Thomas Sherwood B A (Hons) Computer Animation Arts, UCA Rochester: March 2019

Wednesday 6 March 2019

Film Review: Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)

Figure 1: Fantastic Mr Fox - Poster

Fantastic Mr Fox is a film in a long line of stylised films by Wes Anderson, you can instantly tell a film is by his auteurism which runs through all his films, it is suggested that one of the more recurrent themes he displays is related to his childhood and around parent figures towards him. There is a trend that looks at situations reminiscent of dysfunctional family units, this is evident in other films of his such as The Darjeeling Limited (2007), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), often we find a strong father figure stepping up which is read as "His films often highlight the importance of friends, family, love and death" (Roberts, 2018). Fantastic Mr Fox displays this same trend throughout, Mr Fox at one point admits to his wife he doesn't feel good unless he is doing better than others, in a sense. There is a lot to be said about his relationship with his son which is clearly linked to this idea of internal drive in MR Fox, His son resents his father for not being able to live up to his achievements, this is carried over to his cousin who is the idea of a perfect son to Mr Fox.

Figure 2: Fantastic Mr Fox - Hiding from Farmers

Wes Anderson uses another very obvious trope in his work which carries through to Fantastic Mr Fox, the use of symmetry in his shots creates an incredibly balanced visual flow, it is suggested that "In the framing and composition of an image, the balance of visual weight is imperative to an environment’s sense of stability or instability" (Hurbis-Cherrier, 2012, p. 50) which is arguably managed in an indirect way, Wes Anderson often uses symmetry regardless of what a scene is trying to convey proving there isn't a rule book when it comes to film. The feeling of a scene comes from character acting, sound design, and pacing.

Figure 3: Fantastic Mr Fox - Set

Due to the sets all being a real environment there is a certain degree of how much a camera can get into a scene in order to film. All the characters and sets are designed so"They live in a sometimes flat dimension; the cameras are happier sliding back and forth than moving in and out" (Ebert, 2009) this is important firstly for the logistics of the production and secondly to maintain a sense of auteurship, watching any of his other films instantly installs the same statement about the camera, which is always very static and two dimensional in its movement. Fantastic Mr Fox feels like a place located in the same world as his other films through the themes they all exhibit.

Bibliography:

Ebert, R. (2009). Fantastic Mr. Fox Movie Review (2009) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fantastic-mr-fox-2009 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2019].

Hubris-Cherrier, M. (2012). Voice and vision: A creative approach to narrative film and DV production (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Focal Press.

Roberts, J. (2018). Auteur: Wes Anderson. [online] So The Theory Goes. Available at: https://www.sothetheorygoes.com/wes-anderson/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2019].

Illustrations:

Figure 1: Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) [film poster] - Wes Anderson, 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Animation, Regency Enterprises

Figure 2: Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) [film poster] - Wes Anderson, 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Animation, Regency Enterprises

Figure 3: Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) [film poster] - Wes Anderson, 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Animation, Regency Enterprises