The Fantastic Mr. Fox – Animals in Tailored Clothes

Out of all of Anderson’s films, the character that bears the most resemblance to the director himself actually comes from his only animated movie.  Mr. Fox, dressed in a wheat colored double breasted suit, button up shirt, and repp tie, is the splitting image of Anderson on any given day.  In fact Mr. Fox’s suit is actually made from the exact same corduroy as one of Anderson’s signature suits.  Mr. Fox’s costume is a prime example of the world that Anderson created in The Fantastic Mr. Fox-taking animals and imagining them as people.  Dressing the animal characters in outfits that could have been worn by any number of characters from his earlier films, Anderson produces personalities not mere animals.

By doing this the film takes new meaning, it’s not just about how animals interact naturally, it becomes about the dichotomy between civilization and the wild.  The animals typically behave and appear like urban intellectuals just as Anderson’s other characters did, but it those rare moments where they let their animal side show through that act as a reminder that they are after all just wild creatures.  Throughout Anderson’s films one of the most remarkable things has always been how well put together the characters and their spaces are.  As I have mentioned throughout this week, Anderson has always been a filmmaker for whom aesthetics are of the utmost importance.  But the interplay between the dignified attire of the characters of The Fantastic Mr. Fox and their occasional instances of wild behavior are a reminder that beneath all of us, no matter how collected we may appear on the surface, there is always that possibility of something else lying underneath.