Synopsis: A group of angry farmers try and get rid of a fox and his family so they will not have to share their chickens any longer.
Release Date: November 25, 2009 MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre(s): Animation, Adventure
Film Review
Production
This movie may be animated but it’s not a movie for children alone. It is enjoyable for everyone and the laughter and good natured feelings you receive can be appreciated by anyone who sits down in the theatre. This world is one of many different animals. You have foxes, possums, rats, and badgers. They have manners, jobs, mortgages, and are for the most part civilized to human standards. Mr. Fox is a reformed bad boy, um I mean fox, who is looking for one last adventure. He finds it, and with it a whole load of trouble. This is a high spirited adventure story that brings a smile to your face and laugh out loud laughter to all who experience it. I must agree with one of the most memorable lines of the film and pass it on to you in the hopes that you will reward yourself with a great movie watching experience as you will…”have a cussin’ good time”.
Score and Soundtrack
Splendid and whimsical. That sums up most of the music in this movie. At times it is folky, others a well-known Beach Boys song or something from The Rolling Stones; a small dose of big band inspired fun, even some honky tonk inspiration fills the air. Given the adventurous nature of the movie the score and soundtrack always hit the mark. The best part just may be how music is used in moderation. When it makes sense in the story it is used, when it does not it is absent. You will find no filler here. Every song helps tell the story and carry it to where it needs to be next and the characters actions play perfectly along. Whether they are dancing or digging a tunnel it always makes sense.
Animation
If you could take a page from a book and bring it to life on screen perfectly, you would have this movie. There is an imaginative ethereal quality to the animation that creates a sense of wonderment as you watch. With the myriad of colors, mostly muted brown and orange tones to depict the earthly setting of the animals homes, it is as if you have stepped into a fantastical land. By implementing stop motion animation techniques with the use of puppets the actual filming of the movie was done with a director of photography on hand. Each and every scene was framed, set-up, acted out with the puppets, and caught on camera. This gives way to animated characters who have more natural movements, greater expressions, and superb action-dialogue matching. Over 5,000 shots were done to create the fantastic world that is this film, and the care and precision that went into each and every one is visible throughout. It is a marvelous piece of animation and definitely sets a precedent for the future.
Comedy Factor
Sitting in a room full of hundreds of people watching a movie can usually give you a decent gauge of how funny the film. In the first five minutes of this movie everyone was laughing, and they continued to do so for the next 80 minutes until the credits rolled. Whether you laugh at the dialogue, the antics of the characters, the familial dynamics of the Fox family, or any other of the grand possibilities for comedic enjoyment you will be laughing.
Cast and Crew
- Director(s): Wes AndersonScott Rudin
- Producer(s): Wes AndersonNoah BaumbachBill Murray (voice of Badger)
- Screenwriter(s): George Clooney (voice of Mr. Fox)Meryl Streep (voice of Mrs. Fox)Adrien Brody (voice of Rickity)
- Story: Owen Wilson (voice of Coach Skip)
- Cast: Willem Dafoe (voice of Rat) Andrew WeisblumTristan OliverNelson Lowry
- Editor(s):
- Cinematographer: Alexandre DesplatStranger
- Production Designer(s):
- Costume Designer:
- Casting Director(s): Lip Sync Post
- Music Score:
- Music Performed By:
- Country Of Origin: USA