Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

directed by Wes Anderson

based on a book by Roal Dahl

with: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Eric Anderson, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Wilem Dafoe

About a year ago, when I found out that the new Wes Anderson film was going to be animated and based on a children's book, I was skeptical about the result. I thought maybe Wes Anderson was going to betray his style and reputation and ignore his fans to create a very accessible mainstream piece for children.

Today, I found out that Fanstastic Mr. Fox is not a new hit children's movie or a Roald Dahl book adaptation, but another wonderful Wes Anderson movie that stays true to his signature. Anderson co-wrote the screenplay with Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) and from my perspective, like Where the Wild Things Are, it is not targeted to children but to adults, especially those who are familiar with his previous work, but it can still appeal all ages.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is aesthetically pleasing, with wonderful efforts at stop-motion animation, it feels new and fresh, innovative. It uses a palette of colors that doesn't resemble any of his previous films. The scenarios are very well built and the voices for the puppets are perfect, even George Clooney (Mr. Fox), whom at first I didn't think would work out. The voices were recorded live instead of in a studio, which adds extra cohesiveness between the characters' interactions. As always, Anderson includes maps, someone smoking, titles, and extremely detailed mise-en-scenes.

This is probably the most challenging project for Wes Anderson so far, after Life Aquatic (filmed at the sea). I've come to realize that Anderson is one the most important and distinctive American auteurs of this generation.

Highly Recommended.

Rating: 8.75/10