The document provides an in-depth summary of the plot of Roald Dahl's book Fantastic Mr. Fox and Wes Anderson's film adaptation. It introduces the main characters including Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox, their son Ash, and cousin Kristofferson. It describes how Mr. Fox grows dissatisfied with family life and decides to start stealing chickens again from local farmers, endangering his family. The farmers retaliate by chopping down Mr. Fox's home, forcing the animals to tunnel for survival. In the end, Mr. Fox leads a heist on the farmers to save their community but leaves the ending ambiguous.

1. Fantastic Mr. Fox How Does It End? By Abdulaziz Aljasser Chat Heile Otto Zietz Po-Sheng Hsu

2. Character Introductions

3. Mr. Fox: Our main character, Mr. Fox, feels compelled to be the star of the show and, even though he often is, this is not always a positive position to hold. He is egocentric but not unwarrantably so. Once a great athlete and cunning chicken thief, he feels stuck and uncomfortable in his mundane life as a father, husband, and newspaper columnist. However, a midlife crisis of sorts will soon propel Mr. Fox, his family, and his community into an adventure that will forever alter their lives. Character

4. Mrs. Fox: Once just as unruly and wild as Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox now represents the more responsible half of this furry duo. The birth of their son has tamed Mrs. Fox, who is now content staying home, caring for her family, and occasionally painting landscapes. Character

5. Ash: The son of the famed “Fantastic” Mr. Fox is desperate for his father's approval. Despite his small size and clumsy nature, Ash wants to be an athlete and has developed somewhat of an inferiority complex by the beginning of our tale due to a lack of attention and support from his father. This is initially worsened with the coming of cousin Kristofferson. Character

6. Cousin Kristofferson: Kristofferson is everything Ash wants to be and everything Mr. Fox wants in a son. He is tall, athletic, agile, polite and even knows karate. If he isn't meditating, performing perfect dives, or dominating a game of whackbat, Kristofferson is trying to get along with his cousin and find his place within the Fox family. Badger: As Mr. Fox's lawyer, Badger represents a cooler head outside of the Fox family to help Mr. Fox gain perspective, though no head is cool enough to deter Mr. Fox once he has his mind set. Character

7. Character Kylie Sven Opossum: The building superintendent of Mr. Fox's home, Kylie is a simple creature, often confused and terribly forgetful. Boggis, Bunce, and Bean: The three meanest farmers around. Dahl describes them best with this limerick from the text: “ Boggis and Bunce and Bean One fat, one short, one lean These horrible crooks So different in looks Were nonetheless equally mean ”

8. Plot Overview

9. Our tale begins with Mr. and Mrs. Fox poaching squabs, “whatever they are”, from a local farmer. After successfully plucking a few squabs from the squab house, Mr. Fox comes upon a fox trap. Being a confident and inquisitive creature, he triggers the trap, accidentally trapping both his wife and himself. As alarms sound and dogs bark, Mrs. Fox reveals that she is pregnant and forces Mr. Fox to vow that, if they survive, he will give up stealing and take up a respectable profession. Fast forward two years (twelve fox-years), and we are reintroduced to the fox family, now one member larger. Mrs. Fox has settled into family life, content with cooking cleaning, caring for her now teenaged son, and painting occasionally in her free time. Ash, Mr. and Mrs. Fox's son, is introduced as an awkward teen fox, small for his age and desperate for his father's attention and approval. Mr. Fox is discontent and feels unfulfilled with his new family life and his job as a newspaper journalist. He complains of feeling “poor”, to which his wife responds, “we are poor”. It will not be long before Mr. Fox takes action.

10. Mr. Fox's midlife crisis does not come in the form of a new car, a gambling or drinking binge, or a young fox girlfriend. Not fantastic Mr. Fox; he purchases a house in the base of a tree, which is rare for a fox, that overlooks the farms of the three meanest farmers known to man and beast alike, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. This purchase comes after a stern warning and a valiant attempt at dissuasion from Mr. Fox's lawyer, Badger. Badger sites that housing prices aren't in the buyer's favor and that the area around those particular farms are exceedingly dangerous for an animal of his species. It isn't long before Mr. Fox, accompanied by his superintendent, Kylie Opossum, hatches a plan to steal from the nearby farmers. Unbeknownst to his wife, Mr. Fox and Kylie successfully steal chickens and geese from 2 of the three farmers. On the night of the third heist, Ash attempts to join the raiding party, but is turned away by his father, who instead invites Kristofferson to join. The Heist is successful and the party returns home with potent apple cider as their trophy. Though Mr. Fox had originally planned one last heist, the one has turned into three and there is no sign of stopping. He has fallen off the wagon.

11. The farmers have taken notice of the recent thefts and have devised a plan to rid themselves of this new fox problem. They have located Mr. Fox's home and perched themselves outside, ready to fire. As Mr. Fox and Kylie exit the dwelling, prepared for another night of thieving, the farmers spring their ambush and, though they fail to mortally wound either thief, they manage to shoot off Mr. Fox's tail. Inside the house, Mrs. Fox is now well aware of Mr. Fox's broken vow and as she prepares to deliver her wrath, they notice the farmers are chopping down the tree. The next few hours, or fox weeks, are spent tirelessly digging and tunneling away from the fast approaching farmers, who have enlisted the help of their farm staff as well as heavy machinery. The Fox family is tired, hungry and near surrender when a slue of other burrowing animals, that had been displaced by the farmers' fury, tunnel into their view. Mr. Fox, realizing that he has endangered much more than just his family, devises a plan to tunnel into each farmer's storehouse and abscond with the lot of their chickens, geese and cider. He tells Mrs. Fox and the others to wait in Badger's flint-mine and prepare for a feast as they venture off to get the goods.

