From: Jared Jenkins <jaredcjenkins-AT-gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:42:38 -0500
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] FANTASTIC MR. FOX


I saw a preview screening of the film earlier this week and there was  
a Q&A session with Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman (who voices  
Ash).  A british man in the audience asked why the bad guys have  
british accents and everyone else has american accents.  Wes answered  
that they actually tried a reading with an all british cast, but they  
found that the dialogue has an american cadence and feel to it and it  
just didn't sound correct with a british accent.  He said that even  
though the cast is mostly american, he still feels the film is very  
much a british movie in look and feel.

With all the talk about the meeting of puppeteer and voice actor  
creating the character, I was pleased to hear Jason Schwartzman give a  
ton of credit to the animators that worked on his character.  He said  
that when people tell him what a great character he created in Ash, he  
is compelled to say that in his mind the animators deserve most of the  
credit for the final performance.  Wes pointed out that what the  
animators did was all based on Jason's recordings, but Jason was  
insistent that much of this character was strictly due to the  
animators who he feels he collaborated with to create Ash.

Wes seemed to really have enjoyed the stop motion process and said  
that he would like to do more stop motion in the future.  He actually  
said that he would like to do a stop motion film that is exclusively  
for adults, not families.

Jared

>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Michael" <michael-AT-michaeljdixon.com>
> Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:08:37
> To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] FANTASTIC MR. FOX
>
> I have to admit I haven't seen the film, but have seen several  
> trailers.
> What does annoy me about the voices is that they are all American.  
> That's
> not that I am against American voices in any way, but the book is
> quintessentially British, as are so many of Roald Dahl's books, and  
> I find
> it really frustrating that to appeal to the mass market they have to  
> take
> away from the original setting of the story. There are a range of  
> British
> actors and actresses all established and well known that could have
> portrayed the characters more authentically in my opinion.
>
> Whilst Fantastic Mr Fox is not in the same league, I doubt we would  
> ever see
> Huckleberry Finn or the Great Gatsby portrayed or voiced by Australian
> actors no matter how famous they were.
>
> Michael.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alan Cook" <alangregorycook-AT-msn.com>
> To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 8:10 AM
> Subject: [Puptcrit] FANTASTIC MR. FOX
>
>
>> "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is a delight, with much attention to little  
>> details in
>> the sets and costumes---something shared with "Coraline" which I  
>> saw 4
>> times. I expect to revisit Mr Fox soon.
>>
>> The rythmn of the new movie is quite different from Coraline. George
>> Clooney's voice is appropriately in foxy mode and suits the  
>> character like
>> foxglove. All the voices fit each character as far as I am  
>> conerned, so
>> worrying about celebrity voices strikes me as unnecessary. The  
>> director,
>> Wes Anderson definitely knew what he was doing---he created a  
>> successful
>> transition of the story to the screen---obviously a fabulous group  
>> effort
>> as most great movies are.
>>
>> Like "Coraline" the movie expanded the original story, each puppet a
>> character in its own right. Closeups of puppet faces show varied
>> personalities.
>>
>> For me it was a must-see. It shows that stop-motion, a film puppet
>> technique almost as old as the movie camera is still an effective
>> technique, just as the movie camera is still effective. Is that
>> surprising? Not to me!
>>
>> The power of the puppet gives power to the movie.
>>
>> See
>>
>> www.fantasticmrfox.com
>>
>> and look for the new Rizzoli book, THE MAKING OF FANTASTIC MR. FOX.  
>> Lots
>> of interesting photos (many of them small, like the puppets).
>>
>> Mr Fox has his wild moments---he is, as the book says, an animal,  
>> after
>> all.
>>
>> There are some very funny rapid moves onscreen which live actors  
>> would
>> have difficulty emulating. iN THIS FILM, PUPPETS DO IT BETTER THAN  
>> PEOPLE.
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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