Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers:

Roald Dahl (novel) and
Wes Anderson (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

25 November 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Animation | Comedy

Tagline:

Dig the life fantastic.

Plot:

Angry farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with a sly fox, look to get rid of their opponent and his family.

Plot Keywords:

Fox | Farmer | One Last Job | Abbreviation In Title | Talking Animal

US Showtimes:

The Landmark

10:40am | 12:50pm | 3:00 | 5:10 | 7:20 | 9:30 | 11:30am | 1:40pm | 3:50 | 6:00 | 8:10 | 10:15

(personalize)

Cast

George Clooney	...	Mr. Fox (voice)
Meryl Streep	...	Mrs. Fox (voice)
Jason Schwartzman	...	Ash (voice)
Bill Murray	...	Badger (voice)
Wallace Wolodarsky	...	Kylie (voice) (as Wally Wolodarsky)
Eric Chase Anderson	...	Kristofferson (voice) (as Eric Anderson)
Michael Gambon	...	Franklin Bean (voice)
Willem Dafoe	...	Rat (voice)
Owen Wilson	...	Coach Skip (voice)
Jarvis Cocker	...	Petey (voice)
Wes Anderson	...	Weasel (voice)
Karen Duffy	...	Linda Otter (voice)
Robin Hurlstone	...	Walter Boggis (voice)
Hugo Guinness	...	Nathan Bunce (voice)
Helen McCrory	...	Mrs. Bean (voice)
Roman Coppola	...	Squirrel Contractor (voice)
Juman Malouf	...	Agnes (voice)
Jeremy Dawson	...	Beaver's Son (voice)
Garth Jennings	...	Bean's Son (voice)
Brian Cox	...	Action 12 Reporter (voice)
Tristan Oliver	...	Explosives Man (voice)
James Hamilton	...	Mole (voice)
Steven M. Rales	...	Beaver (voice)
Rob Hersov	...	Pilot (voice)
Jennifer Furches	...	Dr. Badger (voice)
Allison Abbate	...	Rabbit's Ex-girlfriend (voice)
Molly Cooper	...	Rabbit Girl (voice)
Adrien Brody	...	Field Mouse (voice)
Mario Batali	...	Rabbit (voice)
Martin Ballard	...	Fire Chief (voice)

Directed by
Wes Anderson

Writing credits
Roald Dahl		(novel)
Wes Anderson		screenplay
Noah Baumbach		screenplay

Produced by
Allison Abbate	....	producer
Wes Anderson	....	producer
Molly Cooper	....	co-producer
Jeremy Dawson	....	producer
Arnon Milchan	....	executive producer
Simon Quinn	....	line producer
Steven M. Rales	....	executive producer
Scott Rudin	....	producer

Original Music by
Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography by
Tristan Oliver

Film Editing by
Andrew Weisblum		(supervising editor)

Production Design by
Nelson Lowry

Production Management
Jeannine Berger	....	post-production supervisor
Fred De Bradeny	....	production supervisor
Charlotte Owen	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ben Barrowman	....	second assistant director
Alice Dunseath	....	third assistant director
James Emmott	....	third assistant director
Greg Furber	....	third assistant director
Kevin Harwood	....	first assistant director
Katherine Janes	....	third assistant director
Dan Pascall	....	second assistant director

