Fantastic Mr Fox

Another interesting childhood tale being made into a film (well, stop motion animation). Fantastic Mr Fox is directed by Wes Anderson (Tenenbaum’s, Life Acquatic etc) and stars off-beat staples such as Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, but is headed up by Anderson newcomers George Clooney as Mr Fox, and Meryl Streep as Mrs Fox. Other stars include Michael Gambon, Jarvis Cocker, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Angelica Huston. See more at imdb.

According to The Guardian, it’s set to open the 53rd London Film Festival in October 2009.

Wierdly (tho perhaps a bit predictably?) all the bad guys are English, whislt the good guys (Fox, Badger etc) are all Americans… and whilst the animation and grpahics are getting some heat, I think the Ocean’s Eleven style heist element will update the film for those unfamiliar with the original. Best critical comment on The Guardian,from Victoriatheoldgoth, actually appeals very much to me: 

“Just looks like the Royal Tenenbaums with more facial hair.”

Like, Where The Wild Things Are and Tron, I think this looks pretty damned fine, and confirms any thoughts you might have had about the need for nostaliga and feelgood factor amongst recession-hit cinema goers - just with these examples it’s slightly more sensitively handled than Transformers et al.