When it comes to movies for kids, I enjoy a little nuance and depth. Sure, my son may be too young to pick up on the difference between Monsters Vs. Aliens and Up, but I know that when he’s older he’ll appreciate the meaningful films he loved as a child. (I’ll sure as hell be obsessed with The Secret of NIMH for the rest of my life.)
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with Jason Schwartzman, one of the stars of the upcoming film, Fantastic Mr. Fox. Before the call, I did some research on the film. I’d seen some Entertainment Weekly features on it, but I wasn’t really familiar with the plot. (It’s one of the only Roald Dahl books I haven’t read.)
The trailer looks adorable, but it wasn’t until I go to listen to Jason explaining his thoughts on the film that I felt totally sold on it. When it comes to nuance, director Wes Anderson sometimes borders on inaccessible. It was hard for me to imagine his filmmaking style translating to a family film.
Jason talked about how the film has been a labor of love for over three years. That Wes Anderson gathered the fabulous cast on a real farm and recorded the voice acting in a group situation. (Instead of in individual sound booths as most films are recorded.)
I’m a huge fan of Bored Like Me, the cable show starring Ted Danson and Jason Schwartzman. He sounded as absolutely endearing and sweet as he does in character as Jonathan Ames. (I was super duper nervous to be on the call until he started talking and sounded incredibly down-to-earth and genuinely excited to be talking to some bloggers.)
Jason talked about feeling like an outsider as a child. (He also talked about his childhood love of digging and how much he loved it when the Care Bears teamed up with the Care Bear Cousins.) He really resonated with his adolescent character Ash in Fantastic Mr. Fox. He feels that the messages in the film are important to families and kids. (As someone who grew up feeling like a huge outcast, I am also really drawn to underdog stories.)
I’ll definitely be taking my son to see Fantastic Mr. Fox when it comes out later this week. I’m confident that he’ll love the adventure, and that I’ll get a kick out of the stellar performances that Wes Anderson consistently draws out of his cast members.
You can check out the trailer here:
About the author: Maria is surrounded by boys. She gets all aflutter when she finds good deals, new episodes of Gossip Girl, and big bold bottles of red wine. Read more from this author.
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