On a regular day Mr. Fox (George Clooney) was on the top of the hill waiting for his dear wife Felicity (Meryl Streep) to go out for a raid. Both make their way through the farmer’s property and into the barn to score some squabs and as they are leaving Mr. Fox’s curiosity gets him and his wife trapped inside a steel cage. Inside the cage Felicity tells Mr. Fox that he is going to be a dad and once they get out that he must promise to find another profession. Years later, the family is complete and all happy except Mr. Fox who considers the fox hole to be “poor”. Mr. Fox sets out to find a new home above ground and against his lawyer’s recommendation he purchases a huge tree for the family to live in. Mr. Fox is warned about the three farm owners who will not tolerate any thievery. But clever Mr. Fox is as much a genius as well as is oblivious. Living the happy life along with his son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and nephew Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson) Mr. Fox turns to his old way and plans the biggest heist anyone has seen, but he doesn’t have an idea what exactly he is getting into.

When I saw this film being released on theaters I was curious, I wasn’t sure what to make of the film, maybe because it’s not your typical everyday animated film. I have seen other stop motion films before, but this one left me with certain curiosity. Everyone said good things about it, so I went in with higher expectations than usual and I was greatly surprised. The entire production was magnificent. Wes Anderson’s take on the Roald Dahl it’s very impressive, the way each character is given life and a personality of its own is impeccable. The attention to detail and the way in which Dahl’s creation was adapted to the big screen deserves nothing but my respect. Although being catered to children I can’t say that is entirely true as it seems to be aimed to the adults to get in touch with the child within.

The voice acting is superb. Wes Anderson did a magnificent job on this section as well. Anderson’s musical selection adds positively to the film making it rather enjoyable. I do have to say the film was a bit slow in certain scenes and even strange at times. Mostly due to the way each conversation was constructed. Overall Anderson did a great job bringing Dahl’s work to life. However, I do feel that perhaps this film is not going to please everyone. Those willing to get passed the way it was made and accept the fact that is a kid’s film will be pleased. I have no complaints as I enjoyed the film from the minute it started.

Fantastic Mr. Fox was a pleasant surprise in the picture quality department despite its sometimes-grainy appeal. It was really odd how it used some small film grain to its appeal instead of just an absorbent amount of vibrant solids. Grain haters take note, when I say small … I mean small in the very tiniest way. It’s done with class, in my humble opinion. The hairs on the fox are the most noticeable in the attention to detail department and really show character in many scenes as you can see the difference in every follicle damn near ha-ha. In all seriousness, you won’t be mad at the video quality by all means and even though I don’t think it’s a 5 disc (star) rating it’s still way above average and fits the theme of the film greatly. Videoholics won’t have much to gripe about.

Fantastic Mr. Fox arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. This is very front heavy film, so don’t expect the rears to be in consistent use. The dialogue is clean and clear at all times. There are a few scenes that bring out the rears, but they are mostly used for the score of the film, which by the way it sounds perfectly. In reality the audio track did exceptionally for the type of film that you are looking at here.

Fantastic Mr. Fox includes a decent amount of extras including a documentary. This should keep you going even after the film has rolled the final credits. Check below for a list of supplements.

Making of Mr. Fox Fantastic – This feature is comprised of 6 segments. First, The Look of Fantastic Mr. Fox deals with the inspirations of the filmmakers and their idea of they were going to bring Mr. Fox to life. Second, From Script To Screen the filmmakers talk about the tricky part about bringing the book to the big screen. Third, The Puppet Makers gives the viewers a behind the scenes into how the characters were made for the film. Fourth, Still Life (Puppet Animation) deals with the look into how the animation was made. Fifth, The Cast gives us a look at the voices behind Fantastic Mr. Fox. The final piece of this documentary is Bill and His Badger and just takes a look at Bill Murray and how he how brought the badger to life. This is a very interesting documentary as a whole do not miss it!

A Beginner’s Guide to Whack-Bat – This features a brief explanation of how to play Whack-Bat.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: The World of Roald Dahl – This doesn’t exactly fill in the shoes of an audio commentary, but this I’ll take this as well. Wes Anderson and Felicity Dahl talk about Roald Dahl and his books. Wes goes on to talk about his thoughts on Roald and what he did to gain inspiration for the film. Very entertaining extra that should not be left unwatched.

Theatrical Trailer

Fantastic Mr. Fox was better than I was hoping, heck I loved the movie, it took me by surprise. Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox appeals to my inner child and I am sure not the only one with this notion. Anderson’s presentation is incredible on top of a great video and audio presentation this is a must watch for anyone looking for a good film. I recommend it.