162 replies to this topic

[Ghost]

Not seen a topic for this yet so here goes. Wes Anderson is making Roald Dahl's classic story into an animated feature with the voice cast including George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and with Anderson regulars Angelica Houston and Bill Murray. Im sure there will people that moan that its americans voicing this film but to be honest i think Clooney will be perfect as Mr Fox. Also the Fantastic Mr Fox is probably my favourite Dahl book so im really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Heres some info from Wiki

In September 2007, Anderson announced voice work would begin. The director chose to record the voices outside of a studio: "We went out in a forest, went in an attic, [and] went in a stable. We went underground for some things. There was a great spontaneity in the recordings because of that." He said of the production design, "We want to use real trees and real sand, but it’s all miniature." Great Missenden, where Roald Dahl lived, has a major influence on the film's look. The film mixes several forms of animation but consists primarily of stop motion. Animation is taking place in London.

Jarvis Cocker has written "three, four" songs for the film.

Really nice to see they are going with stop motion for this as well, although I hope the keep the same style as the original book drawings. Anderson is a great director so hopefully this shouldnt be a let down

[Roger Nostril]

Sounds fucking great. When's this baby due?

[lordcookie]

There was me hoping they'd finally released some promotional shots for the film. Five years Wes has been attached to this project and still no real info.

With Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are and Guillermo del Toro tackling The Witches it really is a good time for classic children's stories. It's also nice to see quirky directors getting to direct them. Let's just hope they don't turn out like Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

[AK Bell]

George Clooney in yet another crime caper

[Hackign]

George Clooney in yet another crime caper

I can't really argue with that.

[Chase]

The Fantastic Mr Fox is AWESOME. So, so, so good. I love all the descriptions of food, it used to make me so hungry.

Not sure about a movie version, but this thread has made me wanna read the book again. So many delicious chickens.

[Shoes]

There as me hoping they'd finally released some promotional shots for the film. Five years Wes has been attached to this project and still no real info.

It's been really frustrating, hasn't it? Wes is still one of my favourite directors, but he needed a change f pace so I'm looking forward to some footage.

[Ghost]

Sounds fucking great. When's this baby due?

6 November 2009 for the US. But seeing how this is being made in the UK and is based on a british book it might be released here earlier or at a similar date, heres hoping anyway.

[The Grand Pursuivant]

I saw an advanced screening of this a couple of days ago, and it's got me very excited.

I'm a big Wes Anderson fan as it is, and Fantastic Mr Fox is such a great story that it would be very hard to screw it up, but from what I've seen so far, he's really done an incredible job. The film itself isn't out until the end of this year, and, at the moment, is only half finished. The version that I saw was as part of a viewer survery group, and only about 50% of it had been animated by that point, with the rest filled in with animatics and the odd inclusion of Wes Andersons voice popping up every now and again for a line that hadn't been recorded yet.

Regardless of that, the film was very good. Even on an ungraded film reel, it still looked absolutely fantastic. I've had a quick scout about on Google, but I couldn't find one solitary screenshot of the film, so I'll do my best to describe the characters. It's done using stop-motion animation, and all of the models and backgrounds are intricately detailed. You can see the individual hairs on the foxes faces move about in the wind on close ups, and the action scenes that they had completed were both good to look at and fun to watch.

The plot itself doesn't deviate from the book that much. At the moment they've changed the ending slightly from the book, but from the feedback we gave in the discussion at the end, it wasn't particularly popular (although I personally thought it was quite good), so they may do something completely different with it. Other than that, there's not too much I can say. The forms they got us all to scene was pretty strict with regards to what we could talk about, but if you've read the book, and watched a Wes Anderson film, you can easily put together what it's probably going to be like. I can say that I laughed a lot though. It's a funny film. Bill Murray is his usual brilliant self as Badger, and somebody who's name I can't say is brilliant as Farmer Boggis. Or is it Bunce? The one who makes the awesome cider.

Anyway. It's great. I can't wait to see the finished version, and neither should you.

