Story of movie Fantastic Mr. Fox Film :
Fantastic Mr. Fox is a 2009 American stop-motion animated comedy film directed by Wes Anderson, based on Roald Dahl's 1970 children's novel of the same name. The film is about a fox who steals food each night from three mean and wealthy farmers. They are fed up with Mr. Fox's theft and try to kill him, so they dig their way into the foxes' home, but the animals are able to outwit the farmers and live underground.
| Fantastic Mr. Fox | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Wes Anderson |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Alexandre Desplat |
| Cinematography | Tristan Oliver |
| Edited by | Andrew Weisblum |
Production company | American Empirical Pictures |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Box office | $46.5 million |
The film was released in the autumn of 2009 and stars George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, and Owen Wilson. For director Wes Anderson, it was his first animated film and first film adaptation. Development on the project began in 2004 as a collaboration between Anderson and Henry Selick (who worked with Anderson on the 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) under Revolution Studios. In 2007, Revolution folded, Selick left to direct Coraline, and work on the film moved to 20th Century Fox. Production began in London in 2007. It was released on November 13, 2009, and has a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film also received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Screenplay
While raiding Berk's Squab Farm, Mr. Fox and his wife Felicity trigger a fox trap and become caged. Felicity reveals to Fox that she is pregnant and pleads with him to find a safer job if they escape. Fox reluctantly agrees.
Two years later, the Foxes and their sullen son Ash are living in a hole. Fox, now a newspaper columnist, moves the family into a better home in the base of a tree, ignoring the warnings of his lawyer Badger about how dangerous the area is for foxes. The tree is located very close to facilities run by three farmers: Walter Boggis, Nathan Bunce, and Franklin Bean.
Soon after the Foxes move in, Felicity's nephew Kristofferson Silverfox comes to live with them, as his father has fallen ill with double pneumonia. Ash finds this situation intolerable; his soft-spoken cousin is apparently superior to him at almost everything, and everyone–including Fox and Ash's female fox friend, Agnes–is charmed by Kristofferson at Ash's expense. Longing for his days as a thief, Fox and his friend Kylie Opossum steal produce and poultry from the three farms.
Angered, the farmers decide to kill Fox. They camp out near his home. When Fox emerges, the farmers open fire, but only shoot off his tail. They then attempt to dig Fox out. After demolishing the site of the tree, the farmers discover the Foxes have dug an escape tunnel. Reasoning that the Foxes will have to surface for food and water eventually, the farmers wait at the tunnel mouth. Underground, Felicity is upset that Fox returned to his thieving ways. The group later encounters Badger and many other local animal residents whose homes have also been destroyed by the farmers. As the animals begin fearing starvation, Fox leads them on a digging expedition to tunnel to the three farms, robbing them clean.
While the other animals feast, Ash and Kristofferson begin to reconcile after Kristofferson defends Ash from a bully. The cousins return to Franklin's farm, intending to reclaim Mr. Fox's tail. When they are interrupted by the arrival of Franklin's wife, Ash escapes, but Kristofferson is captured. Discovering that Fox has stolen their produce, the farmers and the fire chief flood the animals' tunnel network with cider.
The flood forces the animals into the sewers, trapping them. Fox learns that the farmers plan to use Kristofferson to lure him into an ambush and heads to the surface to surrender, which would mean his demise. The animals are confronted by Rat, Franklin's security guard, who attacks Ash and Felicity. Hearing his son's cries, Fox returns and fights Rat in an electrical room until Fox pushes him into an electric generator, electrocuting him. Before dying, Rat confesses Kristofferson's location. Fox asks the farmers for a meeting in town near the sewer hub where he would surrender in exchange for Kristofferson's freedom. The farmers set up an ambush, but Fox and the others anticipate it and launch a counterattack.
Fox, Ash, and Kylie slip into Franklin's farm. Ash frees Kristofferson and braves enemy fire to release a rabid beagle named Spitz to keep the farmers at bay. The animals become accustomed to living in the sewers with others considering moving in. Ash and Kristofferson settle their differences and become good friends.
Fox leads his family, Kylie, and Agnes to a drain opening built into the floor of a supermarket owned by the three farmers. Celebrating their new food source and the news that Felicity is pregnant again, the animals dance.
- George Clooney as Mr. Fox
- Meryl Streep as Felicity Fox
- Jason Schwartzman as Ash Fox
- Bill Murray as Clive Badger
- Willem Dafoe as Rat
- Owen Wilson as Coach Skip
- Wallace Wolodarsky as Kylie
- Eric Anderson as Kristofferson Silverfox
- Michael Gambon as Franklin Bean
- Jarvis Cocker as Petey
- Wes Anderson as Stan Weasel
- Robin Hurlstone as Walter Boggis
- Hugo Guinness as Nathan Bunce
- Helen McCrory as Mrs. Bean
- Juman Malouf as Agnes
- Karen Duffy as Linda Otter
- Roman Coppola as Squirrel Contractor
- Garth Jennings as Orson Bean's son
- Brian Cox as Daniel Peabody
- Steven Rales as Beaver
- Jeremy Dawson as Beaver's Son
- James Hamilton as Phil Mole
- Jennifer Furches as Dr. Badger
- Mario Batali as Rabbit
- Allison Abbate as Rabbit's ex-girlfriend
- Molly Cooper as Rabbit Girl
- Adrien Brody as Mouse
- Martin Ballard as Fire chief
Joe Roth and Revolution Studios bought the film rights to Fantastic Mr Fox in 2004. In 2006, Mark Mothersbaugh stated that he was working on the soundtrack. Wes Anderson signed on as director with Henry Selick, who worked with Anderson on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, as animation director. Anderson stated that he signed on because Roald Dahl was one of his heroes. Originally, Cate Blanchett was prearranged to voice Mrs. Fox, but she left the role for undisclosed reasons.
The story the novel covers would amount to the second act of the film. Anderson added new scenes to serve for the film's beginning and end. The new scenes precede Mr. Fox's plan to steal from the three farmers and follow the farmers' bulldozing of the hill, beginning with the flooding of the tunnel. Selick left the project, to work on the Neil Gaiman story Coraline in February 2006. He was replaced by Mark Gustafson. 20th Century Fox became the project's home in October 2006 after Revolution folded.
In September 2007, Anderson announced voice work would begin. The director chose to record the voices outside rather than in a studio: "we went out in a forest, went in an attic, went in a stable. We went underground for some things. There was a great spontaneity in the recordings because of that." The voices were recorded before any animation was done.
Anderson said of the production design, "we want to use real trees and real sand, but it's all miniature." Great Missenden, where Roald Dahl lived, has a major influence on the film's look. The film mixes several forms of animation but consists primarily of stop motion. Animation took place in London, on Stage C at 3 Mills Studio and the puppets are created by Mackinnon & Saunders, with Anderson directing the crew, many of whom animated Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Selick, who kept in contact with Anderson, said the director would act out scenes while in Paris and send them to the animators via iPhone.
| Fantastic Mr. Fox | ||||
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| Soundtrack album by various artists | ||||
| Released | November 3, 2009 | |||
| Genre | Film score Rock | |||
| Length | 43:41 | |||
| Label | ABKCO | |||
| Wes Anderson film soundtrack chronology | ||||
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The score for the film was composed by Alexandre Desplat. Jarvis Cocker commented that he wrote "three, four" songs for the film, one of which was included on the soundtrack. The soundtrack also contains a selection of songs by The Beach Boys, The Bobby Fuller Four, Burl Ives, Georges Delerue, The Rolling Stones, and other artists. A soundtrack album for the film was released on November 3, 2009. It contains the following tracks:
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