As Thanksgiving approaches with its family-centered festivities, Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is the perfect film for the November holiday because of its orange color grading, intricate stop-motion design and the theme of what it means to be human (or in the film’s case, a wild animal).
Based upon the book of the same name by Roald Dahl, anthropomorphic Mr. Fox has a fixation on stealing poultry from farms, but his wife, Felicity, makes him quit before his son is born. Two years later, Mr. Fox and his friends and family must deal with the repercussions after he steals from the three biggest farmers: Boggis, Bunce and Bean.
Maybe it’s because Thanksgiving falls in autumn and autumn aligns with shades of orange and brown, but in my opinion, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is the ideal motion picture to watch on Turkey Day.
Yes, the main character is a fox, so of course, orange will be a consistent color throughout the film’s runtime. However, the color holds heavy influence over the movie in general, both in terms of visuality and the warmth it tries — and succeeds — to radiate.
I hold the film’s various shades of orange near and dear to my heart, but I do have favorites regarding the cinematic shots that use them. One of my favorites is the opening shot of Mr. Fox leaning against a tree, waiting for his wife to come back from her doctor’s appointment.
The fact of the shot in particular is that it has nothing but shades of orange as its coloring. The hill the tree stands on is a darker tone, the tree itself is slightly lighter and even the sky has at least five shades in its vastness. As I stare at the frame, I think about how it is as if you were to hold a magnifying glass to an autumn leaf, seeing what orangey world it is hiding.
The shot emits a feeling of warmth not only because of the orange hues, but also because of the context. In the center of the shot stands a fox waiting for his better half, his wife, his lover. With the warmth comes the tenderness of Mr. Fox’s longing for Felicity’s return, and their love and marriage is a pivotal plot point of the film entirely, as that’s why it begins with this display of their relationship dynamic.
What I love about stop-motion animation is that it is one of the clearer displays of the human touch in cinema. It is a never-ending exhibition of set design and crafting in the form of tiny figures that require the most miniscule and attentive of details. It is all real and practical with little to no use of CGI, and it is also used by one of my other favorite movies, “Coraline.”
Since the whole movie is in stop-motion, it is easy to say that any shot or scene would be a clear showing of the great attentiveness I love so much. But I would rather be more descriptive of my love with one scene in particular, and that is the scene where Mr. Fox tells Felicity that he will give himself up to save everyone from the wrath of the farmers.
The scene takes place in front of a rainy background, conveying Mr. Fox’s sense of defeat not only with the dialogue but also with the setting. As the couple talks about his surrender, there are multiple instances of close-ups on both of their faces.
In these close-ups, viewers can see how even though the foxes’ fur is completely fake, it still holds the hard work of human hands that it took to create these foxes. As their mouths move, you can see how their fur moves with it, which accentuates the practicality in their overall mannerisms.
In their plastic, painted eyes, anyone can see that there is distress and acceptance in them because of the fact that a human took the time to emulate those emotions in these non-sentient figures. Even the shadows on their faces are as realistic as possible, conveying how the lighting perfectly matches up with their shading.
This scene does more than a good job with showing the complexity of stop-motion. It also underlines the film’s theme of the humanness in its characters.
In the scene, Mr. Fox talks about his surrender, but he also discusses his difficulty in breaking an addiction, which is his obsession in stealing from multiple farms. He then goes on about how his desire for everyone to see him as “fantastic” is what brought them into the mess with the farmers, and he caused this misery in all their lives.
This is a point of reflection for his character, but it is also a plot reflection. The anthropomorphism of the film’s characters supports a theme of humanity, despite their physical features. Mr. Fox’s awareness of his flaws and addiction despite not changing at all for the most part is the most human characteristic of all.
His self awareness in searching for danger is described as instinctual, as the trait of a wild animal. But that search for danger, especially if it brings joy, is also a trait found in humans. It is what I love most of all about the movie and its themes; the love, infatuation and heartbreak shown throughout the film is all felt in a human way.
Just as Felicity paints pictures of thunderstorms, the movie paints the clearest picture that we are all wild animals.
