While raiding a squab farm, Mr. Fox and his wife Felicity trigger a fox trap and become caged. Felicity reveals to Fox that she is pregnant and pleads with him to find a safer job when they escape.
Two years later (twelve in Fox Years), the Foxes and their sullen son Ash, are living in a hole. Fox, now a newspaper columnist, moves the family into a better home in the base of a tree, ignoring the warnings of his lawyer Badger about how dangerous the area is for foxes. The tree is located very close to facilities run by three mean farmers consisting of Walter Boggis, Nathaniel Bunce, and Franklin Bean. Soon after the Foxes move in, Felicity’s nephew Kristofferson Silverfox comes to live with them, as his father has become very ill with double pneumonia. Ash finds this situation intolerable; his soft-spoken cousin is apparently superior to him at sports, and everyone, including his father, Mr. Fox, is charmed by Kristofferson at Ash’s expense.
Fox and Kylie Opossum steal produce and poultry from the three farms. The farmers decide to kill Fox and camp out near the family’s tree. When Fox emerges, the farmers open fire, but manage only to shoot off his tail. They then attempt to dig Fox out. After demolishing the site of the tree, the farmers discover the Foxes have dug an escape tunnel.
Reasoning that the Foxes will have to surface for food and water, the farmers lie in wait at the tunnel mouth. Underground, Fox encounters Badger and many other local animal residents whose homes have also been destroyed. As the animals begin fearing starvation, Fox leads Clive Badger, Rabbit, Mole, Beaver, Weasel, and Rickety in a digging expedition to tunnel to the three farms, robbing them clean. While the other animals feast, Ash and Kristofferson, beginning to reconcile after Kristofferson defended Ash from a bully, return to Bean’s farm, intending to reclaim Mr. Fox’s tail. When they are interrupted by the arrival of Bean’s wife, Ash escapes but Kristofferson is captured.
Discovering that Fox has stolen their produce, the farmers flood the animals’ tunnel network with cider. The animals are forced into the sewers, and Fox learns that the farmers plan to use Kristofferson to lure him into an ambush. The animals are confronted by Rat, Bean’s security guard. After a struggle with Fox leaves him mortally wounded, Rat divulges Kristofferson’s location before he dies.
Fox asks the farmers for a meeting in town near the sewer hub; he would surrender in exchange for Kristofferson’s freedom. The farmers set up an ambush, but Fox and the others anticipate it and launch a counterattack. Fox, Ash and Kylie slip into Bean’s farm. A much-matured Ash frees Kristofferson and braves enemy fire to release a rabid beagle named Spitz to keep the farmers at bay.
The animals become accustomed to living in the sewers with others considering moving in. Ash and Kristofferson settle their differences and become good friends. Fox leads his family to a drain opening built into the floor of a supermarket owned by the three farmers. Celebrating their new food source and the news that Felicity is pregnant again, the animals dance in their aisles.
About the Production
Joe Roth and Revolution Studios bought the film rights to Fantastic Mr Fox in 2004. In 2006, Mark Mothersbaugh stated that he was working on the soundtrack. Wes Anderson signed on as director with Henry Selick, who worked with Anderson on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, as animation director. Anderson stated that he signed on because Roald Dahl was one of his heroes.
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. The new scenes precede Mr. Fox’s plan to steal from the three farmers and follow the farmers’ bulldozing of the hill, beginning with the flooding of the tunnel. Selick left the project to work on the Neil Gaiman story Coraline in early 2006.[8] He was replaced by Mark Gustafson. 20th Century Fox became the project’s home in October 2006 after Revolution folded.
In September 2007, Anderson announced voice work would begin. Cate Blanchett was to voice Mrs. Fox, but she left the role for undisclosed reasons. 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.” He said of the production design, “we want to use real trees and real sand, but it’s all miniature.” Great Missenden, where Roald Dahl lived, has a major influence on the film’s look. The film mixes several forms of animation but consists primarily of stop motion. Animation took place in London, on stage C at 3 Mills Studio, with Anderson directing the crew, many of whom animated Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. 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.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring by: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Wes Anderson, Karen Duffy, Helen McCrory
Screenplay by: Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Production Design by: Nelson Lowry
Cinematography by: Tristan Oliver
Film Editing by: Ralph Foster, Stephen Perkins, Andrew Weisblum
Art Direction by: Francesca Berlingieri Maxwell
Music by: Alexandre Desplat
MPAA Rating: PG for action, smoking and slang humor.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release: November 25, 2009
Visits: 80
