Fantastic Mr. Fox: despite switching to animation, Wes Anderson’s sensibilities as a director remain intact. With a lovely, quirky, rather unusual-looking style, the film tells the story of a husband and father having a midlife crisis; if he were not a fox, this could have been a live-action film. As is his wont, Anderson’s gaze is loving towards his characters and their issues, which include finding their place in the world and how they relate to their loved ones. Voice acting is top-notch: George Clooney is perfectly cast as the charming rascal protagonist, and he delivers his lines beautifully; Meryl Streep, well, is Meryl Streep, and she is great here as the gentle wife, to the point where she could have been used more; Anderson’s veteran Jason Schwartzman is probably the best of the bunch as their son, who feels misunderstood and ignored; Michael Gambon is very threatening as the story’s main villain and Willem Dafoe, as one of his animal henchman, is very funny.

The animation, whose director was Mark Gustafson, is done in stop-motion, but the models are unlike what is generally used, with a rich texture given by the use of hair. The characters are all well-designed and distinctive. Cinematographer Tristan Oliver incorporates many of the usual elements of Anderson’s live-action films, particularly the lateral camera movements. In typical fashion, music is superbly used, starting with composer Alexandre Desplat’s lovely original score and with many other tracks throughout.

As an unrelated bonus, here is another commercial Wes Anderson directed, with Brad Pitt playing a Jacques Tati-inspired character.

Read what I wrote before: Fantastic Mr. Fox