MANILA, Philippines - Although Twentieth Century Fox’s new animated comedy Fantastic Mr. Fox retained the English countryside setting and its English farmers from the original book by Roald Dahl, all the animal characters are American. At the very least they’re voiced by American actors.
“The animals tend to have American accents and the humans are English,” explains producer Allison Abbate. “No one knows what accent an animal would have if it talked and animals have nationalities. We started with George Clooney as Mr. Fox and that kind of set the rule to keep them all consistent.”
To play the crafty, sly and decidedly roguish antihero Mr. Fox, director Wes Anderson only ever had George Clooney in mind. “George seemed like a natural choice,” he says of the producer, writer, director and actor, “because we needed somebody who was going to be a hero, and I think he is that automatically. I’ve wanted to work with him for a long time. So we sent him the script, and he said he’d do it.”
Adds Abbate, “George was born to play this part. He’s the right combination of Cary Grant and Clark Gable. He’s got the debonair, gentlemanly quality of Grant as well as the animalistic, sexy side. I really believe he could steal some chickens.”
As Mr. Fox’s pragmatic, artistic and resolutely faithful wife Felicity, Anderson cast Meryl Streep. “When else am I going to be Mrs. George Clooney?” laughs Streep of accepting the role.
“There is no better actress and she completely brought to life a character,” says Anderson.
“She was an amazing choice,” says Abbate. “She’s the moral center of the movie in many ways. She can be strong, she can be funny, and she is definitely wifely. She stands by her man and helps him get out of scrapes. She’s got a great relationship with Mr. Fox. She keeps him honest.”
“She’s the one person he can’t lie to,” muses Bill Murray, who voices Mr. Fox’s lawyer Badger and previously lent his voice to Garfield the cat for Garfield. “I mean, he can sort of try to deceive her but she knows who he is. She is sort of a magical creature.”
To be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Glorietta 4 and Greenbelt 3) starting Dec. 9, Fantastic Mr. Fox is distributed by Twentieth Century Fox through Warner Bros.