Everyone is a little "Different"

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2019)

Wes Anderson's 2009 film, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a stop motion animated film that reminds us that there is nothing wrong with being different.
The stop animation is nothing short of fantastic in this film because it is very fluid. Wes Anderson demonstrates how precise the stop motion picture is when Mr. Bean begins flailing his arms and knocking things from shelves, ultimately destroying his office space. However, the expressions that the Foxes are molded in to can make one feel a little unsettled, to say the least. When Mr. Fox finds out they are going to have a son he gives his wife an unconvincing grin by baring all of his sharp teeth. The stop-animation can be unsettling, but I believe that in this situation Wes Anderson is trying to emphasize that Mr. Fox is processing that he is going to have a son, so his character looks strained.
Wes Anderson uses his characters and witty dialog to remind adults and children alike that it's okay to be different, no matter the context behind it. Throughout the film, characters such as the Fox's son Ashe, Mrs. Fox, and Kylie are referred to or refer to themselves as being "different." The animals in the film do a funny hand gesture when the word "different" is said or implied to emphasize that many things make one "different." I believe that Wes Anderson intended to remind the audience that what we feel makes us different is nothing to be ashamed about because "different" is never defined in this film. Being different could be approached positively as embracing your own "self," which happens to be the case if you pay attention to Kylie's character.
Kylie is an opossum who has primal instincts that symbolize anxiety and being different in Fantastic Mr. Fox. This opossum is introduced to us when Mr. Fox is looking at a new home and see's the handyman, Kylie. We get the idea that Kylie is "different" because his eyes spin when he feels the need to defend himself, or is put in situations where he could become anxious. Kylie is considered "different," because he plays dead due to his species. Opossums play dead to protect themselves because they are a prey animal. Kylie could be considered zoning out or differentiating in a human versus animal context which relates to mental health and representation of anxiety in Fantastic Mr. Fox.
While the target audience was intended for children, I find that Fantastic Mr. Fox can appeal to young adults as well because many of us struggle to accept what is "different" about us individually.