After watching Wes Anderson’s brilliant film version a couple nights ago, I wanted to return to the book, which I haven’t read for some years. I was surprised by how closely the film follows the book, and also interested to see the many ways that the film Wes Andersonified the source material to fit his oeuvre.

Roald Dahl’s original story is short, funny, and endearing. It was one of his earlier children’s books (preceded only by James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Magic Finger). His trademark style is there, but it feels a little restrained. Anderson in some ways magnified the Dahl-ness of it for the film version.

The main distinction between book and film is each creator’s concept of fatherhood. Dahl loves a caring, engaged, “sparky” father, and Anderson almost always features an arrogant, self-absorbed father (though in this case, Mr. Fox learns his lesson and becomes that kind of father—we hope!—by the end of the film). Both versions of this story work perfectly.

Read it in one day to my four year old. He was fascinated and wide eyed the entire time. Then, at dinner he called his juice "strong cider" and talked about how it made his mouth and belly burn :).

The 2009 Wes Anderson film featuring the voice talents of Bill Murray and George Clooney is a favorite of mine and so I was compelled to visit the original work, the beloved children’s book by the inimitable Roald Dahl.

First published in 1970, this short work describes the machinations of a chicken thief, Mr. Fox.

Perhaps not as urbane as portrayed by Clooney and directed by Anderson, Dahl’s fox is nonetheless fantastic for his ability to outfox messers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean.

Being well acquainted with the film it was fun to see what scenes from the book had been dramatized and I can report that Anderson stayed true to the book while adding some fun details for our viewing pleasure. This then, is the opposite of most novels in that the director added scenes to the film.

Good fun for Dahl fans, aficionados of children’s lit and for Wes Anderson enthusiasts like me.

This short book was a laugh riot. Especially with the way Dahl described the human characters.

Fanyastic Mr Fox filmini defalarca izleyip de ilham kaynağını okumak güzel :)

Just needed a taste of childhood again :)

[First read:?<2010. 3 stars.
Second read: 3rd April, 2016. 2 stars.]

Read as part of The Infinite Variety Reading Challenge, based on the BBC's Big Read Poll of 2003.

The first time I read this book I was jumping up and down on my friends bed. I was about ten. It was a fun time to be alive. The trials and tribulations of a talking fox were not a new phenomenon to me, but there was a bit of magical whimsy to this particular book that left an impression on me.

It's not a terrible book. It's written well-as well as any of his others-but there's just that lack again that some of his books always seem to have that I can't quite put my finger on: it's different for each book but it's always there and it's always intangible. It's kind of a non-book in that it has an obvious plot that isn't much of a plot and it has characters that are whimsical but still a bit flat. The ending was typical Dahl and it's always nice to see the ending, but in general it was just a bit "meh" all-in-all.


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ليه الإنسان يعرف عالم Ronald Dahl القمر متأخر كدا ؟
متحمسة جدا للقراءة ليه أكتر وأكتر ❤

this one was like a warm hug..

I am a huge Roald Dahl fan. I love foxes and I loved having a main character that is a fox. It is such a snappy and witty book. This is a great one and I think the movie was wonderful as well. Roald does well on screen. Of course the fox will win.

This is a short blogpost taken from Thoughts on Roald Dahl: The BFG, The Witches & Fantastic Mr. Fox.

I wasn't sure why, but Fantastic Mr. Fox felt the most festive to me, so I thought it'd be appropriate as my sixth Roald Dahl read. Now that I've read it, it's a little festive (gathering together with friends for a celebratory meal), but it's most likely because the film adaptation seems to always be on around Christmas – and now I cannot wait to watch it. Fantastic Mr. Fox is a charming, quick little read; a much less gruesome Watership Down. When three nasty men (Bean, Boggis and Bunce) put the home and lives of Mr. Fox, Mrs Fox and their four Small Foxes at risk, he comes up with an ingenious, masterful plan. It's full of smart characters – I loved the adorable four Small Foxes and their courageous determination – and it's also the first Roald Dahl book I've read, I'd say, with an obvious underlying moral message.

Mr. Fox looked at the four Small Foxes and he smiled. What fine children I have, he thought. They are starving to death and they haven't had a drink for three days, but they are still undefeated. I must not let them down.


I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.

This was such a fun and entertaining story! I really love Roald Dahl’s writing, it’s just so clever and fun to read and makes me feel like a kid again whenever I pick one of his books up. I thought this one was one of the funniest I’ve read by him yet, it was just too good how the animals ran circles around the three farmers and it constantly had me giggling. This was really such a cute, feel good read for me!