Mr. Fox More Fantastic Than Ever - page 2

24 October 2009

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George fell in love with the script as soon as he read it - even though he couldn't quite work out the appeal of the movie.

He said: "Mr. Fox was such an optimist and I really thought it was a fun character to play. I remember reading the script and saying to Wes, 'Listen, I love it. I'm thrilled and excited to do it. I don't know who'll see it because it's sort of made for grown-ups and it's sort of made for kids'.

"You never know how that plays. He said, 'Don't worry about it, let's just go make a movie and have some fun'. I thought that was a great way to approach making a film. For me it's about the process of working with Wes."

Mr. Fox's daring actions land him in trouble with the rest of the animal kingdom as the farmers, led by Bean, decide to put a stop to his actions.

Despite being set in England, Wes deliberately made the animals all have American accents.

"Noah Baumbach and I adapted the script together and we're American," he said. "I feel like we're better writing American voices so we decided that we would make all the animals American and the humans would be British."

For Bill Murray - who voices Mr. Fox's friend and lawyer Badger - the reasoning was clearer: "Because they're the bad guys and the British are bad guys," Wes joked.

The three humans are indeed the ultimate bad guys, shooting off Mr. Fox's tail while waiting for him to come out of his tree.

Seeing no sign of their rival, the trio opt to try and dig him out - only to find the foxes can burrow faster - and organise a sit-in, threatening to shoot any animal which ventures outside, leaving the rest of the underground community trapped without food.

Aided by Kylie, Ash and his athletic nephew Kristofferson, Mr. Fox digs one more set of tunnels - direct to the farmers' farms, robbing them on their stocks.

They return with the goods, and the animals bond over a banquet - only for their foes to have another nasty surprise in store.

Resigned to his fate, Mr. Fox decides to give himself up but a family crisis puts paid to his plans - and the clan eventually manages to save the day, outsmarting the farmers while wreaking havoc and finding themselves with a better food supply than before.

The cleverly put together production is likely to enthral children and adults alike, and will have you clamouring to read the much-loved book again.

For the author's widow, Felicity Dahl, she believes he would join in with the plaudits already being showered on the film.

She said: "When I was watching the finished film, I thought, He'd love this.' I could feel him smiling. My breath was taken away. It's fantastic and the pace, the music. I couldn't get over the wit in it, but also the beauty.

"The visual side of the film is just breathtaking. I have to say, when I came out of the screening. I immediately emailed Wes and I said, 'This is a masterpiece'."

By Viki Waters

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