Fantastic Mr. Fox

Directed by: Wes Anderson

Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe

Running Time: 1h 27min

Seriously. How lucky are we? How lucky are we to have studios with enough guts, in these strange economic times, to green light and release auteur films based on children's books? Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox is NOT your standard, run of the mill children's fare. Indeed, I would argue that this film was definitely not made FOR children, but rather for adults who read Roald Dahl AS children. Much like Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are released last month, this is an adaptation faithful to the very core and essence of the literary work, exploring psychological/philosophical territory while at the same time conveying whimsy and fantastical imagination in a way books only can.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is painstakingly created through stop motion animation, with the detail that Anderson puts into all of his films. The foxes look furry, the countryside looks stunning and Boggis, Bunce, and Bean look like the worst, no good, mean cuss, sons of cusses you've ever seen. The energy is wonderful, from the initial chicken heist to the frantic digging getaway to the film's finale. There is plenty for kids to love, but much more for adults to enjoy.

The voice cast is simply some of the best actors around, performing at their best. Familiar Anderson alumni return with great effect, notably Schwartzman, Murray, Dafoe and Wilson. Yet it's newcomers to Anderson territory, Clooney, Strep and Gambon, that provide the heart, soul and evil, respectively, that gives this film an emotional punch and an air of suspense.

Quirky as ever, Anderson adds his own elements to expand the text to feature length size. These provide some odd, bizarre, yet strangely enjoyable tidbits. From whackbat to the mysterious wolf, or new characters like Kristofferson and the Cider cellar rat, each and every addition just brings about more Dahl like pleasures. Anderson truly understands his craft, and demonstrates a love for Dahl's work in the process. Both are completely original, one of kind creators of a world that is so wonderfully depicted, it's hard not to enjoy returning to them again and again and again. I'm sure repeat viewings of this film will reveal more fantastic elements missed the first time around. Which is every bit as special as the relationship we had with Dahl's books when we were young.

Grade: A