Fantastic Mr Fox is a children'snovel written by British author Roald Dahl. It was published in 1970 by George Allen & Unwin in the UK and Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S., with illustrations by Donald Chaffin. The first UK Puffin paperback edition, first issued in 1974, featured illustrations by Jill Bennett. Later editions have featured illustrations by Tony Ross (1988) and Quentin Blake (1996). The story is about Mr Fox and how he outwits his farmer neighbours to steal their food from right under their noses. In 2009 it was adapted into a film by Wes Anderson.
Two audio readings were released, one with the author narrating (ISBN 0-060-53627-6) and another with Martin Jarvis narrating (ISBN 0-141-80787-3).
Plot summary
The story revolves around an anthropomorphic, tricky, clever fox named Mr. Fox who lives underground beside a tree with his wife and four children within a valley. In order to feed his family, he makes nightly visits to farms owned by three wicked, cruel, dimwitted rich farmers named Farmer Boggis (a chicken farmer), Farmer Bunce (a duck and goose farmer), and Farmer Bean (a turkey and apple farmer) and snatches the livestock available on each man's farm. Tired of being outsmarted by Mr. Fox, the farmers devise a plan to ambush him as he leaves his hole, but they succeed only in shooting off his tail.
The farmers then dig up his burrow using first spades and then Caterpillar tractors. The Foxes manage to escape by burrowing further beneath the earth to safety. The digging by the farmers had the hole they dug as large as a volcano crater. Their digging was witnessed by a crowd of people including the ones from the nearby village. The trio of farmers are ridiculed for their persistence, so they decide to surround Mr. Fox's hole and wait until he is hungry enough to come out. The three farmers even arranged for tents, sleeping bag, and dinner to be brought to them from their respectful farms. In order to make sure Mr. Fox doesn't dig out of the other side of the hill, the farmers enlist their workers to wait at the other side of the hill where they are armed with sticks, guns, hatchets, pistols, and other weapons to use on Mr. Fox if he emerges.
Cornered by his enemies, Mr. Fox and his family begin to starve. Suddenly, Mr. Fox devises a plot to acquire food. He and his children tunnel through the dirt and wind up burrowing to Boggis' hen house just as he had planned. Mr. Fox kills several chickens and sends his eldest son to carry the food back home to Mrs. Fox. On the way to their next destination, Mr. Fox runs into his friend Badger who informs them that there are a lot of people in the countryside enough to trap the other animals underground. Mr. Fox permits Badger to accompany him on his mission and the group proceeds to tunnel to Bunce's farm. The animals carry their loot back home, where Mrs. Fox has prepared a great celebratory banquet for the starving family of badgers, moles, rabbits, weasels, and the rest of the fox family. Then they head to Bean's cider cellar where they encounter Rat who Mr. Fox scares away. The foxes then begin to steal the ciders much to the dismay of Rat. The foxes and Badger are nearly discovered by a hired woman named Mabel who enters the room to collect a few jars of apple cider for Bean.
The foxes and Badger make it back to Mrs Fox. At the table, Mr. Fox invites the badgers, moles, rabbits, and weasels to live in a secret underground neighborhood with him and his family. Badger holds a toast for Mr. Fox while Mrs. Fox considers her husband to be fantastic. will hunt for them daily and none of them will any longer need to worry about the farmers. Everyone joyfully cheers for this idea. Outside the hole, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean are near their tents waiting for the Mr. Fox to emerge from his hole as it begins to rain as they have their guns in their hands so that they can be ready for when Mr. Fox comes out of the hole.
Characters
Mr. Fox - A fox who is the main protagonist of the story. He is the wife of Mrs. Fox and the father of four small foxes.
Mrs. Fox - The wife of Mr. Fox and the father of four small foxes.
Farmer Boggis - A chicken farmer who owns thousands of chickens. He was enormous and fat because he ate three boiled chickens smothered with dumplings every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Farmer Boggis has 35 people working on his farm.
Farmer Bunce - A duck and goose farmer who owns thousands of ducks and geese. He was a kind pot-bellied dwarf who is so short that this chin would be underwater in the shallow end of the swimming pool. Farmer Buncee enjoys doughnuts and liver where he even combines them enough to give him a stomachache. Farmer Bunce has 36 people working on his farm.
Farmer Bean - An apple and turkey farmer who owns thousands of turkeys and an apple tree orchard. He never ate food at all and drank gallons of strong cider that are made from the apples in his orchard. Farmer Bean is described to be thin as a pencil and the cleverest of the farmers. Farmer Bean has 37 people working on his farm.
Badger - A friend of Mr. Fox who is the husband of Mrs. Badger and the father of a young badger.
Mrs. Badger - The wife of Badger who is the mother of a young badger.
Mole - A neighbor of Mr. Fox who is the father of four small moles.
Mrs. Mole - The wife of Mole who is the mother of four small moles.
Rabbit - A neighbor of Mr. Fox who is the wife of Mrs. Rabbit and the father of five small rabbits.
Mrs. Rabbit - The wife of Rabbit who is the mother of five small rabbits.
Weasel - A neighbor of Mr. Fox who is the wife of Mrs. Weasel and the father of six small weasels. Weasel was known for getting out of the tightest places.
Mrs. Weasel - The wife of Weasel who is the mother of six small weasels.
Mabel - A female worker at Farmer Bean's farm.
Rat - A rat who resides in Farmer Bean's cider cellar.
The book was adapted into a film by director Wes Anderson. It was made using stop-motionanimation and features the voices of George Clooney as Mr. Fox, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, Bill Murray as Badger, Hugo Guinness as Bunce, and Michael Gambon as Bean. The movie's plot focuses more on Mr. Fox's relationship to Mrs. Fox and his son, which is pitted against Mr. Fox's desire to steal chickens as a means of feeling like his natural self. The movie adds scenes before Mr. Fox attacks the three farmers and after their bulldozing of the hill, as well as a slightly altered ending and more background on Mr. Fox's past life as a thief of food. The Fox's three children are replaced by Ash, a small and insecure fox who seeks his father's approval, and Mr. Fox's nephew Kristofferson, who excels in athletics and is a source of jealousy for Ash.
Stage adaptations
The book was adapted into a play of the same name by David Wood and was first performed at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in 2001. The play is licensed (in UK only) through Casarotto Ramsay Ltd. for repertory performances and Samuel French Ltd. for amateur performances.[1]
Tobias Picker adapted the book into an opera (the only adaptation with origins in the US) which had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Opera performing 9–22 December in 1998.[2][3] the Opera starred Gerald Finley as Mr. Fox and Suzanna Guzman as Mrs. Fox.[2] A specially commissioned new version of this opera by Opera Holland Park was performed in the gardens and natural scenery of Holland Park in the summer of 2010 staged by Stephen Barlow. This version starred Grant Doyle as Mr. Fox, Olivia Ray as Mrs. Fox, Henry Grant Kerswell, Peter Kent and John Lofthouse as Farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean.[4]
