Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) – 3/5

Not a fantastic film, but always good enough

„Fantastic Mr. Fox“ is an American stop-motion animation movie from 2009, so this one has its 15th anniversary this year. I think I watched this film the first time not super long after it was initially released and today maybe the second or third time in full. The director here is Wes Anderson and for him 2024 is a special year too because he finally managed to win his first Oscar. He was nominated back then too in the animation category, but came short, even if his film was considered the most likely to upset Pixar frontrunner „Up“, but the chance was really minimal. This film here was also nominated in the score category, which is nothing you see super often for animated films, but this made it an even bigger irony for the film to lose out in this category to „Up“ as well. The composer is Anderson’s longtime collaborator Alexandre Desplat. Anderson also wrote the script together with Noah Baumbach, a successful filmmaker in his own right, and all is based on a tale by Roald Dahl, who has quite the body of work. Most people did not know he was involved with the 007 franchise too and that he lived longer than they thought, even if he was not alive anymore when this movie here came out. Anderson apparently had enough fun to make another animated film almost a decade later that focused on dogs, so he stayed in the world of animals as protagonists and I maybe prefer the dog-themed film, but this one here is pretty solid too. Not a long film at approximately 80 minutes plus another 6 to 7 minutes of closing credits.

The title character is voiced by George Clooney, at that point a contender for biggest film star or at least film celebrity on the planet and his wife was voiced by Meryl Streep. No need to say a lot about her really, but her character was really minor you can say and knowing the is the fox’s wife, you probably would have guessed to have a bigger impact. Her two pregnancy announcements were the only thing that stayed kinda memorable you can say and that her character was quite likeable. Other than those, Anderson cast many actors who have been in several of his films: This includes two that I really adore, namely Bill Murray and Willem Dafoe, who is indeed a foe in here, and also Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and others, also a few that usually have worked on Anderson’s films, but not as actors like Roman Coppola or Anderson’s significant other Juman Malouf for whom it is apparently the only acting role of her career. Anderson himself voiced one character here too. It is a bit difficult to categorize this film. It is probably not as much aimed at children as Disney stuff, but it is still for them I would say and maybe a bit more for grown-ups than many other animated films. This comes with stop-motion anyway. Here and there I thought of Aardman. Fittingly given the title character, this is a 20th Century Fox production and you really do not see it too often that animated films do not have sequels, no short film spinoffs (hello Minions) and nothing else attached to them, probably because Dahl did not continue the story in his books either. But who knows, maybe there will be a sequel at some point, even if it seems unlikely somebody other than Anderson is gonna make it because of the big success this film had with audiences, critics and awards bodies.

The most haunting or horrific moment is maybe the death of the rat, but given the cider inclusion there, it was also not super serious. The moment when the fox and another character attack the chickens in the barn was not depicted violently despite that was exactly what they did there. No visible bloodshed though. These actions were also why I struggled a bit with really liking the title character. Sometimes he did not make it easy for me. I mean there is of course always the argument that he is a wild animal, a predator and that it is just his genes and what is inside him. This was depicted in a funny manner then, however, when he was eating breakfast for example that the wild animal there came totally through in contrast to the sometimes very educated way of taking and also clothes he was wearing where he and all the others were very human versions of foxes and animals in general. Despite humans being in this movie. The three antagonists were all human characters and while that song we hear on a few occasions tells us how mean they are, you could make a point for them just wanting to protect their property from the fox and its savage friends. But still, we are supposed to see this trio as the bad guys. As for the good guys, we also have the title character’s son who definitely gets more involvement than the mother here. I did not find that one likable either if I’m honest, especially because of the way how he treats his cousin. I mean he is still a kid, so it is forgivable and he also had a hard time when the girl who he maybe likes is more interested in his cousin. The quote about going steady now was one of many comedic moments linked to dialogue, some also dealing with serious situations or conditions like a pneumonia changing from double to single, which is a good thing of course. As for the story, there is not too much to say.

A large part of the film is just the three men digging to catch the fox and the foxes digging deeper to get away from them before they get ready to bring their revenge on. After the humans brought their revenge on first. With the opening I was wondering a bit then how the fox and his partner got away, but we find out about it later on. Not the exact details, but that they dug their way to safety there too already. One character I must mention is the beaver it was I think. Initially, I was unsure if beaver or otter, but we see the otter later on too and the beaver was wearing a suit which was pretty cool. I would watch a film only about him. Beavers rock! You could still wonder how he got involved in this as his home is usually near the water and not down there in the ground, and also he is not interested in poultry, but the animals, except the rat (also metaphorical here, even if he did not betray anybody) all united to fight back. That was one big rat though. How did that happen. Like almost Splinter level. I also liked the possum it was I think that gave us the running gag they used most often here, namely what happens with his eyes and we and Mr. Fox cannot be sure if the possum understood anything he was told. This eye expression, which almost had a hypnotic note, even if it was not meant like that, was shown us by Mr. Fox himself later on too then the last time this gag got used. Another thing that felt fairly Anderson here was the idea that the fox lost his tail. Oh well, I mean he had to pay with something at least, but what felt even more Anderson was characters talking about how it is not gonna grow back. Another favorite quote of mine here was the moment when the sun said something like „because I’m small“ in the last third of the film already. Really funny in its own typical Anderson way. Then, there’s the usual approach he brings, the camera position (showing us complete rooms) that did not seem very different here compared to his live action films at times and he always has a touch for set decoration to make certain items very memorable. Often, but not exclusively, this involves food and surely I would have loved to eat some of those cookies or what it was that the main antagonists wife was able to prepare in such glorious manner when they were standing on the table there. By the way, could she see then or not? Shots of people also feel Anderson very often, like the animals here on several occasions, but also for example the humans when they caught the cousin and how they stand there holding him.

I assume this is pretty much it then. Oh yeah, Bill Murray as a badger is awesome too of course. How he sits there at his table almost like he does in a later Anderson film when he is the boss of a newspaper was a bit on the memorable side as well, also how the two were going against each other there. I would also watch a film about this badger. Loved the argument between him and the fox at the end of their conversation. Clooney and Murray played together in „The Monuments Men“ five years later. Pay attention to how they replaced a certain swearword here on quite a few occasions. Maybe that was actually the most frequent running gag and not one character’s eyes. One inclusion involved cluster. You know what I mean. All in all, I would say the Oscar nominations for this film for its animation and music were tolerable, but no musts. Especially with the music, I am sure I would find more than just a few 2009 films that I deem superior. But overall, it is a good film, even if maybe at the very end, the scene at the supermarket, it was not necessary to include the names of the three men again on the screen. I am not sure if this was included in the book as well. Oh yes, the wolf scene I must not forget. I am convinced this was taken from Dahl, even if I am not sure what it was supposed to symbolize, maybe that fox and wolf are not too far away from each other in terms of evolution, but still not really understanding of each other anymore. More like mutual respect. It was a bit of a haunting scene though. There the music was great and you could also wonder why the wolf was depicted as a full-on animal. Or maybe the foxes are seen as animals too from everybody else except themselves? Not really. I mean look at the letter. The letter there with the letters being cut out of a magazine was another joke that felt very Anderson, especially the second time around. But I must criticize how dogs are depicted in here. Beagles are awesome canines having a hard fate often too unfortunately with lab experiments and spitzes (is that the right word?) are fine too. But I forgive Anderson because he made up for it with „Isle of Dogs“ later on. Okay, this is really it now. I saw go watch this film, but seeing it once is probably enough.