Art Department
James Addink	....	art department assistant
Tom Aizlewood	....	art department assistant
Lucy Begent	....	art department assistant
Alice Bird	....	assistant art director
Lorna Cashmore	....	set dresser
Padraig Collins	....	storyboard artist
Christian De Vita	....	lead storyboard
Priscilla Elliott	....	art department researcher
Andy Gent	....	models supervisor
Turlo Griffin	....	environment designer
Gala Jover	....	graphic designer
Tim Ledbury	....	designer
Ray Lewis	....	storyboard artist
Poppy Luard	....	draftsman
Thecla Mallinson	....	modeller
Nikolay Moustakov	....	storyboard artist
Richard Nye	....	storyboard artist
Luke Sikking	....	art department researcher
Sarah Wells	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Lee Ascher	....	additional sound mixer
Tim Atkins	....	adr mixer
Harry Barnes	....	foley editor
Steve Browell	....	sound effects editor
Steve Browell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Peter Burgis	....	foley artist
Tony Currie	....	dialogue editor
Jeff Dalmaine	....	re-recording engineer
Nick Del-Molino	....	mix assistant
David Evans	....	supervising sound editor
Greg Farrell	....	adr engineer
Stefan Henrix	....	sound effects editor
Andy Kennedy	....	sound effects editor
Paul Langwade	....	adr mixer
Joe Maher	....	re-recording engineer
Tony Martinez	....	dialogue editor
Adam Mendez	....	foley recordist
Michael Miller	....	original dialogue mixer
Markus Moll	....	sound mix technician
Beauxregard Neylon	....	adr mixer
Pip Norton	....	adr mixer
Mark Paterson	....	mix technician
Jay Peck	....	foley artist
Jacob Ribicoff	....	sound supervisor and designer
Tom Ryan	....	sound intern
Michael Suarez	....	adr recordist
Sven Taits	....	sound re-recording mixer
Noah Timan	....	sound mixer
Adam West	....	re-recording engineer
Stuart Wilson	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Mick Chippington	....	modeller
Charles Fletcher	....	modeller
Gavin Richards	....	modeller (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Lucy Benson	....	assistant visual effects editor
Lucy Benson	....	visual effects assistant editor
Jonathan Brady	....	roto/prep artist
Andre Brizard	....	digital compositor: Stranger FX
Liz Chan	....	visual effects producer
Tom Collier	....	visual effects supervisor: LipSync Post
Rupert Davies	....	compositing supervisor
Stefan Drury	....	head of visual effects: LipSync Post
Paddy Eason	....	visual effects: Stranger
David Emeny	....	compositor
Matt Foster	....	compositor: LipSync Post
Grainne Freeman	....	compositor
Victor Georgiev	....	digital artist
Qian Han	....	compositor
Nic Hodgkinson	....	compositor
Max Horton	....	colourist
Marc Hutchings	....	compositor
Tim Ledbury	....	visual effects supervisor
Christophe Leignel	....	motion control operator
Yossel Simpson Little	....	assistant modeler
Hugh Macdonald	....	visual effects supervisor: Stranger
Natalie MacDonald	....	compositor
Sherin Mahboob	....	junior digital artist
Craig Mepham	....	previz artist
Rich Nosworthy	....	digital compositor: LipSync Post
Matthew W.B. Plummer	....	junior compositor: Stranger
Cristina Puente	....	compositor
Adam Rowland	....	digital compositor
Luke Sikking	....	roto/prep artist
Samantha Tracey	....	visual effects coordinator: LipSync Post
Tom van Dop	....	junior compositor
Blake Winder	....	digital compositor: LipSync Post

Camera and Electrical Department
Toby Farrar	....	gaffer
Paulo Fernandes	....	electrician
James Foreman	....	electrician
Jonathan Hearn	....	studio vision engineer
Tommy Holman	....	camera trainee
Toby Howell	....	lighting camera
Laura Howie	....	assistant camera
Jamie Khosravi	....	electrician
James Lewis	....	camera operator
James Lewis	....	lighting camera
Bobby Logan	....	head motion control cameraman
Christopher R. Nunn	....	camera assistant
Mark Swaffield	....	motion control camera operator
Kathrin Woodtli	....	assistant camera

Animation Department
Daniel Alderson	....	key animator
Andy Biddle	....	animator
Elie Chapuis	....	animator
Payton Curtis	....	key stop-motion animator
Peter Dodd	....	key animator
Chuck Duke	....	animator
Anthony Farquhar-Smith	....	key animator
Victor Georgiev	....	character designer
Jens Jonathan Gulliksen	....	key animator
Mark Gustafson	....	animation director
Brian Leif Hansen	....	key animator
Félicie Haymoz	....	character designer
Will Hodge	....	key animator
Kim Keukeleire	....	key animator
Malcolm Lamont	....	key animator
Jody Meredith	....	animator
Leo Nicholson	....	animator
Brad Schiff	....	key animator
Patricia Sourdes	....	assistant animator
Jason Stalman	....	key animator

Editorial Department
Matthew Bristowe	....	digital intermediate editor
Claire Dodgson	....	first assistant editor
Ralph Foster	....	editor
Michael Ho	....	assistant editor
Anthony Hull	....	assistant editor: dope sheet
Begoña Lopez	....	digital intermediate editor
Stephen Perkins	....	editor
Gilbert Carreras	....	color timer (uncredited)

Music Department
Jean-Pascal Beintus	....	orchestrator
Peter Clarke	....	music editor
Peter Cobbin	....	music engineer
Alexandre Desplat	....	conductor
Alexandre Desplat	....	orchestrator
Marie-Christine Desplat	....	orchestrator
Andrew Dudman	....	music engineer
Andrew Dudman	....	music mixer
Andrew Dudman	....	score mixing engineer
Andrew Dudman	....	score recording engineer
Jim Dunbar	....	music coordinator
Isobel Griffiths	....	orchestra contractor
Robert Houston	....	additional music editor
The London Oratory School Schola	....	musician: boys choir
Sara Matarazzo	....	music clearances
Gerard McCann	....	supervising music editor
Sylvain Morizet	....	additional orchestrator
Sam Okell	....	music engineer
Randall Poster	....	music supervisor
Lee Ward	....	choirmaster

