Fantastic Mr. Fox (film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fantastic Mr. Fox
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wes Anderson
Produced by	Allison Abbate Scott Rudin Wes Anderson Jeremy Dawson
Screenplay by	Wes Anderson Noah Baumbach
Starring	George Clooney Meryl Streep Jason Schwartzman Bill Murray Owen Wilson
Music by	Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography	Tristan Oliver
Editing by	Andrew Weisblum
Studio	American Empirical Pictures Indian Paintbrush Regency Enterprises
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	October 14, 2009 (2009-10-14) (London Film Festival) November 13, 2009 (2009-11-13) (United States)
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40 million
Money made	$46.5 million

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a 2009 American stop motion animated comedy film directed by Wes Anderson, based on Roald Dahl's 1970 children's novel of the same name. The film is about a fox who steals food at night from three mean and wealthy farmers. They are fed up with Mr. Fox's theft and try to kill him so they dig their way into the foxes' home. However, the animals are able to outwit the farmers and live underground.

The film stars the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, and Owen Wilson. Fantastic Mr. Fox was Wes Anderson's first fully animated film and first film adaptation. Development on the project began in 2004 as a collaboration between Anderson and Henry Selick (who worked with Anderson on the 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) under Revolution Studios. In 2007, Revolution folded, Selick left to direct Coraline, and work on the film moved to 20th Century Fox. Production began in London in 2007. It was released in the United States on November 13, 2009, and received critical acclaim. The film also received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score, but lost both to Up.

Plot

While raiding Berk's Squab Farm, Mr. Fox triggers a fox trap caging himself along with his wife Felicity. Felicity reveals to her husband that she is pregnant and pleads with him to find a safer job if they escape, and he agrees.

Two human years (12 fox years) later, the Foxes and their son Ash are living in a hole. Mr. Fox, now a newspaper columnist, moves the family into a better home inside a tree, ignoring the warnings of his lawyer, about how dangerous the area is for foxes due to its proximity to facilities run by three feared farmers: Boggis (a chicken farmer), Bunce (a duck and goose farmer) and Bean (a turkey and apple farmer).

Soon after the Foxes move in, Felicity's nephew, Kristofferson Silverfox, comes to live with them. Ash finds this situation intolerable; his cousin is superior to him at almost everything, and everyone is charmed by Kristofferson. Longing for his days as a thief, Mr. Fox and his friend Kylie, an opossum, steal produce and poultry from all three farms for three straight nights. Angered, the farmers decide to kill Mr. Fox. They camp out near his home, and when Mr. Fox emerges, they open fire but only manage to shoot off his tail. After demolishing the site of the tree while attempting to dig Mr. Fox out, they discover the Foxes have dug an escape tunnel. As the Foxes will have to surface for food and water, the farmers wait at the tunnel mouth. Underground, Felicity is upset that Mr. Fox returned to his thieving ways.

The group later encounters Badger and many other local animal residents whose homes have also been destroyed by the farmers. As the animals begin fearing starvation, Mr. Fox leads them on a digging expedition to tunnel to the three farms, robbing them.

While the other animals feast, Ash and Kristofferson begin to reconcile after Kristofferson defends Ash from a bully. The cousins return to Bean's farm, intending to reclaim the missing tail but Kristofferson gets captured.

Discovering that Mr. Fox has stolen their produce, the farmers and the fire chief flood the animals' tunnel network with some of Bean's cider, trapping the animals in the sewers.

Realizing that the farmers plan to use Kristofferson to lure him into an ambush, Mr. Fox heads to the surface to surrender, but returns when Rat, Bean's security guard, confronts the animals and attacks Ash and Felicity. A fight between Mr. Fox and Rat results in the latter being pushed into a generator, electrocuting him. Before dying, Rat reveals Kristofferson's location. Mr. Fox asks the farmers for a meeting in town near the sewer hub where he would surrender in exchange for Kristofferson's freedom.

The farmers prepare an ambush, but the animals, anticipating it, launch a counterattack that allows Mr. Fox, Ash, and Kylie to enter Bean's farm undetected. Ash frees Kristofferson and braves enemy fire to release a rabid beagle to keep the farmers at bay, allowing the group to escape.

The animals soon settle into their new homes in the sewers, inviting any other animals to join them. Soon after, Fox raids a grocery store belonging to Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, where Felicity reveals she's pregnant again as the animals dance in the aisle.

Cast

Soundtrack

The score for the film was composed by Alexandre Desplat. Jarvis Cocker commented that he wrote "three, four" songs for the film, one of which was included on the soundtrack. The soundtrack also contains a selection of songs by The Beach Boys, The Bobby Fuller Four, Burl Ives, Georges Delerue, The Rolling Stones, and other artists. A soundtrack album for the film was released on November 3, 2009. It contains the following tracks:

Track listing

See also

In Spanish: Fantastic Mr. Fox para niños