1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
By: Allison Benson, Zoe Major-McDowall and Matthew Kilby

2. Ambiguous Ending
 The definition of an
ambiguous ending is an
open ended conclusion
that is left up to
interpretation of the
viewer. It is a feeling of
mystery associated with
an end and can have more
than one meaning. In
Fantastic Mr. Fox, the
ending provides multiple
interpretations. One
understanding could focus
on the animals defeat over
the farmers. Another could
focus on the uncertain
future of the success the
animals are experiencing.

3. Summary
 Fantastic Mr. Fox, a film based on the a novel by Roald
Dahl, tells the story of a family of foxes and their friends
living in a rodent underground community. Mr. Fox is
well liked but also seen as manipulative, sly and a thief.
The plot begins when Mr. Fox organizes a plan to raid
the main three town farmers of their chicken, turkey and
cider. When he is spotted by the farmers, conflict begins.
The farmers drive the rodent community deeper out of
human society to execute justice for their stolen goods.
Mr. Fox and his friends inevitably fight back against the
farmers. In the end, the farmers are defeated by the
animal union which results in humiliation. Mr. Fox and
his friends and family continue stealing from the farmers
and do not learn their lesson.

4. Video Clips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
n2igjYFojUo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
1v6-T52zLO0

5. Interpretation
 Fantastic Mr. Fox explores heavily in
identity as in “Who am I? Why am I
this way?” For example , Mr. Fox’s son
Ash is not an athletic fox like his
father or his cousin and struggles
with that by pretending to be an
athletic fox.
 It shows a separation between
humans vs. animals where animals
are driven by their nature and are self
serving. In contrast humans can tell
the different and restrain from right
and wrong. An example of this
exploration of human vs animals is
shown through this quote from Mr.
Fox “Why a fox….who am I? And how
can a fox ever be happy without,
you’ll forgive the expression, a
chicken in its teeth?”
-Zoe

6. Culture
 Fantastic Mr. Fox is set in the farm
valleys in England. Farmers Bean,
Bogus and Bunce clearly display the
English culture through language.
Besides language, English culture is
rarely acknowledged, which makes
the clarity of the setting unclear. All of
the animals speak with an American
accent which reinforces the question
of where it is set. Farm culture is big
in this film. It seems to be similar to
southern life in America. The farmers
are incredibly powerful in the
community and seem to hold most of
the wealth. Hunting is also a large
cultural aspect, clearly identifying the
separation between humans and
animals. The nuisance of animal
presence creates a main theme of
tension. Humans are seen as the
alpha whereas the animals are
disposable and unimportant.
 -Allison

7. Production
 Wes Anderson, a director famous for
edgy films such as The Royal
Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic
With Steve Zissou kept up his unique
style in Fantastic Mr. Fox. With
children and adults around the world
captivated by Roald Dahl’s
work, Anderson had much to live up
to. He chose a color scheme that
allowed for only
brown, yellow, blue, orange, and red
that are constantly put in contrast
with each other. The characters move
in stop-motion animation. Each
character is extensively detailed and
hand painted. The stop-motion
animation process is a slow process.
The process perhaps drove away Cate
Blanchett from the film development.
Wes Anderson took inspiration from
all sorts of art, and cinematography
all over the world. His production
ended up a success in film, garnering
a 93% approval rating on
RottenTomatoes.com.
-Matthew

8. Bibliography
 "Fantastic Mr. Fox." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432283/>.
 "Fantastic Mr. Fox (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Nov. 2012. Web. 16
Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Mr._Fox_(film)>.
 "Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)." Fantastic Mr. Fox. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1197696-fantastic_mr_fox/>.
 Price, Holly. "Animal Instincts." Culturewatch. N.p., 2009. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.damaris.org/content/culturewatcharticles/890>.
 Iten, Oswald. "On Animation » Blog Archive - Inspiring the Animation Masses." On
Animation » Blog Archive. N.p., 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.onanimation.com/2011/03/17/fantastic-mr-fox-analysis/>.
 "WHORANGE." WHORANGE. N.p., 23 July 2012. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.whorange.net/whorange/2012/07/wes-anderson-films-color-
palette.html>.
 Sabo, Lee W. "Intimitable Charm." Bright Lights Film. N.p., Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Nov.
2012. <brightlightsfilm.com/67/67fantasticmrfox.php>.