Fantastic Mr. Fox is the newest film from Indie-Film “Wonderboy” Wes Anderson.  It’s a stop-action “puppet”  adaptation (think Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) of the story of the same name by Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach).

Mr. Fox (George Clooney) was a very successful chicken-stealer as a young fox but one day, after almost being caught, promises his wife that he will give up the profession for a safer, more responsible one.  After years of being an editorial writer in the local paper, Mr. Fox begins to get the “itch” back and, with the help of his Super, Kylie the Opposum (Wallace Wolodarsky), devises a plan to do “one last job”.

In traditional Wes Anderson fashion, an elaborate plan is worked out, but not without it’s fair share of loopholes and loose ends, which only lead to disaster.  Mr. Fox decides to take on Boggis, Bunce and Bean – the three meanest farmers in the whole valley, by stealing from each of their heavily guarded farms.  After a few successful nights, the farmers catch on and decide to destroy Mr. Fox and his entire family.  Mr. Fox then spends the rest of the film trying to get his family and all of the animals in the valley (who have been dragged into this mess by Fox’s antics) free of harm’s way.

I’ve not read the book but I can tell you that Wes Anderson does an amazing job telling this story.  I’ve never come away from any of his films without being completely impressed by his talent and the talent of the actors whom he decides to cast.  Fantastic Mr. Fox is no exception: Anderson enlists a few of his more familiar friends to voice the unique and hilarious characters.  Jason Schwartzman voices Ash, Mr. Fox’s awkward son who is constantly vying for his father’s approval. (An awkward young man dealing with deep issues, trying to figure himself out? – This can’t be a Wes Anderson movie!)  Bill Murray voices Badger, Fox’s attorney who warns Fox from the start to steer clear of the farmers that he wishes to steal from.  The cast is rounded out by a few more of Anderson’s regulars and some familiar voices who have never been in one of his films before: Meryl Streep (Mrs. Fox) and Willem Dafoe (Rat).

There are so many great moments in this movie.  One of my favorite scenes involves the humans who are plotting against the animals, have a campfire sing-along.  One of the mean farmers comes in about 2 minutes into the song and completely shuts down the banjo playing lead singer.  Additionally, there is an absolutely fantastic (get it?!) scene with a wolf.  This is as much as I will say about that scene, but if you know me and my adoration for the wolf, you’ll know why I was so excited about it.

This truly feels like an Anderson original creation.  The adaptation is perfect, Anderson joined forces with Noah Baumbach (The Squid and The Whale) to write this screenplay and it couldn’t have been any better.

This is a feel-good, funny story that everyone can enjoy.  The stop-motion is so reminiscent of classic movies (like Rudolph) that add a little bit of magic to an already wonderful story.  It truly makes a film that much better when you think about how much goes into creating the movie.

I give this movie 5 stars, it’s definitely one of the best I’ve seen all year and I will definitely own this when it comes out on DVD.  Not to mention, any movie with Bill Murray is a classic in my book.

Quick side note:  I love Wes Anderson’s music selections in all of his movies and this film is no exception.  Using selections from Brian Wilson’s Smile and old Rolling Stones singles, it makes this movie feel authentic and unique.

Happy Thanksgiving!