Film Studies Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Reading of the Film:

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a 2009 American stop motion animated comedy film, based upon the children’s novel ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ which was written by British author Roald Dahl and published by George Allen & Unwin in 1970. The film was directed and produced by Wes Anderson and distributed by 20th Century Fox. 20th Century Fox Animation and Dune Entertainment animated the film, which also stars George Clooney and Meryl Streep (as Mr. and Mrs. Fox, respectively). The score for the film was composed by Alexandre Desplat.

The film appears to revolve primarily around an instinctive and cunning fox that continually steals food from three wealthy and vicious farmers – Boggis, Bunce and Bean. As a result of his actions, Mr. Fox finds himself attempting to evade the farmers by digging as far underground as possible along with the members of his family (his wife Felicity, son Ash and nephew Kristofferson). Therefore, he has put his family and community in jeopardy. The film seems to combine core themes such as responsibility, doubt, regret, jealousy and desire, all of which apply to the main protagonists of the film.

Mr. Fox is depicted as a rebellious and naïve character who doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions, as well as the impact of his wrongdoings on his family and friends. As the film progresses, the family’s home is demolished by the farmers and the Foxes are forced to dig underground to escape. Mr. Fox eventually sees the error of his ways and vows to put things right. This shows that the intentions of the writer were to communicate responsibility as there is focus on life lessons throughout the story. The primary audience for this film is likely to be young children who, speaking stereotypically, tend to be immature and could therefore learn about the consequences of their behaviour whilst watching this film. Children who watch Fantastic Mr. Fox could also learn that they should always think before doing something foolish to ensure that they do not get into trouble, whether at home or at school.

Mr. Fox is also shown to doubt himself at times. There is a scene near the beginning of the film in which Mr. Fox questions his own existence; he asks the character Kylie (the opossum) “Who am I? Why a fox? Why not a horse, a beetle or a bald eagle?” This could show that the character is curious about the concept of reality in general, along with the nature of being. This theme is also established later on in the film when the characters become trapped within a sewer system when the farmers flush them out of the tunnel network with cider. The animals fear that they will most likely be trapped within the sewers permanently and that the farmers have won, indicating a potential loss of hope for the characters. This does well to create a strong sense of suspense within the story; thus making it far more enjoyable for the reader/viewer.

The core themes of regret, jealousy and desire are also explored within the film, particularly in regard to Mr. Fox and Ash. The latter character is clearly determined to prove that he is an ‘athlete’ due to the fact that his cousin Kristofferson appears to be superior to him and that Ash’s parents do not pay any attention to him whatsoever because they are proud of Kristofferson. Therefore, Ash envies his cousin and is shown to somewhat resent him. People who watch this film could potentially learn that they can achieve success in life, just as long as they remain focused on what they want and are strongly committed. Following the destruction of his family home, Mr. Fox is shown to be highly ashamed of what he has caused, thus showing the presence of regret as one of the film’s many themes. In one scene, Mr. Fox reassures Ash, stating that it was (his) fault that Kristofferson got captured by the farmers and not Ash’s. This also shows that Mr. Fox is beginning to see the error of his ways by this point in the film.

Mr. Fox’s wife is also shown to be full of regret. She states to her husband “I love you, but I shouldn’t have married you.” This quote suggests that the two of them struggled in the past due to Mr. Fox and his farm raiding ways. Throughout the course of the story, there is constant emphasis on the attitudes of the protagonists as they all attempt to survive the farmer’s retaliation. Despite the events that take place, including the destruction of his home and the capture of his nephew, Mr. Fox refuses to give up and continues to attempt to outwit the antagonists of the film. This shows that Mr.

Fox possesses a great deal of perseverance, along with the rest of the animals as they remain by his side throughout the film.

Fantastic Mr. Fox takes on a slightly dark and foreboding tone, but also has a comedic feel. Although Mr. Fox, his family and friends are shown to be in peril throughout the film, there is still a strong sense of playfulness ad the film does well to evoke humour at specific points. The creators of this film clearly did not have the intention to produce something which strongly focuses on real-life danger e.g. death simply to ensure that the film mirrors the aspects of the real world. Because this is an animated film, the producers have the opportunity to create scenes which could easily be deemed as impossible in real-life e.g. talking animals, thus adding to the amusement of the film. The producers should also find that they are unlimited in regard to what they can animate, just as long as the animations look convincing and have something to do with the story.

