Fantastic Mr Fox

Do you marvel at the art and detail of a stop motion film? Do you enjoy the work of Wes Anderson? Do you really like foxes?

If you answered yes to these three questions then the recently released images of the upcoming Fantastic Mr Fox courtesy of French website Filmsactu.com are sure to tickle your fancy.


The film based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name, follows the story of Mr Fox who by night steals food from three local wealthy farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean. Soon enough the farmers cotton on to the scam and make it their goal to put a stop to him. Forcing the furry family further underground, they meet a number of other hole dwelling friends whilst the fantastic Mr Fox devises a new plan to survive.

Marking the first adaptation for Anderson, the plan was to co-direct with master of stop-motion Henry Selick, known for his painstaking work on films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas. The two first joined forces to create the Jaguar Shark for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, however Selick was forced to drop out of Mr Fox to focus his efforts on his latest film Coraline.


George Clooney provides the voice of Mr Fox, accompanied by the usual Anderson Gang. Bill Murray will voice Badger starring alongside Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Angelica Huston, Willem Dafoe and Adrian Brody. Meanwhile Anderson newcomer Meryl Streep also stars as Mrs Fox.

The focus on the aesthetic has always been a thing of great importance in Wes Anderson’s work. The jump to animation – in particular stop motion animation should produce something really special.

Even the pre-production hasn’t been without Anderson's quirky style: he decided not to record dialog in studios . Actors were taken to numerous places to record vocals, imcluding forests, attics, stables and even underground. Pretty cool.

Fantastic Mr Fox is scheduled for release on 23rd October 2009 in the UK.