Official poster
Directed byWes Anderson
Written byWes Anderson
Noah Baumbach (screenplay)
Roald Dahl (book)
Produced byWes Anderson
Scott Rudin
Allison Abbate
Steven Rales
StarringGeorge Clooney
Meryl Streep
Jason Schwartzman
Bill Murray
Jarvis Cocker
Owen Wilson
Willem Dafoe
Helen McCrory
CinematographyTristan Oliver
Edited byAndrew Weisblum
Music byAlexandre Desplat
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
United Kingdom: October 23, 2009
United States: November 13, 2009
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30,000,000

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a Template:Fy stop motion animated film based on Roald Dahl's book of the same name. It was produced by Regency Enterprises and Indian Paintbrush, and premiered on October 14, 2009 at the London Film Festival. It went on general UK release on October 23, 2009, distributed by 20th Century Fox, and is scheduled for release in the USA on November 13, 2009. It features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, and Bill Murray. It is the first animated film directed by Wes Anderson, and 20th Century Fox's first stop-motion animated film.

Development began in 2004 as collaboration between Anderson and Henry Selick (who worked with Anderson on the 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) under Revolution Studios. Revolution folded, Selick left to direct Coraline, and the project moved to Fox Animation Studios. Production began in London in 2007. Anderson chose to record voices outside rather than in a studio.

This film is officially rated PG for "action, smoking and slang humor" by the MPAA.

Plot

The film begins as Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and Mrs. 'Felicity' Fox (Meryl Streep) meet up and prepare to raid a local farm. They are successful at first, but trigger a trap and a cage closes over them. Felicity reveals that she is pregnant, and that she wants Fox to gain a less risky job as soon as possible.

Two years later, the two are living in a hole with their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman). Fox is now a newspaper man and the family wishes to buy a house. Fox visits a house within a tree. There, he meets the super, Kylie (Wallace Wolodarsky), an opossum with an uncontrollable habit of quickly snapping out of conversations. Fox at first shows disinterest in the house, but reconsiders when he notices the enormous facilities belonging to farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean (Michael Gambon).

Despite being persuaded not to do so by Badger (Bill Murray), Fox's lawyer and advisor, Fox buys the house in the tree and the family move in, shortly before being visited by

Cast

Production

Joe Roth and Revolution Studios bought the film rights to Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2004. Wes Anderson signed on as director with Henry Selick, who worked with Anderson on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, as animation director. Anderson signed on because Roald Dahl is one of his heroes.[6] In adapting the novel, the story the novel covers would amount to the second act of the film. Anderson added new scenes to serve for the film's beginning and end.[7] Selick left the project to work on the Neil Gaiman story Coraline in early 2006.[8] Mark Gustafson is his replacement.[9] Fox Animation Studios became the project's home in October 2006 after Revolution folded.[10]

In September 2007, Mr.Anderson announced voice work would begin.[1] The director chose to record the voices outside rather than in a studio: "We went out in a forest, [..] went in an attic, [and] went in a stable. We went underground for some things. There was a great spontaneity in the recordings because of that."[9] He said of the production design, "We want to use real trees and real sand, but it’s all miniature."[1] Great Missenden, where Roald Dahl lived, has a major influence on the film's look.[6] The film mixes several forms of animation but consists primarily of stop motion.[10] Animation took place in London,[9] with Anderson directing the crew who animated Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.[11] Selick, who kept in contact with Anderson, said the director would act out scenes while in Paris and send them to the animators via iPhone.[12]

Fantastic Mr. Fox is Regency Enterprises' first completely-animated film.

Soundtrack

Jarvis Cocker has written a song for the film.[13]Also the soundtrack features the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man", the Beach Boys' songs "Heroes and Villains", "I Get Around" and "Ol' Man River", and a score by composer Alexandre Desplat.

Release

The film had its world premiere as the opening film of the 53rd edition of the London Film Festival on 14 October 2009.[14]

Reception

The film currently has a 90% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Josh Horowitz (26 September 2007). "Wes Anderson Enlists Bill Murray For 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox'". MTV Movies Blog. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
  2. ^ Michael Fleming (6 August 2008). "Streep in deep with Meyers". Variety. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  3. ^ "Meryl Streep voicing a role in Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'". Entertainment Weekly. 6 May 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  4. ^ "EXCL: 1st Mr. Fox pic!". JoBlo.com. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  5. ^ Max Evry (9 October 2008). "Talking to City of Ember Mayor Bill Murray". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  6. ^ a b "The Darjeeling Limited: Who needs a film set in LA when you have a speeding train in India?". The Telegraph. 17 November 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
  7. ^ "Selick Crazy For Fox". Sci Fi Wire. 15 December 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
  8. ^ "Selick no longer at work on The Fantastic Mr. Fox". Ain't It Cool News. 15 February 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2006.
  9. ^ a b c Joe Utichi (22 November 2007). "Interview: Wes Anderson talks Darjeeling Limited and Mr. Fox". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
  10. ^ a b Michael Fleming (25 October 2006). "Fox catches Dahl's Fox". Variety. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
  11. ^ Edward Douglas (2 February 2009). "Henry Selick on Making Coraline". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  12. ^ Steve Prokopy (2 February 2009). "Capone Talks with CORALINE Director and Wizard Master Henry Selick!!!". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  13. ^ Brent DiCrescenzo (17 July 2008). "From the UK to the Magic Kingdom". Time Out. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  14. ^ Ben Child (28 July 2009). "Fantastic Mr Fox to open London Film Festival=[[The Guardian]]". Retrieved 28 July 2009. {{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  15. ^ "Fantastic Mr. Fox". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
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