I adored Fantastic Mr. Fox, which opened this weekend in Los Angeles and New York, and expands nationwide on Thanksgiving. We could discuss how working in a new medium has rejuvenated director Wes Anderson’s creative juices, or how all of the voice performance were delivered in the same slightly ironic, yet still heartfelt tone, or how composer Alexandre Desplat wrote one of the most delectable scores in quite some time (as part of a soundtrack that already makes exemplary use of the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, and Jarvis Cocker). But really, above all else, it’s the film’s stop-motion animation that deserves the most attention.
For those unfamiliar with stop-motion animation, the painstakingly tedious process involves photographing a small puppet, moving it ever so slightly, and then photographing it again. The animator does this over and over and over, and when all of the photographed images are displayed continuously (as in a flip book), we wind up with the illusion of movement. The technique has been used for everything from animating the title character in the 1933 version of King Kong to designing entire stop-motion movies such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Since stop-motion animation uses actual miniature sets, props, and character dolls, it feels tangibly real. While watching Fantastic Mr. Fox, I wanted to step into its universe to examine Mrs. Fox’s intricate oil paintings and read Mr. Fox’s newspaper column. As impressive as Pixar’s CGI animated films are, I’ve never felt myself drawn into those worlds in the same way. It’s strangely comforting to see the hairs of Mr. Fox’s face bristle as he moves, as if we were deliberately being reminded that human hands were involved in manipulating these one-foot-tall characters. This also explains why, for instance, I’ll always consider the puppet Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back as inherently more “real” than the acrobatic CGI-ized Yoda from Attack of the Clones. Digital effects can show the audience anything a filmmaker can imagine, but we still have to believe in it, and that’s where a process as archaic as stop-motion animation manages to have an edge.
PopWatchers, were you as impressed with Fantastic Mr. Fox’s animation style as I was? Or would you have enjoyed a CGI Mr. Fox just as much?
Comments (1-10) of 10 Add your comment
Really? Is there anyone out there who has never heard of stop-motion before? In this age of CGI-everything it’s great to see that some filmmakers still take the painstaking time and effort to create something this unique. I can’t wait until this expands out my way!
As a child, I used to love watching shows like “Gumby” and “Davey and Goliath” which used stop-action animation in a way that Tim Burton and Nick Park would later utilize. It made you believe that this universe was real and you could be a part of it. It’s great to see that even in the age of CGIs or computer graphic imaging, people are still fascinated by stop-action.
I just caught a “Making of” on HBO. This is stop action like I don’t think anyone has seen before. The detail is unreal. I grew up with Gumby and the stop action Christmas shows, and this makes them look like a 3 year old with Playdough did that work.
I had similar thoughts about the merrits of pre-CGI specatcle special FX while watching 2012. Sure, a massive tsunami lifts an aircraft carrier into the white house, but remember when the same director destroyed that same iconic building in Independence Day? That was simply a model they blew up from a suspended angle and slowed it down, and it was much more impactful and interesting to watch.
I love the comment about the puppet yoda being more real than the cgi yoda. I couldn’t agree more! Sure it wasn’t as articulate or nimble, but it still had more life than the cgi yoda (or anything at all) in the new star wars movies.
I agree as well! I love the puppets and people in costumes so much more than CGI.
Totally agree with the Yoda comment, I hated the new version. He just didn’t “feel” real. Empire Strikes Back Yoda wins hands down.
Excellent review. Mr. Fox, I believe, does look more real than even Pixar’s films. I love stop motion, ever since I argued with my sister and dad when I was 5 or 7 that Gumby couldn’t possibly be animation
.
I can’t wait for the animatronics in the Hobbit.
Since your singling out the animation for praise, you should credit Mark Gustafson, the inspired and long-suffering animation director.