FANTASTIC MR. FOX(2009)

Mr. Fox(George Clooney) and Mrs. Fox(Meryl Streep) are successful in what they do best which is steal livestock from men. It is during one of their heist, that Mrs. Fox lets Mr. Fox know that she is pregnant but not before they are caught in one of the man made contraptions for the animals. Mr. Fox promises that he will give up his life of a thief if they are able to escape from the mess they had just got into.

The story swooshes forward some years and Mr. Fox is now a columnist and shares a hole in the ground with a very content Mrs Fox and their son Ash(Jason Schwartzman). They soon have a house guest in Kristofferson(Eric Chase Anderson) who immediately gets into a tangle with Ash who seems to be athletically inferior to him.  Mr. Fox is getting tired of his impoverished existence and decides to buy a new tree with a view and access to the barns of the three of the most dreaded farmers in the history. The idea is to sneak out at nights and grab whatever livestock they can from the three farmers.

Mr. Fox incorporates the services of Kylie(Wallace Wolodarsky) a friend and Kristofferson  who Mr. Fox believes is a natural.Everything seems to be going on according to plan until Mrs. Fox starts finding out about their master plan and more importantly the three farmers starts getting hot on heels of the robbers. The matter gets worse when one of Mr. Fox’s family gets caught by the farmers and they drive the whole lot of rodents and animals underground  with no amenities to  live on. Desperate to survive, Mr. Fox undertakes one of the the most important and large scale operation of his life ever to bring back his family and relief to the animals.

Based on the book by Roald Dahl and written for the screen by Wes Anderson himself, Fantastic Mr. Fox is fantastic in every possible way. What is so endearing about the tale is the fact that even though the principal cast are a set of animals but the turmoils and emotions they go through have deep roots in the human emotions. Take for instance the predicament of Mr. Fox. he is a thief and stealing is what he loves doing the most and even after embarking upon the responsibility of  a family he is unable to withdraw himself from the desire and rush of being the best at what he did. Thus his desire to be Fantastic lands him up in the ordeal of his life.

Mr. fox on the other hand has embarked upon motherhood and stands her ground strong to save her family from the threats of the world above. She is not afraid to give up on her career as a thief and quench those cardinal desire to which Me. Fox falls so easy a prey to.

There Son Ash has his own set of problems. He wants to match up in ability and exploits to his enigmatic father but his physical structure and build come in the way of him achieving the same. the arrival of Kristofferson and his father’s admiration for his abilities only further infuriates his already hurt sense of pride. Yet by the end he is able to find his rightful place and a reason for him to be the way he is.

Each of these stories directly relate to straight forward human emotions which we experience at some point of time or the other in life and those enhances the overall appeal of the movie. The movie is a graphic retelling of Dahl’s tale with an environment which is designed to rope in every content of the tale. The atmosphere is so dreamy that the audience will not feel disgruntled to see a fox ride a bike or even wear coats. Its a fairy tale at heart and a very good one at that. Fantastic Mr. Fox will remind you of the fairy tales that your mom and dad might have read you when you were a kid and the graphic representations of it that you might have conjured up in your minds.

The stop Motion Animation technique used instead of the more developed methods has worked wonders for Wes Anderson. The animation technique is able to capture the mood and feel of the tale and thats what is important. The voice talents are another huge plus. Be it Clooney or the extremely classy Streep, each character seems to be tailor made for the voices which have breathed life into them.

The human though intimidating seems to have enough weakness to make for the sly foxes to get away with their thievery. They are fearsome but are beatable and thats what keeps spirits high all throughout the narrative. The background score is pitch perfect and the direction flawless. Wes Anderson, known for pitching human dramas takes a leap forward in creating an animated tale which has the same dept that you tend to expect from an Anderson movie. A clear Winner!!! …