Fantastic Mr. Fox (film)

Infobox Film
name = Fantastic Mr. Fox


caption =
director = Wes Anderson
producer = Wes Anderson Scott Rudin
writer = Wes Anderson
Noah Baumbach (screenplay)
Roald Dahl (book)
starring = George Clooney Cate Blanchett Anjelica Huston Jason Schwartzman Bill Murray Meryl Streep
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = November 6, 2009
runtime =
country = United States
awards =
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 378039
imdb_id = 0432283

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" is a stop motion animated film based on Roald Dahl's book "Fantastic Mr. Fox", which will be released on November 6 2009. It stars the voices of George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Jason Schwartzman, with Bill Murray and Meryl Streep, and it is the first animated film directed by Wes Anderson. Development began in 2004 as collaboration between Anderson and Henry Selick (who worked together on the 2004 film "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou") under Revolution Studios. Revolution folded, Selick left to direct "Coraline", and the project moved to Fox Animation Studios. Production began in London in 2007. Unusually, Anderson chose to record voices outside of a studio.

Plot

A clever fox constantly outwits three obnoxious, evil farmers who are angry with him for eating their produce.

Cast

* George Clooney as Mr. Fox.
* Cate Blanchett as Mrs. Fox. [cite news | author = Josh Horowitz | title = Cate Blanchett Ready To Re-team With Edgar Wright And Voice Mrs. Fox | work = MTV Movies Blog | date = 2007-10-09 | url = http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/10/09/cate-blanchett-ready-to-re-team-with-edgar-wright-and-voice-mrs-fox/ | accessdate=2007-10-10]
*Bill Murray as Mr. Badger. [cite news|author=Max Evry|title=Talking to City of Ember Mayor Bill Murray|work=ComingSoon.net|date=2008-10-09|url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=49375|accessdate=2008-10-09]
*Jason Schwartzman.
*Anjelica Huston. [cite news | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/02/15/wes_anderson_the_life_aquatic_interview.shtml | author = Stella Papamichael | title = Interview with Wes Anderson | work = bbc.co.uk | date = 2006-02-15 | accessdate = 2006-07-11]
* Meryl Streep. [cite news | url = http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117990178.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 | author = Michael Fleming | title = Streep in deep with Meyers | work = Variety | date = 2008-08-06 | accessdate = 2008-08-08]

Production

Joe Roth and Revolution Studios bought the film rights to "Fantastic Mr. Fox" in 2004. Wes Anderson signed on as director with Henry Selick, who worked with Anderson on "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", as animation director. Anderson signed on because Roald Dahl is one of his heroes.cite news | title = The Darjeeling Limited: Who needs a film set in LA when you have a speeding train in India? | work = The Telegraph | date = 2007-11-17 | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/11/17/bfwes.xml | accessdate=2007-11-22] In adapting the novel, the story the novel covers would amount to the second act of the film. Anderson added new scenes to serve for the film's beginning and end. [cite news | title = Selick Crazy For Fox | work = Sci Fi Wire | date = 2004-12-15 | url = http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2004-12/15/13.00.film | accessdate=2007-11-22] Selick left the project to work on the Neil Gaiman story "Coraline" in early 2006. [cite news|url = http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22929|title = Selick no longer at work on The Fantastic Mr. Fox|work = Ain't It Cool News|date = 2006-02-15|accessdate = 2006-07-11] [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0348993/ Mark Gustafson] is his replacement. Fox Animation Studios became the project's home in October 2006 after Revolution folded.cite news | author = Michael Fleming | title = Fox catches Dahl's Fox | work = Variety | date= 2006-10-25 | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117952669.html?categoryid=1050&cs=1&query=Fantastic+Mr+Fox | accessdate=2007-02-25]

In September 2007, Anderson announced voice work would begin.cite news | author = Josh Horowitz | title = Wes Anderson Enlists Bill Murray For ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox’ | work = MTV Movies Blog | date= 2007-09-26 | url=http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/09/26/wes-anderson-enlists-bill-murray-for-the-fantastic-mr-fox | accessdate=2007-09-26] The director chose to record the voices outside of a studio: "We went out in a forest, [..] went in an attic, [and] went in a stable. We went underground for some things. There was a great spontaneity in the recordings because of that."cite news | author = Joe Utichi | title = Interview: Wes Anderson talks Darjeeling Limited and Mr. Fox | work = Rotten Tomatoes | date = 2007-11-22 | url = http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/darjeeling_limited/news/1691098/ | accessdate=2007-11-22] He said of the production design, "We want to use real trees and real sand, but it’s all miniature." Great Missenden, where Roald Dahl lived, has a major influence on the film's look. The film mixes several forms of animation but consists primarily of stop motion. Animation is taking place in London.

Jarvis Cocker has written "three, four" songs for the film. [cite news|url=http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/music/39791/from-the-uk-to-the-magic-kingdom|author=Brent DiCrescenzo|title=From the UK to the Magic Kingdom|date=2008-07-17|work=Time Out|accessdate=2008-08-08]

References

External links

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