August 4, 2009 
source: traileraddict.com
The trailer for Wes Anderson‘s stop-motion animated film Fantastic Mr. Fox has debuted online … and oh boy, this is going to divide people.
Adapted from the beloved Roald Dahl book by Noah Baumbach and Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox features the stellar vocal talents of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman.
The original Dahl novel told the story of a wily fox who steals food from a trio of farmers in order to feed his family. It looks as if Anderson has turned the story into an good-old-fashioned heist flick, which sounds pretty great to me.
In fact, if you close your eyes and listen to the trailer, Fantastic Mr. Fox sounds like an incredibly entertaining movie; sort-of like an updated remake of Bottle Rocket.
As for the animation – well, you need to see this for yourself.
http://www.traileraddict.com/emd/12823
It certainly is shot like a Wes Anderson film. I’m not really sure how I feel about the look of Fantastic Mr. Fox based on this trailer. Perhaps the stop-motion is meant to look very old-school and slightly undergraduate. However, in this short 2 and a 1/2 minute trailer, this feels like a very undercooked project, especially in the shadow of Henry Selick‘s gorgeous Coraline.
Coincidentally, the project was originally a directorial collaboration between Anderson and Selick. However, Selick moved on from the project to work on Coraline leaving Anderson to handle the project on his own.
I appreciate that Anderson has applied his trademark ‘locked-camera’ look to Fantastic Mr. Fox, but something about seeing it in animated form doesn’t quite gel with me.
However, the dialogue sounds pretty clever based on the trailer, and I love Anderson’s work, so I will hold out all judgment until I see the full product.
Discuss: What are your thoughts on this trailer? Does the animation work for you? Is Anderson the right man for this job?
Oh hell no!