The Making of Fantastic Mr Fox: The Making of the Motion Picture

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In the later parts of the book, alongside the pictures of the models for the settings and locations, there are interviews with Wes Anderson, Liccy Dahl (Roald Dahl's wife) and various production staff. There are details that I missed watching the films several times, that come to life in this book. Like the text of the news paper article, which I imagined was just gibberish, but it turned out it's an engaging newspaper column written with a ton of wit and care for developing a complete character (image attached here). Such is the level of detail that went into making this movie and is beautifully chronicled here. More was written about the fact that these guys were walking around India with Vuitton bags than practically anything else in the whole film," Anderson complains. "I don't think I've made a film where I've had a political agenda that I was trying to get across or anything like that. I want to create a certain sort of world that doesn't quite exist, to imagine something new. With Darjeeling, our goal was to make as personal a story as we could, and it's filled with things that are connected with our lives and experiences and people close to us." Anderson's stories are full of adults who act like children and children who act like adults – at the moment he's somewhere between the two

Wes had a very clear idea of what he wanted, and I think he made us challenge all our preconceptions about what stop-motion puppets are,” says Peter Saunders. “I think the fact that he hadn't worked a great deal in stop motion pushed us out of our comfort zone, which forced us to try new ideas, new techniques, and new materials.”

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After giving his acceptance speech, the audio of the speech was used in a short animation of Anderson's character (Weasel) giving the speech, animated by Payton Curtis, a key stop-motion animator on the film. [44] See also [ edit ] Even though they were less than a quarter-inch in diameter, the eyes, which were made of resin and painted, were relatively simple. Each character has its own chapter. You can see how the director's interpretation the characters' look, traits and behaviours, are all reflected in the creation of the models. There are concept art from the initial character design to the final selected design, and the different expressions, their clothings, textures — hair, fur, wrinkly skin, etc. And there’s still more! Criterion includes Anderson’s stop-motion Sony Robots Commercial, which was made for the Sony Xperia, and presents a look at what goes on in those phones—allegedly. It runs about a minute.

These puppets have joints at almost every spot that we have joints, but their heads are especially complex; without organic facial muscles to contract, the puppet makers had to craft remarkably intricate and tiny mechanisms to contract the characters’ faces into various expressions: Michael Fleming (October 25, 2006). "Fox catches Dahl's Fox". Variety. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016 . Retrieved February 25, 2007.Century Fox Home Entertainment released the DVD and Blu-ray on March 23, 2010. [23] The Criterion Collection released the film on Blu-ray and DVD on February 18, 2014. [24] Also rather fascinating is Puppet Tests/Early Animation, which presents 4-minutes of footage testing out the various puppets and effects in the film. There’s footage covering the movement and facial expressions of the puppets in their skeleton form and finished form, as well as tests for tunneling sequences and scenes where there is running or other forms of action. There’s tests for the smoke that appears in the film (which is just cotton) and a few lighting tests, like Bean’s cigarette. It’s all rather fascinating as it gives a decent look at the development of some of the impressive techniques used in the film.

Soon after the Foxes move in, Felicity's nephew Kristofferson Silverfox comes to live with them due to his father receiving long-term medical treatment for double pneumonia. While Mr. and Mrs. Fox welcome him, Ash finds this situation intolerable, as his soft-spoken cousin is superior to him at almost everything and is charming everyone at his expense. Longing for his days as a thief, Mr. Fox and his opossum friend Kylie, the superintendent, steal produce and poultry from Boggis and Bunce's farms. They take Kristofferson along on the raid on Bean's cider cellar, which deepens Ash's resentment. Mr. Fox conceals these outings from Felicity, who becomes suspicious when unexplained food appears in their larder. It provides vivid behind-the-scenes look at Wes Anderson's creative process for this movie. And tells the story of how the movie came to be. It goes through everything from what drew Wes to the story to how he came to acquire the rights to the story, the cast of main characters, the never-seen animation hands, a couple of cut scenes, etc. It shows how an already fascinating story can be jazzed up to engage the senses in every way possible.Hornaday, Ann (November 27, 2009). "Ann Hornaday on 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' with George Clooney". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013 . Retrieved September 3, 2011. While raiding Berk's Squab Farm, Mr. Fox triggers a fox trap caging himself along with his wife Felicity. She reveals her pregnancy to her husband and pleads with him to find a safer job if they escape, and he agrees.