Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Wes Anderson’s first animated film is an autumn jewel. He directs the stop-motion feature from a script co-created with Noah Baumbach.

It’s based on a dark and wickedly funny story by Roald Dahl. The plot is about Mr. and Mrs. Fox (voiced by George Clooney and Meryl Streep), their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman), their nephew Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson, Wes’s brother), a slew of other animal creatures, and three bad guys. The story is about family and friendship and stealing food. It also celebrates doing things together. The movie may just be the quintessential autumn film, suffused in a rich orange and gold glow. The animation is fresh and really like nothing we have seen on screen prior to this—far removed from Disney or Pixar. Dahl gives Anderson a worthy platform from which to entertain us.