2009 was a great year for children’s films based on beloved books with wonderful adaptations of Where the Wild Things Are, Coraline, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Wes Anderson’s fantastic interpretation of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a film that takes the best bits of Dahl’s slight but enchanting novella and filters it through Anderson’s idiosyncratic styling to create an unlikely but magical marriage of influences. The source story may remain in tact as an urbane fox attempts to get the better of three ruthless farmers, but it is full of familiar Anderson family dysfunction and existential angst as the eponymous Mr. Fox struggles to keep his family together.

Despite the transition to stop-frame animation this…

Fantastic Mr. Anderson!

This is cute, brilliant, inventive, vibrant, sharp, sarcastic, full of colour and full of life. Why the cuss did I take so long to watch it? I do not know. But I sure had a swell time with a long, broad smile drawn on my face as that of a kid who had a bucket full of ice cream in his hands.

The dialogues are quick, cheeky and intelligent marked with the characteristic Wes Anderson style quirkiness and distinction. He has done a great job in converting the Dahl’s timeless children’s book into a stop motion animation film which is well suited and wholly enjoyable for both the kids as well as the adults. This film so…

"What's the subtext here?"

Realized with this re-watch (right on the heels of the Tenenbaums re-watch for Filmspotting #589), that a key part of the Anderson aesthetic is the way his characters speak candidly, without any subtext at all. We refer to the style as "deadpan" but it occurs to me that the performances are just as stripped down as the language itself. There's little for the actors to play because the characters are almost always speaking their minds. This comes off as comic and absurd, but it's also honest, which keeps the films moored in a physical and emotional reality. Ash isn't physically gifted; he's ornery and resentful. He's also "different" because he's the single character who DOES speak…

Flickchart Ranking: 55/100

Some would think Wes Anderson has done adaptations of his films but they in fact were originals. This is his first take on an adaptation that at times seems perfect but then it probably might be at his usual best or maybe worst.

George Clooney brings his voice to the screen as the title character. Mr. Fox is the greatest when it comes to stealing food from three men and wealthy farmers. After he got captured and later escapes he promises Mrs. Fox voiced by Meryl Streep that he will never do it again. From the birth of his son Ash voiced by Jason Schwartzman and getting a proper job as a Newspaper columnist. Trouble ensures as…