The Fantastic Mr Fox
“Boggis and Bunce and Bean, One short, one fat, one lean. These horrible crooks, so different in looks, were nonetheless equally mean.”
The story of Mr Fox is based on a Roald Dahl book, so that should tell you it’s not a cute, cuddly children’s film, it’s often downright sinister, but children will love it. Mr Fox is a notorious chicken thief who settles down in middle age, to take raise a family and work as a newspaper columnist, but, true to his foxy nature he has not completely forsworn his old ways. Unbeknownst to his wife, Mr Fox has been running raids on the chickens belonging to a trio of nasty farmers: Boggis and Bunce and Bean. They decide the fox and his family need to be wiped out. But Mr Fox, with the help of various possums and badgers, sets about getting his retaliation in first.
The only thing that grates on me is that Mr Fox and his furry friends all have American accents, while the three evil, ugly farmers are all British. It’s not the first time that Hollywood has done this kind of stereotyping, but they really should respect the origins of stories – Roald Dahl was British. Or maybe British authors should stop selling their creativity to Hollywood.