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SYFY WIRE Podcast

Does Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox still hold up 10 years later?

By Dany Roth
fantastic mr fox

Welcome to Day 2 of Every Day Animation, the podcast where we watch cartoons and talk about them instead of thinking about how much we owe in taxes. Or, wait, did you want to talk about taxes instead of cartoons?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Well, then! Away we go! Today, co-host of the Bad Romance Podcast, Jourdain Searles, joins me to talk about the 2009 classic, Fantastic Mr. Fox, for its 10th anniversary. The stop-motion animated film is one of only two of its kind director Wes Anderson has produced so far in his long career. It's a story about a middle-aged fox trying to strike a balance between the wild ways of his past and the responsibilities and compromises of his present. Or, put another way, it's a Wes Anderson movie but with foxes and possums instead of people.

Jourdain originally loved Fantastic Mr. Fox as a kid when it came to theaters near her home in Augusta, Georgia. But does she still like it? I, despite being a huge Wes Anderson fan, hadn't watched this movie until now. Having recently settled into the beer-bellied comforts of middle age myself, it felt like this was the right time to take it in.

Hopefully you had the chance to watch Fantastic Mr. Fox with us. Maybe you even figured out what Ash's weirdness is code for. In hindsight, I suspect Ash represents Anderson himself and the relationship he had with his father. My evidence is that Wes Anderson writes about bad dads CONSTANTLY. But, please, share your theories.

If you want to prep yourself for tomorrow's episode, we've got a really unusual one in store. Todd Nathanson, host of the YouTube series, Todd in the Shadows, and my co-host for our music podcast, Song vs. Song, stopped by so we could do a little 'toon vs. 'toon, if you will. The movies he chose were Adventures of the American Rabbit and Felix The Cat: The Movie. They're both... something else. So watch them if you like taking in hilariously bad movies and then join our conversation tomorrow. We'll see you there.

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