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.
It’s not a children’s movie, at least not strictly speaking. Sure, it’s not overly violent, doesn’t feature any coarse language and I’m sure children will be perfectly able to understand and enjoy it. But it is not a children’s movie. By the same measure Fantastic Mr. Fox isn’t a movie for adults. Not because it is too shallow, too silly to be enjoyed by grown-ups, but because many will lack the capacity to enjoy it. Why? Because it’s animated, which immediately qualifies it as an only-for-kids-thing. The same, I believe, happened to the recent Dreamworks movie How To Train Your Dragon, which can certainly be enjoyed by children, but which also has amazing depth – enough depth to satisfy an adult audience, I think. What is worse, Mr. Fox is not only animated, it is stop-motion animated. Indeed the whole presentation, from the comic-like style of the characters and props to the deliberate choice of shooting the movie at 12 frames per second as opposed to the more fluid (and common) 24. And then there’s also the question of the humor.
We saw Fantastic Mr. Fox at the sneak preview, just a few days ago. And while I think that the sneak is an extraordinarily bad habitat for a movie such as this, the same still should apply to other audiences. This certainly was true for The Life Aquatic and Rushmore. People don’t *get* Wes Anderson’s movies. In a way, most cinema audiences have a binary mind. It’s either a comedy or a drama. Either a thriller or a love story. True: a drama may have funny lines and a thriller might have a romantic b-plot, but as soon as the distinctions blur the audience gets restless. And few movies I have ever seen blur the lines more than the work of Anderson.
Fantastic Mr. Fox, with its apparent kindergarden target audience has it even harder than Anderson’s other movies. And so the movie got laughs during a very touching death scene, hoots when Mr. Fox asks himself what he is and what he would like to be, and giggles when he finally confronts one of his greatest fears. And I think that is sad. Fantastic Mr. Fox strikes a near-perfect balance between comedy and drama and there’s even a little action thrown into the mix. And far too many people are unable to recognize the brilliance of this beautiful work of art because they have been taught a far too narrow, far too thoughtless definition of what a movie may or may not be.
But again I digress. It is not the subject of this article to go on about the woeful inadequacy of modern audiences. I was going to talk about Fantastic Mr. Fox. George Clooney said the following in a recent interview:
[...] I wasn`t sure if people would see it because it`s not really a kids movie or a grown up movie. Wes said don`t worry about it, let`s go make a movie and have some fun. That’s a great way of approaching a film.
You can feel that when watching this movie. It’s full of fun, full of energy. I don’t doubt that the people involved in the making of this movie had a great time on set. I assume it also helps that Anderson once again cast many of his old partners-in-crime. Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe and Owen Wilson, to name but a few. All excellent actors, so I don’t mind the nepotism. And George Clooney. Now here’s someone who was born to be a voice actor. His Mr. Fox is thoughtful, suave, witty. I don’t think much of Clooney’s fame as sexiest man alive; it’s not that I can’t see what might make him attractive, it’s just that he never worked for me. But never mind that, what I was getting at is that Mr. Fox seems as real to me as any other person, all due to George Clooney’s amazing talents as an actor (rather than as a celebrity).
Wes Anderson has said that Fantastic Mr. Fox was the first book he ever owned. He has kept his first copy, bought all those years ago when he was seven, and is a great admirer of Roald Dahl. And boy is that visible. Fantastic Mr. Fox is one pretty movie. Old-school, yes, but by choice, not necessity. The thought and love that went into the design of the puppets, the sets and the props is evident in every frame. The puppets themselves are incredibly versatile and more talented than some live action actors that I’ve recently seen (no, I won’t name any names, that wouldn’t be nice).
And the music… the music is amazing, no doubt contributing a lot to the movie’s feel-good nature. Energetic and very pretty original music and an excellent selection of songs from the fifties, sixties and a few other decades before and after that. Wes Anderson has a feel for music; I adore the soundtrack of The Life Aquatic, for example, and he doesn’t disappoint here. We couldn’t help but notice that he gives thanks to Cameron Crowe in the credits, another one of those filmmakers that know which songs fit where, and I can’t help but wonder if he played any part in the assembly of this soundtrack. It certainly wouldn’t surprise.
The bottom line is that The Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of those movies that leave behind a warm feeling of contentment once the credits have finished rolling. I had lost my faith in Wes Anderson, at least a little, after the postmodern disasters that were The Darjeeling Limited and the even more urgh-inspiring short Hotel Chevalier, but with this gem he has more than redeemed himself. So I raise a glass of triple-distilled cider and toast Messrs. Fox & Anderson. It is well deserved.
Interesting links:
Mmm, another very interesting film I have to see. And probably go back and find the older We Anderson films, see those as well. It’s an excellent thing to always have so many superb works to look forward to.
Why is it that I never heard of Wes Anderson?
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