Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox Trailer
I’ve been dying to see some actual footage of Wes Anderson’s upcoming stop motion animated film Fantastic Mr. Fox, ever since the first batch of official photos turned up online. As mentioned previously, I thought it looked more CG than stop motion in the stills, but now that the first trailer has arrived, it leaves no question that this is 100% stop motion. In fact, I can see some people complaining that the animation looks too choppy and simplistic, but I get the feeling that this is being done on purpose. The only problem is that it may be hard to immerse yourself in a world where everything seems so stiff.
Either way, the interesting thing here is seeing how Wes Anderson’s style will play into an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book. It certainly looks like his obsessive attention to detail and quirky sense of humour is a strong part of the mix, and with a voice cast that includes many of his usual collaborators, he’s not branching out quite as far as some might have previously thought. I suppose this could be good or bad depending on your point of view, but personally I can’t wait to see the final product. Fantastic Mr. Fox hits theatres on November 13th. A lower quality version of the trailer is embedded after the jump; you can also watch it in HD over on Yahoo! now.
Comments (20)
This looks totally ridiculous and I mean that in a good way. I think it looks quite amusing and charming.
Posted by Captain N on July 30th, 2009Looks great! Can’t wait for it.
Posted by A.J. on July 30th, 2009In a world of CG animation that stands out like a gem.
Posted by Big Hungry on July 30th, 2009I like it!!!!
Did I mention…
I like it!!!
i think it needs different actors
Posted by blackmothra on July 30th, 2009kids may love it, but adults will be distracted by the distinct celebrity voices .. but maybe you settle into that after 10 minutes
but gertie was kevin spacy no matter how hard i tried to forget it. .. so i dunno
but animated films need talent not famous names to sell it.
im sure im not the first to say this but when robin williams was the genie in aladdin it was disctracting even as a little kid
This trailer made me relate some of Wes Anderson’s framing to 2-D sidescrollers. Adds to a feeling that the animation is simplistic.
I lol’d though and I do want to see it.
Posted by Ryan M. on July 30th, 2009“I can see some people complaining that the animation looks too choppy and simplistic”
yyyyeah. Um… I’m not sure about this. I’ll see it because its Anderson and will reserve judgment, but my expectations are extremely lowered by this trailer. It’s like Robot Chicken level quality animation, and I have big doubts about that style’s ability to get you attached to a character.
Posted by Goon on July 30th, 2009wow, there’s a lot of nervous executives behind this one. very interesting this made it past test scenes. what did they spend on this movie? this reminds me of the people that make high end reproductions of antique furniture!
Posted by rus in chicago on July 30th, 2009It def has a visual charm to it…but will there be salty snacks? The voice casting seems a little iffy though. Schwartzman had me crack a smile while Clooney made my teeth hurt. I’m looking forward to it even though it has some tough kiddie book adaptation competition in Where the Wild Things Are.
Posted by ToeFu on July 30th, 2009I, as a fan of Wes Anderson, will definitely see this. I just don’t think it will find a very large audience.
Children aren’t exactly game for art house films.
Posted by Jon Rocks on July 30th, 2009I read the book when I was young and though this looks like a fun movie it also seems to take a lot of liberties with the story and especially the tone of the world.
Posted by Bas on July 31st, 2009I love Wes Anderson (except The Darjeeling) and I also love stop-motion animation. The Bros. Quay and Jan Svankmajer come to mind when I watch this (stylistically that is). Actually the old Wind in the Willows show is especially similar. I think this fits in pretty well with his other stuff. I hope that the ADD youth of today can appreciate the story and apparent warm overall feel of this if not the animation style. Where the Wild Things Are will definitely smoke this sucker all around as that shit looks AMAZING, but I think there will still be a place in the kiddie’s (and my) hearts for this.
Posted by Fatbologna on July 31st, 2009Any one that complains about the stop motion is either a spoiled brat of an audience member, or a child.
Posted by Bob The Slob on July 31st, 2009To quote Bumblebee from the legendary Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, “I’m so excited! And I just can’t hide it!”
Posted by Nate on July 31st, 2009Closer to The Brothers Quay and Svankmajer in tone would be the surreal little stop-motion gem BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING (http://twitchfilm.net/archives/008383.html)
Posted by Kurt on July 31st, 2009^^^^ I saw that one. Didn’t love it honestly. I think a lot of this stuff works better as a trailer than as feature length film.
Posted by Rusty James on July 31st, 2009Welp, know where all the R3 peeps come when they’re site is down.
Posted by Dave on July 31st, 2009Kurt,
Posted by fatbologna on July 31st, 2009Good call! I guess what I meant was that this reminds me more of those examples than of the Burton stop-motion stuff or Coraline. I’d never seen nor heard of BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING, but I’ll definitely be checking it out. I also liked the marionette film Strings when it came out a couple years back. Though not a stop-motion film it definitely had the feel of other lower budget Euro animated projects. The craftsmanship and sheer dedication is amazing and really something to be admired.
Rusty James,
I think you REALLY have to be in the right mindset for a lot of those films. They tend to be slow and almost mind-numbingly odd. For some reason though they stick with me long after viewing them. I can’t speak for Christiane Cegavske’s work but the Quays and Svankmajer are pioneers of stop-motion and their works are the stuff of nightmares.
Posted by fatbologna on July 31st, 2009Kurt,
Posted by fatbologna on July 31st, 2009sorry for the triple post, but I had to tell you: Very good review for BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING! I’m VERY interested now! Thanks!
the trailor looks funny…jerky but funny
http://c-trainsentertainmentreviews.blogspot.com/
Posted by cj on July 31st, 2009Leave a Reply