Wonderful texture of “Fantastic Mr.FOX” [Mizumaru Kawahara’s CINEMONOLOGUE Vol.54]

Dolls with the presence of animals

The most distinctive feature of the animals in this work is probably their coats, which are created using flocked hair. Other than standing on two legs, there isn't much deformation to the figure itself, and perhaps because of that, it feels somewhat realistic, like the stuffed animal is wearing clothes. They even have a row of finely pointed teeth in their mouths, which peek out briefly while they're talking, and are exposed when they're angry. Although he is anthropomorphized, the expressions he occasionally shows create a gap, and I think it fits perfectly with the story of him coming to terms with his wild instincts. In other words, even the style of personification is a story device.

The scene in which Mr. Fox, dressed in smart clothes (wearing a suit matching the director himself), robs a chicken coop and emerges with the victim in his mouth is very symbolic. It reminds the viewer that no matter how anthropomorphized they are, they are still animals, and this echoes Mr. Fox's state of mind, who tries to return to stealing (=wild instinct), which is his purpose in life, even though he has a peaceful life. . That's why the animals in this work need to be realistic.

The realistic shapes also capture the form and cuteness of the animals themselves. It's probably the same way that the insects in `` Giant Peach '' are cute even without omitting the number of legs.

Every time the transplanted fur changes its expression, it moves somewhat randomly, giving off a very cute stop-motion feel. In the same year, Leica released another stop-motion masterpiece, `` Coraline '', and since then they have mass-produced facial parts beautifully molded using 3D printers, and using digital correction to make stop-motion images look more and more like CG animation. This is in contrast to the smoothness that has been achieved.

Stop motion has achieved the beauty of CG, and CG animation has achieved the feel of high-quality stop motion, and these two are now intersecting. There's something exciting about the advancement of technology and the application of methods, but at the same time, there's also the charm of Mr. Fox's fluffy, moving fur that takes advantage of the characteristics of stop-motion photography, in which tiny dolls are actually photographed frame by frame. The texture is certainly reassuring. This characteristic fur atmosphere is also carried over to Wes' second stop-motion work, `` Isle of Dogs .''

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