"Fantastic Mr. Fox" - beautifully animated, but not beautifully adapted

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a stop-motion animated adaptation of the 1970 children's book of the same title by author Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, etc.). Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and his wife Felicity Fox (Meryl Streep) used to steal chickens for a living, but after being captured, they changed their minds. Two years later, Mr. Fox works for a local newspaper, and Mrs. Fox has given birth to their first kid, Ash Fox (Jason Schwartzman). Mr. Fox, however, decides to return to his livestock-stealing ways, and enlists the help of Ash, his cousin Kristofferson Silverfox (Eric Chase Anderson) and Clive Badger (Bill Murray) to raid the chickens of Walter Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), the ducks and geese of Nathan Bunce (Hugo Guinness), and the turkeys of Franklin Bean (Michael Gambon). But it's not as easy as it sounds, as Rat (Willem Dafoe) is set up to guard it all.

I'm generally easy to please, and when I look at something, I tend not to judge it based on comparison to other media, regardless of whether that be something similar that supposedly "did it better" or some cliché. Unfortunately, I can't say the same in this case - I was somewhat disappointed by this film. I've read the book on which it was based, and the film took away the book's main charm. What made the book so appealing to me in the first place was the fact that Mr. Fox stole the livestock to feed his family and would not give up even when the odds were against him. The film seems to ruin that entire point, with little explanation - it makes it seem at first that Mr. Fox is stealing livestock for money, though later he is seen putting them in his pantry, so maybe he is doing it to feed his family. Also, they glossed over the whole purpose of Mr. Fox's return to stealing livestock. It's not a bad film, it had its funny moments and the animation is spectacular, but I have to say it just doesn't live up to the book.

The film received a well-deserved PG rating, mainly for weaponry and violence that the farmers attempt to use to subdue Mr. Fox: guns, switchblades, and construction material used to dig up Mr. Fox's home. Mr. Fox often uses the word "cuss" ("What the cuss?", "Cluster-cuss") in place of swear words. Bean makes alcoholic cider, and sometimes the farmers smoke. Being a film about animals, there's really nothing sexual.

If you want to enjoy the animation to its fullest extent, see it on the big screen. Otherwise, I just say make it a rental.