Fantastic Mr. Fox is a 2009 American
stop-motion animated comedy film based on the
Roald Dahl children's novel of the same name. The film is about a fox who steals food each night from three mean and wealthy farmers. They are fed up with Mr. Fox's theft and try to kill him, so they dig their way into the foxes' home, but the animals are able to outwit the farmers and live underground. Produced by
Indian Paintbrush and
Regency Enterprises, and released in the autumn of 2009, the film features the voices of
George Clooney,
Meryl Streep,
Jason Schwartzman,
Bill Murray,
Willem Dafoe,
Michael Gambon, and
Owen Wilson. For director
Wes Anderson, it was his first animated film and first film adaptation. Development on the project began in 2004 as collaboration between Anderson and
Henry Selick (who worked with Anderson on the 2004 film
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) under
Revolution Studios. In 2007, Revolution folded, Selick left to direct
Coraline, and work on the film moved to
20th Century Fox. Production began in
London in 2007. It was released in late 2009 to positive reviews.