AMBIGUOUS ENDING:

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Rachelle McCarthy- Master PowerPoint Creator, Synopsis, Foxes, Animation

Kelsie Lynch- Theme-Survival, Synopsis, Discussion Questions, Movie Clip

Phuong Do- Themes, Ambiguous, The Ending, Discussion Questions

Sarah White- Roald Dahl, The Wolf

Fantastic Mr. Fox is based on a children’s book by

British author, Roald Dahl, originally published in

1970

There are some considerable differences between Dahl's book and

Anderson's adaptation. The movie was not well received in the U.K. due major

changes to themes and characters

ROALD DAHL

Dahl shares some of his personality traits with his characters, including

Mr. Fox himself.

Dahl was Welsh born with Norwegian parents.

He was as a child described as being rambunctious and mischievous,

whose taste for adventure never ceased. He was an absolute dreamer

and retained his zest for adventure and a fully active imagination

through adulthood and until his death. It was the established author

and friend C.S. Forrester that persuaded Dahl to explore his

writing capabilities.

STOP-MOTION PUPPET ANIMATION

The movie was created by physically manipulating real-world objects & photographing them one frame at a time to the illusion of movement.

126,720 pictures were used to create the full length movie

Mr. and Mrs. Fox live a tranquil home life with their son Ash and

visiting young nephew Kristopherson. After 12 years, the simple

life proves too dull for Mr. Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he

slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing

so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal

community. Confined underground and with not enough food to go

around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers

- Boggis, Bunce and Bean - who are determined to outwit the

cleaver, fantastic Mr. Fox at any cost .

Fantastic Mr. Fox Movie Clip

THEME: SURVIVALWhen Mr. Fox and his family woke up to the sound of shoveling, they knew they were being hunted. To survive, the dug into the ground. When they needed food, Mr. Fox

dug to the farms to gather what he needed. When they ran into other

animals, they used their natural instincts to survive. Mr. Fox's family

didn't eat vegetables, but would gather them for the badgers. It was an unbeatable team. In the end, all

of the animals brought their best attribute to the table and beat the farmers. As you can see, this story

shows how everyone can come together, no matter their differences, and survive.

THEME: LEADERSHIPMr. Fox is a charismatic fox and a leader in his family and among the animals. At first, he uses his leadership for his own personal goal, which is to steal the food for his life.

Unfortunately, when he reaches his goal, he hurts his family and friends as well as brings the whole society on conflict.

THEME: DIFFERENCES

Mr. Fox’s son, Ash, fights with the differences within himself through the entire movie.

At the end, it is everyone’s

differences that bring them

together.

Mrs. Fox: [to Ash] We’re all different. [indicates Mr. Fox] Mrs. Fox: Especially him. But there’s something kind of fantastic about that, isn’t there?

Differences also form a sub-theme

through the whole film. All the animals are

different. Even the foxes are

different from on another.

"Boggis and Bunce and Bean One short, one fat, one lean.

These horrible crooks, so different in looks, were nonetheless equally mean."

Boggis, Bunce and Bean, are the neighbors of Mr. Fox. When they detect the fact that Mr. Fox steals their goods,

they decides to kill Mr. Fox at all cost. Even though Boggis, Bunce, and Bean are mean and nasty, they are

still victims nonetheless. Being stolen from Mr. Fox perhaps makes them enraged and creates the worse

sequences, but Mr. Fox also creates the whole mess by stealing stuff from others.

FOXES IN FOLKLOREFoxes have been associated with

certain behavior. They are known to be crafty, cleaver, cunning, sly-

nature, intelligent, & greedy. They are known as con-artist who

trick other animals into getting food. People are known to be “crazy like a fox”

or get caught “out foxing yourselves”

Mr. Fox embodies all the stereotypes associated with foxes. Though he is clearly the “good guy” in the movie, it is himself that starts the whole mess in the first place.

THE WOLFThe Wolf is portrayed as truly wild, solitary and unlike the rest of the films characters, not clothed. He represents the disappearing wild, the lone fighter in a world that is overrun with humans and “humanlike” animals.Some felt that the insertion of the

Wolf and Mr. Fox's phobia is somehow racially motivated. Yet it is the fox’s natural instinct to

fear the wolf. eventually garners less fear but more respect by Fox in the end, as if his own battle in

some way may have made him (Fox) feel closer to his wilder

counterparts.

NOT ALWAYS AS IT SEEMS

Kristofferson is saved by luck, the cage falls down to the ground and breaks, not because of Ash’s “natural”

physical athletic. Mr. Fox’s tail is rescued, it is not in its original shape

anymore.Mr. Fox does win the Rat, but he does not defeat the

farmers.

HOW DOES IS END?

At the end, the animals survived, but they now must

live in the sewer under the ground and can never return to

their natural homes on the surface. In some ways, Mr. Fox

started the whole mess and lead to the bad sequences that his family and his friends have

to suffer. However, he always tries to take the responsibility

on him and treasure the family value. “And that’s OK, we’re

told. We’ll eat tonight,” Mr. Fox says,

“and we’ll eat together.”

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