Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Directed by Wes Anderson (also co-screenwriter)
Wes Anderson shouldn't be allowed to direct movies at all, let alone for children.
This movies is from a children's book that I have read to one of my children. It's a Roald Dahl book and if you know who Dahl is (
James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches...all made into movies already) you know that he is capable of writing very good, albeit twisted, children's stories.
Wes Anderson is, and I am being charitable here, an acquired taste. His credentials include
Rushmore,
The Royal Tenenbaums and
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. His movies are (again, charitably) described as "cerebral." That means that you really need to think hard in order to "get" the jokes that he puts in his movies. I have seen all three of the movies that I just listed and I have to say that cerebral movies are pretty dull. Or maybe it's just Wes Anderson. Yeah, that's it: Wes Anderson is dull and he makes dull movies that professional movie critics really like. A lot.
What Wes Anderson is not capable of is making children's movies that actually entertain children. A good children's movie should have a minimal standard of being able to entertain children. As a bonus, it should also be able to (on a different level, obviously) entertain the adults who are frequently forced to bring the children to the movies or sit with them while it is viewed at home.
Here is a typical snippet of dialogue from this "children's" movie:
Mr. Fox: [addressing the others from atop a pile of bricks] In a way, I'm almost glad that flood interrupted us because I don't like the toast I was giving. I'm gonna start over.
[Mr. Fox switches on his radio. "Le Grand Choral" plays. He gestures as if holding a wine glass]
Mr. Fox: When I look down this table, with the exquisite feast set before us, I see: two terrific lawyers, a skilled pediatrician, a wonderful chef, a savvy real estate agent, an excellent tailor, a crack accountant, a gifted musician, pretty good minnow fisherman, and possibly the best landscape painter working on the scene today. Maybe a few of you might even read my column from time to time, Who knows? I tend to doubt it.
[brief pause]
Mr. Fox: I also see a room full of wild animals.
[He approaches their groups as he speaks]
Mr. Fox: Wild animals, with true natures and pure talents. Wild animals with scientific-sounding Latin names that mean something about our DNA. Wild animals each with his own strengths and weaknesses due to his or her species.
[re-ascends the brick pile]
Mr. Fox: Anyway, I think it may very well be all the beautiful differences among us that might just give us the tiniest glimmer of a chance of saving my nephew, and letting me make it up to you for getting us into this, this crazy... whatever it is. I don't know. It's just a thought. Thank you for listening. Cheers, everyone.
[mimics draining the imaginary glass and smashing it to the floor]
Kylie: Lets eat!
[All eyes turn to Kylie]
Kylie: What? I was just playin' along with the bit he was doing...
Yeah, that's a regular laugh riot, isn't it? And it's typical...the whole movie is chock full of cutsie, inside baseball type dialogue that adults will have a hard time keeping up with.
I think Wes Anderson has two problems. First, he tries to make comedies and he does not have a sense of humor. Or at least, his sense of humor is derived from lectures that he attended about how comedy is created, lectures given at prestigious private schools. His second problem is that he was born too late. He was born in 1969 and therefore he missed out on an essential ingredient in making good children's movies. I speak of the
Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Jay Ward (the primary driving force behind R&B) was a genius at being able to create work that appealed to both children and adults. It is obvious (to me, anyway) that the people who have been behind all of the Pixar and Dreamworks animated productions have at least seen episodes of the R&B show. Anderson seems to have learned everything he knows about making kid movies from the adult stuff on PBS.
So...bottom line: This movie does double duty...it both sucks and blows. Don't allow children to watch it unless you want them to be warped for life.