The films of Wes Anderson don’t have it easy. Everyone loves them, at least as far a gross overgeneralizations go, but I don’t think many understand them. His movies are whimsical and funny, but all of them also have a deep, underlying seriousness, or even sadness. Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. All movies that I deeply love, but also all movies that carry some deep sadness in them. But they’re not depressing. The Life Aquatic is one of the most inspiring movies ever made. A feel-good movie if I ever saw one.
But I digress. I was about to write about Fantastic Mr. Fox. The reason why I began this article in the way that I did is that I know why Mr. Fox didn’t have much financial success. It’s not because the movie isn’t beautiful. Or because the story doesn’t touch you. Or because the actors aren’t up to scratch, or maybe (to use a more shallow arument) because they aren’t “big” enough. No, that’s not the reason, because The Fantastic Mr. Fox has all that and more. It’s because no one knows what to make of this movie.
