Tripwire Reviews Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox On Criterion Blu Ray Now

Den Of Thieves

Tripwire’s contributing writer Simon Kennedy takes a look at the Criterion release of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox on Blu Ray now…

Fantastic Mr Fox
Director: Wes Anderson
Voices: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Helen McCrory

Mr. Fox is now a newspaper man, which to anyone in the industry knows, will not bring you anything but problems. He has held down his job and succeeded in making it work for him and his growing litter. The family have moved to a better home inside a tree but at the cost of ignoring warnings from others about how dangerous the area is for foxes. Three feared farmers run things around here: Boggis (Robin Hurlstone) who farms chickens, Bunce (Hugo Guinness) who farms ducks and goose and Bean (the late Helen McCrory) who farms turkeys and apples. All of the things that a fox loves, all under their noses. Well they might say love thy neighbour but they also probably say, be a little miffed if said neighbour wants chicken for dinner and doesn’t pay for it. So that’s the conflict that we all need to make the story and the film bankable, which it is. Now I didn’t like the second act for a bunch of reasons: mainly down to its tweeness and ideas tailspins (interestingly the opposite of the excellent Isle Of Dogs). 

I understand that I am not the target audience for this release. The marketed consumers of a release like this are twofold. One is the core fans of Anderson and there are many. This release should please them. Although the commentary is old, it is solid. The essay on Dahl by Anderson explores both child and adult works by the man. It doesn’t explore Dahl’s antisemitism but this should be seen as a conversation for another space. The second group of consumers are those who love Criterion, either for the ‘worthy’ releases or the big ticket ones. Either way, they will adore this. Criterion have definitely put the work in.It’s a great master that has a few colour issues but Anderson said yes, so I might be in the minority. There’s a great documentary (from the BBC and Alan Yentob no less) on Dahl, some exploratory storyboard elements and a very nice audio recording for children to enjoy. Overall this is the sort of release that will make its money and make the viewer happy. An old grump like me need not apply I guess. 

DIRECTOR APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New digital master, approved by director Wes Anderson, with 5.1
surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Audio commentary featuring Anderson
• Storyboard animatics for the entire film

• Footage of the actors voicing their characters, puppet construction, stop- motion setups, and the recording of the score

• Puppet animation tests

• Photo gallery of puppets, props, and sets
• Animated awards acceptance speeches
• Audio recording of author Roald Dahl reading the book on which the film
is based
• Gallery of Dahl’s original manuscripts
• Discussion and analysis of the film
• Stop-motion Sony robot commercial by Anderson
• PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay; a 2002 article on Dahl’s Gipsy
House by Anderson; White Cape, a comic book used as a prop in the film;
and drawings, original paintings, and other ephemera

Fantastic Mr Fox is out now

Here’s the film’s original trailer too