Trailer!: Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox

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Trailer!: Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox

POSTED: Thursday, August 6, 2009, 9:30 PM

Filed Under: Movies trailer!

The boy wonder Wes Anderson returns to center stage after two critically underwhelming films ' although I gotta admit that The Life Aquatic has grown on me, while The Darjeeling Limited has not (love that art direction though). So here we are at an important juncture for Anderson, he's branching off, doing something new. There's the obvious animation aspect, which Anderson has never fully explored, but, and I think more importantly, he's working of an adaptation of a much beloved book (I can think of no Roald Dahl book ' from The BFG to Esio Trot ' that is not beloved), rather than working from his own source material.

For me, this is a mixed bag. Anderson has always had a strong visual style. From the spareness of Bottle Rocket to the overstuffed rooms and iconic costumes of The Royal Tennebaums to the cross-section and stunning revelation of the jaguar shark in The Life Aquatic and I think that bodes well for an animated film, especially stop-motion animation, where everything must be painstakingly constructed. Other than maybe Guillermo del Toro, there is no other director working today who I would rather see work in this medium (maybe one of the Pixar guys ' Andrew Lasseter, perhaps). That being said, I think the voices are off. They're instantly recognizable and it's completely jarring to hear George Clooney's voice come out of Mr. Fox's mouth. At the same time, when I heard about this casting, I thought it was perfect. Who better to play the wiliest characters of them all? But in animation like this, I want to get lost in it. I don't want to remember that I'm watching puppets every time one of the characters opens its mouth. In essence, though, this looks exactly like I imagined an animated Wes Anderson movie would look. It's quirky and funny and almost too hip for its own good. And while there's solace in the familiar, I was really hoping for something ' well ' fantastic.

Bonus points for Bill Murray though, always bonus for points for Bill.

This trailer has drummed up quite a bit of controversy in movie blog land, so I'm quite interested to hear what you guys think. Love it? Hate it? Think Anderson is a quirk-filled flash in the pan? Lay it on me.

As a different point of discussion, what Roald Dahl book would you like to see turned into a movie? I think Dahl translate pretty well to film and I'm always surprised there isn't more of them. Too dark, maybe? Of course, there are the various incarnations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Witches, with Anderson regular Angelica Houston is one of my all time favorites. Scared the shit outta me when I was a kid but I loved it. I'm also a fan of Henry Selick's (A Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline) James and the Giant Peach and I have very fond memories of an animated BFG that used to air on ITV in England.

What Dahl adaptations do you want to see? I think The Twits would make a superb, surreal live action film (c'mon, how cool would it be to see the Dahl's description of the food particles stuck in Mr. Twits' beard?). I've always wanted to see an animated short of Esio Trot ' a sentimental favorite. But all I can see in my head are Quentin Blake's fabulous illustrations, so that may only be a pipe dream.

Kyle

Posted 2009-08-09 16:16:06

I would love to see a live action version of the primary tale in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Other Stories, perhaps even directed by Anderson. Owen Wilson as Henry, Bill Murray could be his partner-in-crime/master of disguise artist, but who would play the yogi?

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