12. Mr. Fox, Badger, the boys, and a few other able animals return with enough food and cider to feed an army, which is perfect because the entire community is there and starving. During the feast, Ash decides, in an attempt to win his fathers support and affection, to sneak into Bean's home and retrieve his father's lost tail. He brings Kristofferson along but, once inside Bean's house, they are distracted by cookies and Kristofferson is caught. Here we approach the ending of this tale, and as we intend to examine the ending and what makes it unique, we will not go into great detail just yet. Suffice it to say that, again recognizing that his arrogant ways were at the root of these events, Mr. Fox decides to sacrifice himself in a trade for his nephew. This is short lived, and Mr. Fox plans a rescue mission to save Kristofferson from a terrible fate. The plan is successful, Kristofferson is saved, and everyone is happy, for the moment at least. The farmers are still waiting and the community grows hungry again. Because they took all of the farmers stores and not just what was necessary, the tunnels to each farmer's storehouse are useless and they are again out of food. The story ends with the discovery of a tunnel leading into a supermarket owned by Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. Mr. Fox has again found a way to feed the community and, even though they will now be eating processed foods and high fructose corn syrup like the rest of us, they are safe and they are together.

13. So...What does it mean?

14. As with many of Wes Anderson's films, there is a lot going on. We have the uncomfortable family dynamic, with an unhappy father, oblivious mother, and downtrodden son. This is compounded and intensified with the introduction of a “superstar” cousin and a battle with three heavily armed farmers with nothing but time on there hands. Finally, with the addition of the fate of the entire animal community resting in the balance, a hostage situation, a daring rescue attempt, and an ambiguous ending make the story a lot to swallow and even more complex to interpret. Not to mention that the irreproducible (trust us, we tried) wit and comedy heavily strewn about the tale makes it hard to distinguish an important plot point from a hilarious tangent.

15. We found it easier to first examine Dahl's text prior to tackling the meaning of the film. The textual story was short and concise. The foxes stole chickens, because that's what foxes do. The farmers were angered and hunted the foxes, and the foxes hid, again because that what foxes do. In the end, the foxes sacrificed a little freedom in return for safety and guaranteed sustenance, unlimited chickens and cider. Wes Anderson has completely reinvented this tale, transforming it into a story of identity and the urge to “feel comfortable in your own skin”. Dahl's text tells the story of the “have-nots” struggle for survival against the “haves” while shyly examining the moral ambiguity of theft. The animated film examines the struggle of one character to feel alive and the effect this journey has on his family and community.

16. Quotes That Drive it Home

17. Mr Fox was unhappy being poor and living an average life. Mr. Fox: “Who am I? And how can a fox ever be happy without, you'll forgive the expression, a chicken in its teeth?” "I think I have this thing where I need to have everyone think I’m the greatest...” Mr. Fox decided to start stealing chickens again, and endangered his family and his community

18.  Mrs. Fox: This story's too predictable. Mr. Fox: Predictable? Really? Then, how does it end? Mrs. Fox: In the end, we all die. Unless you change. Mr. Fox realizes his idea of Fantastic isn't realistic and the things that make us different are the things that make us great. “ Anyway, I think it may very well be all the beautiful differences among us that might just give us the tiniest glimmer of a chance of saving my nephew, and letting me make it up to you for getting us into this, this crazy... whatever it is.”

19. So Why is It Ambiguous?

20. Mr. Fox Saves the community from disaster and death, although in fairness he did put them in the original predicament. Mr. Fox appears to realize that athleticism, cunning, and brute strength aren’t the only important qualities a person, or animal, can posses. The community sacrifices a little freedom, living in the sewers, for safety and guaranteed food, albeit of diminished quality, from the supermarket. Mr. Fox still feels like he's outsmarting predators by stealing food from the supermarket, and he has repaired his relationship with his son, who in returns feels validated, loved, and finally happy. Finally, the Fox family is expecting another addition - Mrs. Fox is pregnant.

21. The ending is ambiguous because what Mr. Fox realized might have been discovered without placing his family and his community in danger. He could have learned to love others for what makes them unique and not judge them based on his personal criteria for greatness.

22. Discussion Questions

23. 1) Given what is in the film, why did Mr. Fox go from a respectable profession to being a dishonest and illegal trade? 2) Compare and contrast how the characters play their role in their theft with the farmers? How did they work as a team? 3) Mr. Fox influenced his community. How do you see his behavior and role as a thief affect his family and neighbors? 4) How do you see the farmers in the film dealing with the problem of Mr. Fox? Why is this solution of the farmers not successful? 5) What are the lessons you learn and obtain from Fantastic Mr. Fox? How does this play out with Mr. Fox? Is this also relational to the other characters?