They’re both boundary-pushing animated films. They both play equally well to kids and adults. And they both scored in the 90s on Rotten Tomatoes. So if there’s any movie can give Up a run for its money in the Best Animated Feature category, could it be Fantastic Mr. Fox? One crucial test for Wes Anderson’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book is its box office performance once it expands beyond New York and Los Angeles. In advance of its wide release tomorrow, I gathered Anderson and three of his cast members (Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, and Bill Murray) for a spirited interview about their experiences doing the voices for the film and what it’s like to watch children watch it.
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Comments (1-15) of 31 Add your comment
I haven’t seen “Up” yet, and I don’t plan to see “Fantastic Mr. Fox” because of my aversion to all movies George Clooney-related (I know it’s probably against the rules of womanhood, but I don’t find him attractive, and I don’t think he’s a good actor), but I’m surprised that there’s no mention of “Coraline” as a potential challenger for the Best Animated Feature award. It was so beautifully done, and wonderfully voiced!
Amen. Coraline was amazing. Why is it a forgone conclusion that Up! will win or that Coraline doesn’t have a chance?
That’s OK Jackie. I don’t find George attractive either but it wouldn’t bother me to listen to his voice.
Saw this movie twonights ago…….. Very Surprised……..Very cool AND exceptionally funny for what it is.
Not really sure it’s FOR the kids, though (maybe the animation).
Tell me if you get this… “it’s cuss n funny!!!!”
Absolutely not. Up is marvelous and heartbreaking and sincere. And while Fantastic Mr. Fox might have all of those things, I have never seen an animated film’s soul like I did with Up. But, fantastic Mr. Fox is the closest thing this movie has to competetion.
I personally only liked Up, i did not love it. I got very restless with it very quickly, and Russel was so annoying. I have been looking forward to Fantastic Mr. Fox for a long time now and hope that it becomes the winner over Up.
I’m going to see “Fantastic Mr. Fox” tonight – and I’m really looking forward to it.
The trailer looks and sounds sublime.
http://moviemartin.blogspot.com
This will be an absolute flop. Adults typically don’t watch stop-action animated films and this is obviously not a film made for children so there is no audience for this thing.
What do you know? Here’s my opinion: You’re an idiot.
I really want to see this! I don’t think it’s gonna flop…It has an all-star cast (for the adults) and I heard lots of kids laughing at the trailer. I doubt it’ll do the same box-office damage as Up, but I think it won’t be too bad off.
And the nominees are: Up!, Fantastic Mr Fox, Ponyo, Coraline and whatever DreamWorks dreck they decide to throw a bone at…
Ponyo was dissapointing for a Myazaki movie
Up was magical.
Yeah, I really didn’t like Ponyo at all….I wish Princess Mononoke got more press and release than it did
Does Up have no chance at the best picture category now that they’ve expanded it to ten movies? If Up gets nominated for best picture then Fantastic Mr. Fox is certainly a frontrunner in the best animated category.
I’m sure I’ll see it eventually but I’ll be surprised if it tops Coraline for the overall story and effect.
As much as I adore “Up,” I think “Coraline” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” are better animated films. “Up” might be the highest grossing Pixar film, but it is certainly not the best (personal favorite? “Wall-E”). Some beautiful emotional moments, but some of the elements in South America are hokey (point #1: the talking dogs). We’ll see what happens, but I would like to see something else win…
Oh dear god Wall-E was so awful. However, Up was amazing
watch wall-e again. I thought it was stupid and overrated the first time i saw it in theaters, but i decided to give it another shot on dvd and i loved it.
Coraline, as good as it may have been, came out too long ago for people to remember it. It helps to have fresh exposure, which is why this time of year is saved for “Oscar bait”. And with “UP” coming out on DVD right now, just in time to remind people of how amazing it was, I would say that it certainly has the inside track on winning. It’s not as much of a run-away as “Wall-E” was last year, though.
Unless the Fantastic Mr. Fox is a box office hit, then it has a chance to beat Up.
My predictions are:
Up
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Coraline
Ponyo
and the fifth one will probably be either Princess & the Frog or A Christmas Carol
definately wont be a Christmas Carol– the academy has a history of hating Zemeckis animation… id put my money on Princess & the frog if they decide not to give DreamWorks a nod and that category would be monopolized by Disney with Princess, Ponyo & Up… which i think is nothing short of awesome
Fantastic Mr. Fox is in line to become another Cloony flop. Up In The Air will flop to. Count on it.
“Up” was good, but I felt the older (Ed Assner) character was too old to do all this “superheroic” stuff. And they could have used a female character. I am just glad that Pixar is finally getting some strong competiion. Bravo “Coraline.”
Coraline was great! Up was great! Can’t wait to see Fantastic Mr. Fox! Really, all of these films are gorgeous and certainly deserve whatever recognition is tossed their way. But they’re very different flicks-one scary and more adult-themed (Coraline), one sentimental and geared toward children (Up), and Fox is a comedy aimed pretty squarely at Wes Anderson fans (me me me). Choosing only one winner for best in all animated film is akin to limiting the rest of the awards to a single “Best Picture.” There should be subcategories within animation. Then again, do the Oscars need to get any longer…?