Cussing Fantastic
I was ambivalent about Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson, a star cast, a classic children’s book, beautiful stop-motion (remember Corpse Bride?)
After squeezing into a Black Friday theater on Cape Cod this last week among a horde of moviegoers including tweenage Twilight fans, Fantastic Mr. Fox was a delightful surprise. It was like chocolate éclair after chocolate éclair of off-beat visual fantasy and dry wit.
Let’s count on our fingers:
1) FANTASTICALLY ANIMATED The movie was a visual feast. I just downloaded the HD trailer and pausing at any part is like stopping to look at a beautiful illustration. Most of all I think their palette was just spot on: rabid oranges, deep navies, glittering silver. In one shot a giant yellow moon looms two-dimensionally in the corner of a deep night sky like a hunk of cheese. The paper grass sways in the wind. The foxes’ furs bristle when they talk. A chemistry experiment gone awry exudes a mushroom cloud of cotton balls. The feel of this world is crafty and home-spun, made of cloth instead of the clay and wax of Tim Burton’s animated “epics”. In fact, the same crew that made the blip of the Corpse Bride also animated Fantastic Mr. Fox. Here’s some behind the scenes mystery magic.
2) FANTASTICALLY WITTY There is so much cussing in this film. Really. Perhaps the most cunning way they made this film adult is to shoot the adult humor right over the kiddies’ heads. Every curse word you could name is replaced with “cuss” so you get wonderful tid bits of furry woodland creatures uttering, “what the cuss?”, “cuss you,” “holy cuss!”, and “this place is a complete cluster cuss.” A rarity, the joke only gets better with repetition. Of course, our dearest foxes also drink and smoke copiously (many of their missions are based solely around acquiring hard cider), weapons are wielded, and there’s even a beatnik sewer rat on an acid trip (voiced by Willem Dafoe, who else?)
3) FANTASTICALLY “DIFFERENT” Ash, the angsty, preteen, approval-seeking son of Mr. Fox voiced by Jason Schwartzman wears a towel as a cape and a gym sock as a bandit mask. The badger lawyer dresses like a snappy Mad Men exec. They wear corduroy jackets and ride around on a vintage motorbike complete with sidecar. After civilly reading the morning paper (in which Mr. Fox tends a column), they snarl and ravage the French toast into their mouths, chunks flying left and right.
INTERESTING FACTLETTES:
Wes Anderson directed the animation crew by acting out the scenes and sending videos of them via iPhone. The recording of the actors was done outside instead of in a studio: in a forest, a stable, an attic, even underground. The soundtrack is awesome.
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Um, sounds gloriously epic? Definitely a must see for me. Now if only I had a car…
I have a scary obsession with Wes Anderson. Scary, Scary. I have known about this movie since last year, and by-golly I am SO Sad I have yet to see it. Caitlin, we go see?
OMG HAND KNIT HAND CRAFTED EVERYTHING PLUS WES ANDERSON PLUS GEORGE CLOONEY PLUS JASON SCHWARTZMAN. win in my book.
People were skeptical that this movie was going to be terrible; I knew it wouldn’t ;)
Great review Emma :) I love your comments on the colors and such. Yea, I heard that the animators/stop motion magic makers SLAVED over all of the animation.
Nominations in the future?