Comments on: First Look: Wes Anderson’s ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’

By: stephen

stephen — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:53:11 +0000

Where the Wild Things Are: 2003 (according to Eggers interview)
Fantastic Mr. Fox: 2004 (according to Anderson interview–he and Baumbach wrote the script while working on Life Aquatic)

By: rodrigoperez

rodrigoperez — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:22:32 +0000

Doubtful, Jonze was working on this while Anderson was making Darjeeling. I believe it was first announced in 2004 or earlier. No contest.

By: Jesmi

Jesmi — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:57:53 +0000

"In retrospect, this seems a bit like Fox's attempt to mimic Warner Bros' Where the WIld Things Are - it's an adaptation of a beloved children's book with a very unique director and an unusual style."

Wes Anderson was developing Mr. Fox long before Spike Jonze signed on to Wild Things.

By: rodrigoperez

rodrigoperez — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:42:03 +0000

Yeah, a lot of people said Wallace & Gromit style animation which i think threw a lot of people off. But yes, distinctly British look. I was hoping for something more like Paddington Bear or Jeremy, but I suppose that's just my generation.

By: Chadams

Chadams — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:19:36 +0000

That style of stop-animation was big back in the day (TWITW being another fine example). I remember a ton of these types of feature-lengths populating The Disney Channel, way back when.

I think the British had this style cornered as I remember too many of these types of films being used to pacify my classrooms while teach was on her smoke break. So many English accents and watered-down UK idioms...

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:06:03 +0000

Said Playlist member who saw it here. Staying Anonymous.

It's definitely like "The Mouse & the Motorcycle." In fact, I've been trying to think of a specific movie I saw this animation in before, and that's certainly one of them. There were a bunch when I was younger, stocked in "elementary school libraries" (good way to put it).

So yeah, you get a bit of that nostalgia, and there's something to be said about the organic nature of this style, compared to all the CGI out there. But problems abound: With all the technology available, limiting the facial expressions in such a way is kind of unnecessary, and makes for a flat film. Plus, I would have much preferred Anderson to tone down his style, at least a bit, for this film. I love Anderson but think that woodland creatures spouting his wordy dialogue is just a little much.

The film is amusing though. And if nothing else it proves what a great fit Anderson and Clooney are.

Oh yeah, the thing you see in the picture I'm pretty sure is not a Badger. The Badger is played by Bill Murray and he's not pictured, nor is he in the film all that much (though more so toward the end). Above you see Kylie, voiced by Wallace Wolodarsky, who is Mr. Fox's right hand man, tries to dissuade him from stealing chickens, all that. I'm *pretty* sure he is in fact a mole.

Also, the two main characters in the film are Mr. Fox and his black sheep son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman), who wears a childish cape and isn't very good at anything – least of all stealing chickens. He's not pictured here, and neither is yellow-ish fox cousin Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson), who Mr. Fox favors and who gets to go on missions with him. Yada yada.

It's probably been said before but Willem Dafoe plays a vicious rat villain who has two big scenes, and Owen Wilson has a very brief cameo as a gym teacher at Ash and Kristofferson's school. It says on IMDB that Brian Cox is "rumored." I don't think he's in the film. I don't remember Angelica Huston either, but there's quite a lot of characters, all clustered together underground for a large stretch at the end, so I suppose she could be one of them.

By: cirkusfolk

cirkusfolk — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:48:11 +0000

I was expecting smooth clay animated characters a la Wallace and Gromit. These don't look very pliable as far as movement and facial expressions. They actual look like the animals in Radiohead's There There music video.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:44:23 +0000

Looks fine. At least it's different to the generic wacky animated animals of the computer generated era. Looks like the old Cosgrove Hall version of The Wind In The Willows. This is a good thing.

By: rodrigoperez

rodrigoperez — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:03:47 +0000

It just looks odd. I wish we had some footage to judge it better. One of the plist members saw a rough-cut. Maybe they'll chime in.

That said, I'm not dying for this project. I'll see it when I see it.

By: Chadams

Chadams — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:02:01 +0000

This one picture doesn't look great (and you're right – that looks more mole-ish than badger-esque), but it looks like it might be a modern-day example of that style of stop-motion that could be found in EVERY elementary school library's video section. "The Mouse & The Motorcycle", anyone? That could be cool, if overly nostalgic.

By: John Ricksen

John Ricksen — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:57:54 +0000

this can't be good