Wes Anderson is a director with a style that is so established to him that it is impossible not to recognise when you are watching one of his films. Someone could show me just a still from one of his films with no context, no clues and even no characters involved, and I would be able to tell you with no level of uncertainty that it is one of his films that you are showing me, his style is that recognisable. The way I would describe his style would be like a quirky Kubrick, in that his set design and composition is meticulous. Everything in the shot is put in there for a purpose, nothing is in accident in the frame. But the difference between Kubrick's version of this and Anderson's version is that Anderson's is almost other worldly in just how quirky and colourful it is, whereas Kubrick was much more grounded in his style. All Anderson's films don’t seem to take place in our real world, but instead in a world that is much more heightened and stranger, where normality is exaggerated. Now, before watching Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) I was curious to see whether this style would translate into animated form. I had already seen Isle of Dogs (2018) so I knew that he could do it, but nonetheless I did wonder if he had been able to with his first animated film. The answer is a resounding yes, in fact it is even more obviously a Wes Anderson film than Isle of Dogs is. The film is based on the story by famed author Roald Dahl, but it does take several liberties when adapting the story while keeping the basic narrative the same. The film opens with Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) stealing squabs from a farm. Whilst on the job Mrs. Fox reveals that she is pregnant and makes Mr. Fox promise to get a different line of work. We then jump two years ahead (12 fox years) where Mr. Fox is stuck in a rut and miserable that he can't steal food anymore. He decides to mov him and his family closer to three farms whose farmers have reputations for being dangerous to animals. Mr. Fox secretly starts to rob these farms which prompts these farmers to team up to kill him, his family and all the other animals. The rest of the film follows all the animals escaping these farmers whilst also trying to survive nd find food.
This film, as is the case with many Wes Anderson films, was always in danger of becoming bogged down with its style and lose a certain degree of substance because of that focus on style, and in some ways, it does fall into that trap. There is a clear story to the film and we also have clear character arcs and motivations, especially in the case of Mr. Fox's son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman), and his nephew, Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson), who start off not seeing eye to eye at all but earn each other’s respect by the end of the film. However, there are also several scenes that are clearly put in there just to add to the quirky nature of the film. They offer no real addition to the narrative and seem like they are there mainly just to pad out the runtime, which becomes much more obvious when you realise the film is only one hour and 27 minutes long. The main story is clearly not long enough to fill a feature length film and so these extra scenes are only added to get the runtime up, including a whole song sequence. There is also one narrative arc brought up where Ash is jealous of Kristofferson as his lab partner, Agnes (Juman Malouf), is attracted to Kristofferson. It is a narrative arc that is barley developed and dropped before itis resolved. The main problem with this is that Mr. Fox when making a final speech says that the five characters he is with are the greatest wild animals he has ever met. A fine scene, but Agnes is there. She has about two lines in the whole film, isn't seen for the last twenty minutes and has had no interaction with Mr. Fox himself but is there just for the sake of being there. Honestly it threw me off probably more than it should have but I found it really weird that she was included here.
Now, after just criticising the fact that the film seems padded out by quirky scenes that are much more style over substance I am going to praise the film for including scenes that are much more style over substance. This aspect of the film is a problem, but the style is so good and so visually stimulating that you just give it a pass. Anderson's style is divisive, you either love it or hate it. In my case I am very much in the love camp, and so I am more than happy to sit through a film with a not particularly strong narrative just because the style is so enjoyable to watch. The stop motion animation mixed in with Wes Anderson's visual style and composition is an absolute joy and I could have done with the film being half an hour longer so that I could enjoy the visuals for longer. The script is also great, with the dialogue being snappy, witty and charming and performed very well by everyone involved. The best performance in the film comes from Schwartzman as Ash. This character is written brilliantly weird and is performed equally as well by Schwartzman to become the most memorable part of the film, by being funny, relatable, weird and also sometimes scarily odd that he is endlessly entertaining.
Wes Anderson has a distinct style and it is a style that I am a big, big fan of. The meticulously designed sets, the lovingly crafted compositions, the brilliant quirky writing, it all just adds up to make a wondrous style that I just can't get enough of. Fantastic Mr Fox fits this style and does so in a way that is very impressive due to the fact that it is animated. I was curious to see if he could match his style onto animation and I think he passes that test with flying colours, with both this film and Isle of Dogs. I am no doubt recommending this film, but this recommendation does come with a caveat. If you have seen a Wes Anderson film before and it wasn't to your taste this may not be the film for you. If you have seen a Wes Anderson film before and you enjoy his style, then you should definitely give it a watch. If you have never seen a Wes Anderson film before then I feel like this is a very good introduction into what he is all about, and it would hopefully get you sucked in to the wonderful and quirky world of Mr. Anderson.