Featuring stop-motion animation, it stars George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson.

Soon after the Foxes move in, Felicity's nephew Kristofferson Silverfox comes to live with them due to his father receiving long-term medical treatment for double pneumonia.

Longing for his days as a thief, Mr. Fox and his opossum friend Kylie, the superintendent, steal produce and poultry from Boggis and Bunce's farms.

As the animals begin fearing starvation, Mr. Fox calls them together and leads them on a digging expedition to tunnel to the three farms, stealing all of their prized goods.

Discovering that Mr. Fox has stolen their goods, the farmers and the fire chief flood the animals' tunnel network with some of Bean's cider, washing them out into the sewers.

Realizing that the farmers plan to use Kristofferson to lure him into an ambush, Mr. Fox heads to the surface to surrender but returns when Rat, Bean's violent security guard, confronts the animals and attacks Ash and Felicity.

Before dying, Rat reveals that Kristofferson is being held in an attic in Bean Annex, prompting Mr. Fox to organize a rescue mission.

The farmers prepare an ambush, but the animals, anticipating it, launch a counterattack that allows Mr. Fox, Ash, and Kylie to enter Bean Annex undetected.

Ash frees Kristofferson and impresses his father and the group by braving enemy fire to release a rabid beagle to keep the farmers at bay.

Soon afterward, Fox (sporting the tail as a clip-on) raids a supermarket owned by the farmers, where Felicity reveals her upcoming pregnancy as the animals dance in the aisle, celebrating their abundant new food source.

[23] The film's soundtrack featured a selection of songs from The Beach Boys, The Bobby Fuller Four, Burl Ives, Georges Delerue, The Rolling Stones, and other artists.

Themes in the film include gluttony and greed, which are manifested by both the protagonists and antagonists, in addition to hardship, economic determinism,[24] justice and freedom,[25] individuality, classism, insecurity and conformity (such as the case with Mr. Fox's son Ash),[24] self-acceptance, personal struggle and accepting social change.

[29] Mr. Fox exhibits narcissism and a fear of accepting defeat, although the film demonstrates that failure is not a bad thing, despite the destruction of his home.

[31] Mr. Fox's existential crisis is what drives him to purchase a newer house and regress to his criminal habits in order to obtain better food for his family.

[32] The film depict issues of class struggle, as Mr. Fox feels poor and is then determined to take on the affluent, avaricious farmers.

In retaliation to Mr. Fox's thievery of produce, the farmers destroy nearly everything, killing almost every animal in town (as a means of collective punishment), with others being displaced.

[34] The film focuses on what it means to be a father and husband; Mr. Fox breaks his promise made to his wife by continuing to steal, and therefore turns everyone's lives upside down, whereby the situation compels him to look at himself and to acknowledge who he is.

Although it is actually set in the mid-to-late 2000s, the film's style and aesthetic is anachronistically 1970s, a period when men were taught that they should be strong and confident earners for the family.

He walks in an effeminate way and has markings that resemble eyeliner, unlike other male characters in the film – a contrast in style could imply that he is gay.

The site's consensus states: "Fantastic Mr. Fox is a delightfully funny feast for the eyes with multi-generational appeal – and it shows Wes Anderson has a knack for animation".

The work done by the animation director, Mark Gustafson, by the director of photography, Tristan Oliver, and by the production designer, Nelson Lowry, shows amazing ingenuity and skill, and the music (by Alexandre Desplat, with the usual shuffle of well-chosen pop tunes, famous and obscure) is both eccentric and just right.

[47] Cosmo Landesman of The Sunday Times said "having a quirky auteur like Anderson make a children's film is a bit like David Byrne, of Talking Heads, recording an album of nursery rhymes produced by Brian Eno".

[48] Amy Biancolli from the Houston Chronicle wrote: Anderson injects such charm and wit, such personality and nostalgia—evident in the old-school animation, storybook settings and pitch-perfect use of Burl Ives—that it's easy to forgive his self-conscious touches.

[49]Ann Hornaday from The Washington Post calls it a: Self-consciously quirky movie that manages to be twee and ultra-hip at the same time, it qualifies as yet another wry, carefully composed bibelot in the cabinet of curios that defines the Anderson oeuvre.

[50] Peter Howell from the Toronto Star stated: In an age when everything seems digital, computer-driven and as fake as instant coffee, more and more artists (Spike Jonze and John Lasseter among them) are embracing the old ways of vinyl records, hand-drawn cartoons and painstaking stop-motion character movements.