Fantastic Mr Fox has always quietly been one of the finest Wes Anderson movies.
It frequently does not get rated among his best work, since it is his one animated offer. But even though it is a lot of stop-motion creatures, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s Anderson at his sweetest.
So it is wonderful to see his return to cartoon form, after the critical success of The Grand Budapest Hotel. And he’s not trying to re-do the same formula that got him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
In lots of ways, animation is a great match for Anderson’s dollhouse design, in which he can dress and assemble small ideas and twee places to his every whim. Plus it gives him the freedom to tell his story in any way he se’s fit.
In the case of his latest flick, it’s ideas like this; it’s near-future Japan, in which ‘dog flu’ and overpopulation has forced Mayor Kobayashi to exile every canine to a litter island. And his young sun, Atari Kobayashi hijacks a plane to save his missing dog, Spots.
If nothing else, this trailer will melt your cold, dead heart.
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