Fantasic Mr Fox: – 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment DVD Edition

Fantasic Mr Fox: – 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment DVD Edition
Review by JAM

What does a man do when he feels that his career defines him? Even better, what does a fox do? From the children’s novel by Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, comes the stop-motion animated masterpiece Fantastic Mr. Fox.

While on a squab raid, Fox (voiced by George Clooney) and his wife Felicity (Meryl Streep) are caught in a fox trap that leads Felicity to share the news that she is pregnant and at the same time she requests a promise from Fox that if they do survive, she wants him to leave his career as a thief.

Flash forward to two years later and Fox has become a family man with a job as a newspaper columnist, living in a hole with his wife and son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) while always dreaming of something more. Wanting to break free from the underground lifestyle, Fox takes a chance on a better home against the advice of his lawyer Badger (Bill Murray), mainly because his lawyer knows that the tempting view may soon affect Fox. You see, the Fox’s new home lies right in view of the three enormous farms of Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. And this temptation is far too great for Mr. Fox. Before the temptation is acted upon, Felicity’s seemingly perfect nephew Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson) joins the family, causing more strife within the foxhole, or fox home.

Ignoring reason, common sense, and the previous warning from his wife, Fox and his new opossum buddy Kylie (Wallace Wolodarsky) scheme to make a grab at each of the farms, successfully each time which causes the farmers to seek revenge. Revenge involves the stalking of the Fox home and a barrage of bullets that only succeed in removing the tail from Fox’s back end. Quickly escaping down a freshly dug foxhole, Fox and the family avoid the farmer’s revenge but only serve to anger them more. The rest of the movie involves the quest for the farmers’ revenge versus Fox’s realization of how much he screwed up, not just for his family but for the rest of the woodland creatures who lost their homes during this feud. Suffice to say that all ends well for our family of furry friends, but for the full story you will just have to check out the movie.

Stop motion animation is often fun and different to watch, and the Fantastic Mr. Fox is no different as the movie has the feel of an anthropomorphic fantasy land in which the animals reign supreme in the daily fight against the human oppressors. If you are a fan of Mr. Dahl’s books or of Coraline and Corpse Bride, then this movie may be an enjoyable escape for you into a land of thievery and trickery, where a boy finds his worth in the least likely of places and a father finds that his life’s meaning doesn’t have to be defined by others.

Extras

The following extras are included on this DVD. From Script to Screen takes us on a quick ride through the production process of this film, Still Life (Puppet Animation) shows insight into the puppet design and the animation itself. A Beginners Guide to Whack-Bat gives us a show of the rules behind the game that Fox and his friends play in the movie. I’ll be honest, I’m still confused from this one. And finally the Theatrical Trailer is included as well.

Bonus Features include:

From Script to Screen
Still Life (Puppet Animation)
A Beginners Guide to Whack-Bat
Theatrical Trailer

Fantastic Mr. Fox from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment digs its way onto shelves on DVD and Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack on March 23, 2010. Get your furry paws on a copy of this one soon!