[Couch Corpse]

I'm so looking forward to this, Wes taking a detour from his usual stuff and working one of my favourite Dahl books. I don't need to know anything about it I'm already sold, I just want to watch it.

Waits patiently....

[lordcookie]

Hopefully Goose can merge this with the original topic:

http://www.rllmukfor...t...843&hl=dahl

I'm really glad to hear it is looking good.

Regarding the stop motion - Who is Anderson working with and is the look comparable with anything else already out there?

[Couch Corpse]

I'd imagine (hope) it's the same folks who did The Life Aquatic.

[The Grand Pursuivant]

D'oh. I did a search and everything.

They didn't tell us who he is working with, and I asked specifically at the end. There really is a blanket blackout on the look of the film. I don't blame them really, if I was some scummy producer who had seen that, and had 6 months to make a shit but nice looking movie, then I would. It's hard to really describe what the characters look like. Some of the distance shots reminded me of Lotte Reiniger shorts, but that was more the composition, with contrasts of colour, rather than the actual look of the film. At times it seemed like I was watching some incredibly sophisticated CGI, but there's nothing I can really think of to say that it looks like. I've tried racking my brains, but nothing has come to mind. The character designs really are excellent though, especially for the Rat. I would try to describe them, but it wouldn't really do them any justice. Although I suppose I did just try to in a roundabout way.

[Andsom]

Regarding the stop motion - Who is Anderson working with and is the look comparable with anything else already out there?

Gah! I know the answer to this, as someone I know is working on it.... But I'm drunk and I can't think at the moment. Ask me again in the morning...

[Nick R]

I'd imagine (hope) it's the same folks who did The Life Aquatic.

Henry Selick's team did the animation for The Life Aquatic, but he's been working on Coraline since then.

[redbloodcel]

Glad to hear that its coming along well, I absolutely adore the book.

[Blobcat]

The Fantastic Mr Fox is AWESOME. So, so, so good. I love all the descriptions of food, it used to make me so hungry.

THIS

And I'm hungry now!

[Shoes]

According to Wikipedia, Mark Gustafson has taken over from Henry Selick as animation director. He hasn't really done much, but MankeyMan's impressions are promising.

Can't wait.

[Rudi von Starnberg]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was enraptured by the food descriptions.

Just thinking about "Mr Boggis' chickens" is enough to set me slavering even now.

[lordcookie]

Some of the distance shots reminded me of Lotte Reiniger shorts, but that was more the composition, with contrasts of colour, rather than the actual look of the film.

That sounds excellent.

According to Wikipedia, Mark Gustafson has taken over from Henry Selick as animation director. He hasn't really done much, but MankeyMan's impressions are promising.

Ooh he did some work on The Adventures of Mark Twain which, whilst looking rough around the edges, has some pretty trippy shit in it.

[The Grand Pursuivant]

Well, as weird as that was, I can safely say that it looks nothing like that.

[Goose]

Tiny first picture - sorry about the poor size/quality -

Attached Files

•  mrfoxpic.jpg   44.15K   3 downloads

[lordcookie]

That looks nothing like I expected it to. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing though...

[(Bad Egg)]

THAT LOOKS SHIT!

[lordcookie]

It's worth reserving judgement until we see it in motion at least. The still does remind me a bit of the 80s stop frame series of Wind in the Willows which is no bad thing.

[bradigor]

Tiny first picture - sorry about the poor size/quality -

Sweeeeeeeeeeet,

[kloid]

Tiny first picture - sorry about the poor size/quality -

Woah if that's legit, my excitement for this just jumped from huge to HUUUUGE. That's an increase of all-caps and three extra 'u's. That's a lot!

Looks wonderfully old-school.

[Lothar Hex]

Woah, missed this. This was the first book I read cover to cover in one night back in primary school.

[Goose]

Still not sure about this, need to see it moving -

Attached Files

•  mrfox1small.jpg   63.07K   1 downloads
•  mrfox2small.jpg   59.97K   2 downloads

[lordcookie]

That second image is a LOT better. At least it shows the level of facial animation (the face of Mr Fox in pic one was always my main concern).