Other crew
Ben Adler	....	production assistant
Murad Ali	....	I.T. support
Simon J. Brooks	....	runner
Edward Bursch	....	intern
James Chambers	....	production runner
Jules Collings	....	production coordinator
Gabrielle Demeestere	....	personal assistant: director
Liza Dodson	....	production assistant
Roxanne Donovan	....	production runner
D.R. Farquharson	....	project manager: Deluxe Digital Cinema
Dorothee Freytag	....	production assistant: vfx
Dorothee Freytag	....	production runner
Jennifer Furches	....	location script supervisor
Libertad Gills	....	behind-the-scenes
Libertad Gills	....	production assistant
Beni Hardiman	....	production assistant
Ella Harris	....	production runner
Melanie Jones	....	assistant: producer
Polly Kemp	....	production receptionist
Richard Lake	....	puppet wrangler
Jannika Öberg	....	production runner
Paul Ohrt	....	production executive
Octavia Peissel	....	executive assistant to director
Dave Powell	....	system developer
Faye Robinson	....	production assistant
Martin Scali	....	assistant: director
Ishan Shapiro	....	production assistant
Claire Watson	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (as Twentieth Century Fox) (presents)
• Indian Paintbrush (in association with)
• Regency Enterprises (in association with)
• American Empirical Pictures

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox (2009) (Malaysia) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2009) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2010) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2010) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2010) (Finland) (all media)
• Odeon (2009) (Greece) (all media)

Special Effects

• Lip Sync Post (visual effects)
• Stranger

Other Companies

• Premier PR  publicity (UK)
• ABKCO Music and Records  soundtrack
• Abbey Road Studios  music mixed at
• Abbey Road Studios  music recorded at
• Anvil Post Production  foley recording
• Audiolink Radio Communications  walkie talkies
• Gearbox Sound and Vision  Pro Tools Systems supplied by
• London Oratory School Schola, The  boys choir
• London Session Orchestra, The  orchestra (uncredited)
• Media Safety  health and safety
• Production Copier Company  production equipment and services
• Soundtrack  ADR Facility
• Studio Guillaume Tell  music recorded at
• Traffic Quintet  music performers

MPAA:

Rated PG for action, smoking and slang humor.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #45468) | Ireland:PG | Australia:PG | UK:PG | South Korea:All | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:PG

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Wes Anderson] [Rolling Stones]Features "Street Fighting Man".

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Mrs. Fox: [to her children, about their father] Everthing about this is crazy. Especially him. But that doesn't make it any more fantastic.

Movie Connections:

References Le roman de Renard (1930)

Soundtrack:

Ol' Man River

Roald Dahl's tone and Wes Anderson's quirky vision come together for a delightful romp!

Watching the fine 'Fantastic Mr. Fox', I could not help but think of how difficult it must be to adapt Dahl to the screen. While most adaptations are fairly competent, it takes something special for it to be an excellent film in its own right. The only film I really rate of Dahl's oeuvre is Tim Burton's adaptation of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' - while it was Americanised and imprinted with the director's vision, the film had the tone and spirit of the novel to a tee and this is much the case with 'Fantastic Mr. Fox.'

The titular character, voiced by George Clooney, is a newspaper man who returns to his old habits of stealing from three vile farmers to pay for their new house, much to the chagrin of his wife, played by Meryl Streep. On hand is his offbeat son, Ash (voiced by Anderson regular Jason Schwartzman) vying for his father's affection after the arrival of his cousin, Kristofferson as well as the other animals of the area, including Bill Murray's Badger, Willem Defoe's rat and cameos from the likes of Adrien Brody and Anderson himself - all played to the sounds of the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys, among others.

The voice cast shine here - one can just imagine Clooney as the sly Foxie, the upright soul with the sharp clothes and snappy dialogue and Streep, who has considerably less to work with, as his long-suffering but loving wife. Some of the secondary characters, particularly Schwartzman's Ash, might seem a bit tiresome after a while, but they are eccentric, whimsical and memorable and typically Anderson.

Some fight find the transformation of the quintessentially British institution that is Dahl's story into a quirky and offbeat film, of mostly adult humour as a pretentious travesty, but it could not be less so in my opinion. Granted, the film is undoubtedly Anderson's vision - directorial habits such as dividing the film into chapters and frequent use of close-ups and quick pans are present, and of course it has themes such as the dysfunctional relationships between family members, particularly between a father and a son, trying to find his own niche, just as in Anderson's previous efforts such as 'The Royal Tenenbaums' or the recent 'The Darjeeling Limited' but it somehow works wonderfully for this story. The script is wonderfully witty and slick, humorous and delightful all at once, and terribly quirky. The stop-motion animation really suits this style and is really wonderfully executed, albeit it does seem a little bizarre for the first few moments, yet it never fails to become monotonous, grabbing our attention all the time with its bright and fast dynamics. The film seems delightfully patched together like some sort of celluloid quilt and this handmade attribute is what gives it such admirability.

I highly recommend this film to anyone - it is hugely entertaining, quite absorbing with a rocking soundtrack and fun direction, screenplay and voice performances. There will be those who will say how Dahl's work has been ruined, but in my opinion this film is very much a standalone entity yet incorporates that tone, spirit and humour that was found in the original novel.