t offers yet another celebration of difference and a lesson on the importance of being yourself. But it does leave you thinking: isn’t it time that children’s films put children first?
5 Comments
10/30/09
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Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
91
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:92
Fresh:84
Rotten:8
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Fantastic Mr. Fox is a delightfully funny feast for the eyes with multi-generational appeal -- and it shows Wes Anderson has a knack for animation.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating]
Genre: Childrens
Theatrical Release:23-10-2009
Synopsis: With this animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic, director Wes Anderson moves from quirky films for adults, such as The Darjeeling Limited and The Royal Tenenbaums, to imaginative children's... [More]
Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray
Director: Wes Anderson
Reviews for Fantastic Mr. Fox
When the film escalates into hectic action, it draws on Hollywood genres, westerns in the Sergio Leone mode and crime movies.
10/30/09
A stop-motion masterpiece sure to delight both children and adults alike.
10/30/09
Genuinely original: a silly, hilarious and oddly profound adaptation for adult-sized children.
10/23/09
Top CriticThe push and pull between the tame life and the wild one is the unifying theme. It’s all very transatlantic – the setting and baddies are English; the animals are hip Americans. This is one crafty fox – in every sense.
10/23/09
Top CriticHonestly, this really isn't some kind of Transatlantic stand-off on our part. But how much longer are we expected to stand impotently by while Hollywood arrogantly Americanises our every British children's icon?
10/23/09
Top CriticIf the emotions in Mr Fox aren’t as overstated or saccharine as in recent Pixar movies, it is only because Anderson has saved his greatest love for the animation process itself.
10/23/09
Top CriticAnderson's mannerisms have been irritating in the past, but pitching a film at children has restored his sweet-natured charm. This is hip – but with heart.
10/23/09
Top CriticA dazzlingly imaginative and poetically inflected comic caper that offers the tantalizing possibility that Anderson’s best work, far from being a distant memory, is still to come.
10/23/09
Top CriticThe director’s genius for production design comes to the fore. The sets are a treasure trove of quirky details, retro-gizmos and snarky in-jokes.
10/23/09
Dahl aficionados will be disappointed at the Americanisation of it all, while Anderson fans will doubtless grow tired of the predictable nature of proceedings.
10/23/09
Few filmmakers have managed to capture all the cheekiness and whimsy of Roald Dahl's books, but indie helmer Wes Anderson brushes very close to a flawless adaptation of Fantastic Mr Fox.
10/23/09
Anderson's recent films The Life Aquatic and The Darjeeling Limited suffered in terms of story. The switch to animation, and the benefit of a plotline borrowed from a master storyteller, have recharged his creative batteries.
10/23/09
Wes Anderson has come up with the liveliest adventure set on English soil since Wallace and Gromit ran into the were-rabbit.
10/23/09
It may not amount to much, but what to expect from a book about a thieving fox? Beautifully realised, it’s the Anderson movie that will leave you with a smile on your face.
10/23/09
Fantastic Mr Fox resembles a high-budget update of British children’s programmes from the ’60s and ’70s like Pogles’ Wood and Bagpuss. Home-made and hand-made, all arts and crafts; peculiarly English, in other words.
10/23/09
Whereas Dahl kept his foxes and other animals relatively true to their wild selves, Anderson humanises and Americanises without bothering to establish a coherent set of rules for his far too self-consciously quirky universe.
10/23/09
Yes, Fantastic Mr Fox is clever. But it is also a rather slight film that you smile at rather than really enjoy.
10/23/09
One of the best animated movies from a vintage year.
10/23/09
This is a director who knows what he wants; stop-motion offers him an effective stimulus, still allowing the creation of sweetly impractical comic characters while flourishing infinite possibilities for the manipulation of mise-en-scène.
10/23/09
Latest News for Fantastic Mr. Fox
November 12, 2009:
Critics Consensus: 2012 Isn't Quite Earth-Shaking
This week at the movies, we've got a global catastrophe (2012, starring John Cusack and Chiwetel Ejiofor) and some rock 'n' roll rebellion (Pirate Radio, starring Philip S.... More...
October 21, 2009:
Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
Wes Anderson, arguably the godfather of the quirky American indie thanks to the likes of Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, takes his first steps into the world of stop-motion... More...
October 15, 2009:
Wes Anderson Responds to Fantastic Mr. Fox Rumors 
You've heard the case against Wes Anderson's methods on (or off, as the case may be) the set of "Fantastic Mr. Fox." Now Anderson responds in a new interview with Hollywood... More...
October 12, 2009:
Fur Flies Behind the Scenes of Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson's stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" has already prompted a wave of oohs and ahhs -- but the director's methods have inspired a decidedly... More...
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