Production Background:

Pre-Production: Roald Dahl’s ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ was adapted into a stop-motion animation film by director Wes Anderson, with the rights to the film being bought in 2004. Anderson’s initial intention was to create vivid characters; this was accomplished when the director called on employees within the puppet-making business, who collaborated with Anderson to create stop-motion puppets for the film. Anderson stated that he wanted to convey the key aspects of stop-motion rather than create computer-generated characters; to achieve this, it was decided that significant numbers of frames would be used. The puppets for the film were based off detailed drawings, and Anderson decided that the character of Mr. Fox was ‘to be a combination of Roald Dahl, Rex Harrison and George Clooney (the voice actor for Fox). In order to ensure extreme precision in regard to limb movements, steel ball-and-socket armatures were created. Costumes were also provided for the puppets in order to provide a strong sense of elegance to the characters in the film.

Production: The voices for the characters were recorded at outside locations as opposed to within a studio. The main reason for this was to ensure that

things like echoes, wind and water flowing could be captured; voice actors were recorded in “a forest, an attic and a stable. We also went underground…” These locations also represent key settings within the film itself and recording additional sounds such as these would have been beneficial as it could have allowed the producers to establish the characters in relation to the location they are present at, whether it be outside or underground. During production, different forms of animation were employed so as to add to the effectiveness of the film (along with stop motion). Real trees and sand were also used, however specific design techniques were employed to create the impression of everything appearing ‘miniature’, thus explaining the unique appearance of all aspects of the land shown in the film e.g. fields, trees and pylons. The miniature appearance of the houses and trees within the film does well to establish the fact that the film is ‘simple’ – there aren’t too many aspects to interact with and this can be considered beneficial as young children could be overwhelmed by excessive amounts of content within a film.

Post-Production: Alexandre Desplat, a French composer, produced the soundtrack for ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’, which also featured a variety of existing songs such as ‘Street Fighting Man’ by Rolling Stones and ‘Heroes and Villains’ by The Beach Boys. The film was edited by Andrew Weisblum, and specific colours and tints were utilized in post-production in order to create a constant, warm tone. According to Anderson, the colour concepts relied primarily on local colours (i.e. colours shown within the shots) as opposed to certain forms of lighting. The use of autumn colours within the film also enabled the appearance of a golden hue over the fields and in the sky (specifically in the opening shot of the film), therefore significantly enhancing the appearance of the shots.

Distribution: The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox, and on October 14th, 2009, the world premiere for the film was held at the London Film Festival. On November 13th of the same year, the film had its theatrical release.

Review:

My own opinion about the film is that it does well to establish a strong sense of continuity i.e. a continuous and uninterrupted flow of action is present throughout. A wide range of shots and camera angles are present, thus creating a sense of variety and providing a significant number of aspects for the viewer to interact with; each shot does well to create meaning, whether by establishing a new setting, introducing a character or depicting a character in a way that makes him/her appear intimidating or vulnerable. For example, the usage of an extreme long shot at the beginning of the film does well to depict Mr. Fox and his home in relation to the environment surrounding it, thus the viewer is made to understand immediately where the film is taking place.

The film is also coherent i.e. understandable, primarily due to the presence of a linear story i.e. a sequential course of events and a beginning, middle and end. In my opinion, this ensures that the film is suitable for younger audiences who should be able to interpret the scenes properly as the film does not tend to ‘jump around’ in its own timeline with events being shown in the wrong order. In this particular case, it would be very difficult to understand the storyline the film is attempting to communicate. The use of different forms of lighting (e.g. high and low key) in relation to the settings is quite effective. For example, all scenes beneath the ground within the film are made to appear dark and menacing, mainly due to the alteration of lighting within the shots.

However, the stop-motion used within the film has resulted in the movements of the characters appearing quite jarred, thus creating a somewhat unpleasant visual effect at times as there seems to be small ‘jumps’ between the shots of the characters. As a result, the film falls short of a professional standard due to the jarring effects generated by the stop-motion technique. Despite these effects, a strong sense of patience and accuracy is still implied in relation to the production process as the people who created the film will have been required to construct hundreds, possibly thousands, of figures representing almost identical qualities in order to establish the fact that each character shown within the film is the same person.

The overall experience for the viewer can be described as slightly adrenaline-evoking, humorous and light-hearted in spite of the constant presence of distress, crime and peril. This shows that the film mirrors some of the

qualities of being a criminal in real-life, as well as the consequences of one’s actions, without resorting to excessive levels of violence. It can also be stated that little tension and suspense is felt in regard to the ordeal the protagonists are in, and thus ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ does well to retain its light-hearted tone throughout the length of the film. In turn, this ensures that the film is suitable for younger audiences.