Greetings to everyone and Happy Father's Day to all the fathers and father figures in the world! This is crimsonwrites here, signing in as we are going to have our first-ever movie review here in Hive, huzzah! Now, we are going to be viewing in retrospect on one of the many finely directed movies by the greatly renowned American filmmaker and Hollywood director Wes Anderson— Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).

Wes Anderson is greatly known for his postmodern style works, unique visuals, captivating narrative styles, and nostalgic, subtle attention to detail in his films. His works are often known for themes of maturity and innocence, loss and grief, dysfunctional families, search of connection and belonging. Because of his eccentric styles of filmmaking and directing, critics often cite and consider him as an auteur, which is defined as "a filmmaker whose personal influence and artistic control over a movie are so great that the filmmaker is regarded as the author of a movie." (Oxford Dictionary).

One of the many underrated films of Wes Anderson involves a movie about a fox and his wits and pride, his family, and all of the many neighborhood wild animal friends who were caught up in company with their human neighbors— Boggis, Bunce and Bean who were poultry and cider farmers, known for their cruelty and wickedness in their own ways— after the fox stole their chickens and apple cider. The story mostly revolves around Mr. Fox, who is known for his wits, and often pride, his wife Felicity who only wishes for her family's safety and cares for his husband deeply, his son Ash who lives in a world of his own and wants to be seen by his father, and cousin Kristofferson.

Synopsis:

"After 12 years of bucolic bliss, Mr. Fox (George Clooney) breaks a promise to his wife (Meryl Streep) and raids the farms of their human neighbors, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. Giving in to his animal instincts endangers not only his marriage but also the lives of his family and their animal friends. When the farmers force Mr. Fox and company deep underground, he has to resort to his natural craftiness to rise above the opposition."

~- Review -~

Visuals:

One of the most magical things about this movie is the director Wes Anderson's choice of color palette in every scene. The warm, nostalgic, '90s-film type of colors in each scene, along with the use of stop-motion picture in animating each element in the film wonderfully sets it to a nostalgic, yet meaningful tone that immediately captivates the viewer's eyes. It's a very simple yet unique use of visuals, and every tone in the scene conveys a subtle, often hidden meaning in each frame.

In the opening scene where the young Mr. Fox sets out of his tree and stretching with some music on, the colors are much more vibrant and orange-ish, which perfectly speaks of a much more peaceful time before the later events happen. There are hidden meanings in each detail and the little dialogues too, and every one is subtle.

One of the nicest details that I noticed which is the most prominent but less noticed is that throughout the film, the warm colors gradually changes not only to accommodate the setting and situation of each scene, but also sets a feeling of maturity and change. In the first scenes, the story feels more vibrant, safe and warm, but towards the end of the film, the colors feel a little bit mature and often monotonous, indicating a kind of change in the relationship between the characters and themselves, and especially to their surroundings and situation in the story.

Story and Dialogues:

In the original book Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl, the story talks about the three wicked farmers, out to catch the protagonist hero Mr. Fox after he took their farm produces. On the verge of capturing the cunning fox, the three farmers were able to shoot off his tail, and they waited for him to reappear. With this, the farmers tried to force Mr. Fox and his family into starvation, along with the other animal friends as they try to escape from farmer's attempts to capture them by digging underground. With a clever idea, Mr. Fox devised a plan to tunnel into each farm, saving his family from hunger as well as the other animals. In the end, he and all the other animals built a safe underground village, where they could freely live without the threat of the three farmers, and they were still able to get food from each farm, ending the story.

This story is pretty much the same as in the movie adaptation. However, in the movie adaptation, the film speaks about the personality and character of Mr. Fox in more depth, as well as his relationship between his family members, and the other animals. His wife, Felicity, after witnessing what she and her family had to go through because of Mr. Fox's nightly encounters in the farm and his witty instincts. His son, Ash, feels that he is less seen and appreciated by his father, and often feels invalidated by him. Meanwhile, Kristofferson, Ash's cousin, was like the better version of him, which Mr. Fox always compliments, and Ash obviously doesn't like that and his cousin, leading to a father-son conflict throughout the film. But eventually in the film, Mr. Fox manages to reconcile with his son amidst the main conflict they were in, and admits that he is wrong in thinking that he is "different", instead of accepting that he is, in a way like all the other characters are, "unique".

I used to think that Mr. Fox is the true primary antagonist who caused his family's problems of survival because of his urges to hunt and his pride in his own thinking, meanwhile totally rejecting his family's safety and of what they think, too. But gradually as the film goes on, I fully begin to understand the depth of Mr. Fox's character, and for me, I think that he is a very well-written character.

There are some dialogues in the movie that are very meaningful and gives each scene in the film a sense of humor, sorrow, seriousness, and maturity. The dialogues are very well-written, and they carry much the themes that comprise the film and are expressed nicely. Even the little dialogues and the details in the words contain a lot of weight.

This one scene here was really heavy.

Conclusion:

This movie felt so surreal yet very beautiful. It's filled with so much meaning and expression, yet conveyed very simply and uniquely. Every aspect and element of this film was so rich with wonder, and the sceneries, though simple, but very pleasing. The visuals and animation was very nice, and evokes a kind of nostalgia you could only often see in other older stop-motion films and childhood movies.

I chose this movie for this recent special day because for me, I think it perfectly fits the protagonist Mr. Fox as a father, who, despite his base instincts, his cunning and his pride, he still decided to put his natures down to save his family from the antagonists who tried to take their lives, as well as being able to connect with his son and accept him for who he is. He is a father who deeply cares for his family, and wants nothing more to just provide his family a better home and to keep them safe and alive. His character resonates with every father figure who shares the same goal in keeping their keeping their families safe, and giving them a better life and future.

This movie has a special place in my heart, forever.

And I think this is where my movie review ends and all of my thoughts on this one. Thank you so much for having the time to read my work and dropping by to listen to my thoughts and feelings about this wonderful movie! This right here's crimsonwrites, signing off, and once again, Happy Father's Day to all! ❤️😁

Note: All of the screenshots above are taken from my laptop's screen camera. All of the article's contents are not AI-generated, and does not promote the use of AI in my article works.