Wes Anderson goes to extreme measures to add unsurpassed detail!

Rating: 9/10 (16 April 2020)

A childhood favorite is turned into a movie masterpiece by an loving fan, Wes Anderson. Fantastic Mr. Fox is elegantly directed, animated, and performed. After many years of imagining what the film could be Wes Anderson partnered up with Revolution Studios to make a stop start animation. An ambitious fox and his family's journey that led them from a hole to the wrong side of three farmers guns is turned to a captivating story by Wes and his team. Wes Anderson goes to extreme measures to add unsurpassed detail to make Fantastic Mr. Fox a special experience for all viewers.
Fantastic Mr Fox is a uniquely animated film, nothing like any other movie you have ever seen. It is made similar to countless classics using stop start animation, a technique only used by directors and animators with tremendous care and preparation. The animal figurines designed and meticulously shaped by various specialist ranging from people who designed the clothes to people that engineered the many pliable metal plates that go into the face and joints of each figurine. All of the figurines were designed and constructed the same except for the bunny and mouse, who were made custom due to the bunnies' large ears and the mices' small stature. Mr. Fox has his tail shot off by a farmer out to get revenge. His son makes a noble attempt to steal back the tail, being used a a tie by the farmer. While in the farmers there is a moment where the Ash, the son, pauses giving the viewer and opportunity to study the set. The wood grain and small trinkets scattered about are a great example. The detail shown in the house shows that Henry Selick, the animation director, did not just want the job done. He wanted the job done right.
Even though the film is animated; nothing feels flat: texture and depth is added at all possible stops. The set designers do a wonderful job of adding tremendous character to all of the senses. By using tints, hues, and tones to shade and highlight the background, the animator helps provide a sense of realness to the film. For example, the animators add emotion throughout the sewer scene toward the end where all of the animals are crammed into a tight space. They do so by layering various blues, blacks, and greys symbolizing sadness and a loss of hope. The white flickering light in the halls adds a sense of false security. For a few seconds every thing is lit up, the second the light goes out the unone is suddenly a major threat. After suffering in the sewer Mr. Fox finds a grocery with a sewer opening in an isle. His family enters the store and the scene is immediately filled with bright colors: reds, yellows, white light, ect. These colors symbolize a new found sense of hope and happiness. Going from dark to light symbolizes beginning a new chapter in life. Revolution Studios did a great job making an intriguing set that any viewer can appreciate.
Unlike many other directors who use personification, Wes Anderson makes an effort to add a wild spirit to a humanized natural predator. He is portrayed as a father, a husband, and a writer: not a wild animal. After being served breakfast he mutilates his food without ever glancing towards the silverware. Foxy being savage rather than sophisticated is ironic because it shows his true nature, wild and free. Nothing like the friendly and human like facade he puts on. In the next scene Mr Fox is house shopping. He is tired of living a boring life, having to crawls out of a hole every morning. Hoping to expand,Mr. fox contemplates moving in to a real, above ground house. He is led to a captivating tree by his realtor. Some of the selling points sound oddly familiar but with a twist: original dirt floors, great neighborhood, and conveniently located near a chicken farm. This wich to move illustrates Wes Anderson's urge to create a relatable scenario while the "original dirt floors" reminds us that Mr. Fox is an animal, a fox, sort of just a prop.
Wes Anderson's attention to detail makes is clear that he cared tremendously about the viewing experience and the quality of the final product. Every aspect of the preparation and recording process was done for the same reason, to make a powerful film. With Wes Anderson and his team there is no stone left unturned.