The Fantastic Mr. Fox movie celebrated its 15 year anniversary this month, being remembered for its warm feelings of fall and message of finding joy in the ordinary.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox is about a fox slowly straying away from the quaint, rural life he has built for his small family in chase of what he defines as success: living in the best tree with a chicken between his teeth. After moving into a bad part of town–next to the most infamous chicken farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean– Mr. Fox plots his great heist to infiltrate their supply.
The movie is full of aesthetically pleasing shots with a color palette that feels like autumn breezes and crunchy leaves. As Mr. Fox carries out his heists with his new friend, Kylie the badger, we see Boggis, Bunce, and Bean become dead-set on revenge. At the same time, Mr. Fox’s son Ash tries to find his place after the arrival of his overly impressive cousin Kristofferson. Mr. Fox and Ash’s similar competition for glory is hilarious and pun-filled, even after Boggis, Bunce, and Bean chase the animals underground.
Although animated quite adorably, the movie deals with heavier topics such as greed and selfishness. Mr. Fox’s ambitions create a strain on his relationship with his wife, Mrs. Fox, and his son, Ash. It takes him a bit to figure this out, yet we can’t help but feel empathy towards him. The complexity of Mr. Fox’s character is reminiscent of the many flaws to human ambition in an attempt to stand out. After all, who doesn’t want to be fantastic?
While Mr. Fox tries to right his wrongs, he questions what led him to chase more and lose sight of what he has. He famously says “I think I have this thing where I need everybody to think I’m the greatest, the quote-unquote Fantastic Mr. Fox.” Though, I find the greatest message to come from Mrs. Fox to her son: “We’re all different. Especially him [Mr. Fox]. But there’s something kind of fantastic about that, isn’t there?”
As high schoolers scared of the future, we tend to lose sight of the aspects of ourselves that make us special. Trying to craft the perfect student makes us somewhat blind to our current lives. The Fantastic Mr. Fox is a beautiful watch that really lets you step back and admire the ordinary parts of yourself and others that make life truly fantastic.
