Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

A fox (George Clooney) abandons his chicken thieving ways when his girl (Meryl Streep) gets pregnant and settles down to a life of domesticity. But you can't take the wild animal out of the fox and soon he plans one last big chicken heist! The plan doesn't go as smoothly as he thought and soon the humans take revenge on not only the foxes but all the underground animals in the woods. Based on the book by Roald Dahl and directed by Wes Anderson (ROYAL TENNENBAUMS), who adapted the screenplay along with Noah Baumbach (MARGOT AT THE WEDDING). It's a captivating animated (actually, stop motion, not drawn) clever tale. The humor is subtle and plays to both adults and children though perhaps slightly slanted toward the grown ups and the film's environmental message isn't forced. The wonderfully adroit underscore is by Alexandre Desplat. With Bill Muray, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and as a scene stealing karate fighting rat, Willem Dafoe.