Before I (hopefully) watch ISLE OF DOGS later this week, I decided to revisit Anderson's first venture into animation: FANTASTIC MR. FOX, and I'm really glad that I did as this film is nothing-short-of a masterpiece. A lot of that has to do with the beautiful marriage that is the script; the combination of Anderson's endless wit and Baumbach's endless humanity blends perfectly to create the clever and heartfelt dialogue featured in the film. 

The animation, as well, works exceptionally well under Anderson's influence. The complete control over movement, backgrounds, colors, and framing granted by the stop-motion style allows Anderson to create some of the most stunning visuals and camera movements in his ever-expanding library of beautiful films. Desplat's score is also some of his best work ever (the Boggis, Bunce, and Bean medley come off as both intimidating, funny, and incomprehensibly beautiful, depending on how it's used). 

Ultimately though, what really makes FANTASTIC MR. FOX so...fantastic (I'm not sorry) is how many little bits of emotion seep through into this children's film about a Fox stealing from farmers. Things like Kristofferson and Ash bonding over a model train, Foxy and Felicity's conversation at the waterfall, Rat's death, and the Wolf scene all just add this cussing beautiful humanity onto this film about wild animals.