Roald Dahl Film Adaptations: Ranked From Worst To Best

6. Fantastic Mr. Fox

Having worked with stop motion animator Henry Selick on the fantastical sea life in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Wes Anderson looked to make a fully stop motion animated film. Selick's sensibilities are a good match for Dahl's (more on that later) and the writer's story of a food stealing fox and some grotesque farmers would have made an interesting project for him. When Selick moved on to direct Coraline, however, Anderson was left in sole control of the project. What audiences were left with was a film that was very much Wes Anderson and very little Roald Dahl. George Clooney and Meryl Streep formed part of an impressive all-star cast with the usual Anderson acting company - Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe - that inevitably Americanises a very British story. The characters, especially completely invented ones like Mr Fox's oddball nephew Kristofferson, are therefore shot through with the whimsical quirks of Anderson's other work. This gives the film a sort of hip, slightly ironic charm that meant it was enjoyed by trendy adults and slightly lost on children. Even for Anderson's fans the film feels like the director on auto-pilot despite working in a new medium. Compared to his early hits like Rushmore or the delights of this year's Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr Fox is quite forgettable. Between The BFG's lack of cinematic ambition and Four Rooms' auteurist vanity, however, it still comes across pretty well.