I loved this movie, but all I could think when I was watching is that kids are not going to understand most of the jokes, and that it's between being targeted toward kids or adults, which is why it flopped. Movies like Toy story 3 did great because there targeted at kids, even though adults love it too.
shareYup. We have talked about this before. It seems whoever did the marketing was not really sure what to do with this movie. As we know, its not really a kids movie (though some kids do/will like it), and it is more of an adult film. However, it was just 'advertised', with no target. If you watch the trailer, its a bit painful as it does not really convey what this movie is.
It seems the people who would have really appreciated this movie were more of the NPR/PBS crowd. The humor is a bit dry, often complex (as all Wes Anderson films are). This is not a mass-market movie - yet it was marketed as one. Because of this, it did not draw a lot of attention.
Thankfully, it seems it got more popular once it came out on BD/DVD. Not saying it made tons of money, but rentals and awareness went way up.
While I agree with you that kids were not the target audience, I don't think that was the only reason it flopped. It was also boring and a bit creepy.
shareIt was also boring and a bit creepy.
Thanks for the tip!
shareI only watched five or ten minutes of it. For me it was George Clooney and Meryl Streep. The animation was good but their voices did not fit the characters at all!! I could only think about how Meryl Streep was too old for the part and George Clooney wasn't sly enough or low enough or something...The whistle was annoying rather than endearing too.
'Tis a shame... I love Ronald Dahl, then ruined Cat in the Hat and now this. Let's hope The Lorax keeps some dignity.
What are you talking about? Cat in the Hat and Lorax are Dr. Seuss. O_o
shareOops! My mistake, I guess I was just thinking of kids books.
Anyways, I appreciate Wes Anderson but now that I think about it I only really liked Rushmore and The Royal Tennenbaums was an acquired taste for me. I'd like to watch FMF and try it again.
I loved Rushmore, and The Darjeeling Limited, liked The Life Aquatic... and The Royal Tanenbaums, but didn't like Bottle Rocket. I didn't like Fantastic Mr. Fox either (fell asleep every time I watched the movie - twice.) There were some amusing bits, but overall the movie didn't appeal to me.
share[deleted]
It was a bad choice for a Wes Anderson film frankly. I think any kids film would be actually but, by choosing to adapt a Dahl book, one that is fairly well known and certainly well loved (in the UK at least) you're instantly giving yourself the bracket of kid's film.
The book is actually way darker than the film; with way more emotional intensity. The film was nothing like the book; sadly Anderson doesn't really do emotion very well at all.
I feel sorry for the people that had to market this film.
To be honest, I'm still really disappointed with this film. I grew up with the book and the film felt like a self-indulgent betrayal of the original work. In essence, it was a poor film. That's why it flopped.
I'd actually like someone to remake this film and actually attempt to stay more faithful to the original. It'd be a great kids film.
To be honest, I'm still really disappointed with this film. I grew up with the book and the film felt like a self-indulgent betrayal of the original work. In essence, it was a poor film. That's why it flopped.
I'd actually like someone to remake this film and actually attempt to stay more faithful to the original. It'd be a great kids film.
I really enjoyed the movie, and my kids (6 and 9 at the time) did as well. In fact we bought it for Christmas. I also teach HS students, and I show it at the end of the year. The students love it.
I think its (relative) box office failure is due to a combination of things that have been mentioned already: poor and limited promotion, Wes Anderson's lack of wide appeal, and a general avoidance of animation not from Pixar or Disney.
ALL movies are marketed to adults. Kids don't have any money. That's why George Clooney and Tom Hanks are above the title. Even lousy "children's movies" are targeted at an adult audience that just doesn't think very much of their children's ability to engage in complex material.
And as a quick side note, I hate the tag "children's movie". What does that mean? I cringe when I feel it is euphemism for crappy (like the Squeakuel, for example). My children enjoy complex, challenging movies like FMF or Spirited Away. I enjoy these movies too. Let's not insult the ability our children have to rise to the level of the material if we teach them early enough to hold stories to high standards. It will serve them well as adults.
I watched this movie on the plane out of pure curiosity. I didn't know much about it and I didn't even know the cast until the credits. I had a four hour flight (time for 2 movies) on the plane so me and my brother decided to watch seperate movies and then after the movie tell eachother if the one we watched was worth watching. I went with Paper Man (which I loved) and he watched Fantastic Mr. Fox. He hated it for being too weird but I got interested and watched it anyways.
The quirkiness is what really got me into it and I just overall really enjoyed and just wanted to keep seeing what strange thing the movie would do next.
"The thief is sorry he is to be hanged, not that he is a thief."
It flopped because Anderson is an acquired taste who doesn't have a wide mainstream appeal. And as others have said, this was more of a Wes Anderson movie in stop motion rather than a kid's movie. And the trailers didn't make it look very appealing.
share[deleted]
Why its good for kids is that they don't need to get all the jokes. But I think you give them too little credit.
I had never heard of this film we were sat there yesterday and they wanted us all to watch it.
Now I hardly ever do that these days but all 4 of us sat there I was thinking of excuses to get out of it.
My kids are 6 and 9 I'm 40
All of us absolutely loved it the humour is subtle and no doubt they missed some of the jokes but they did see ash's ear twich and him spit on the floor for example or the possums eyes etc etc.
I don't ever remember watching a film before that ALL of us enjoyed watching so much.
utter genious
I believe it flopped b/c of the animation... That was one of the reasons why I didn't want to watch it at first. We live in an age where animated movies are so masterfully crafted.. this was a very bold choice to make the movie like this. It's like taking a step backwards... I eventually watched the cartoon, and I actually enjoyed it. I was neutral towards the animation, but I wonder if it was digitally animated it could've been a great movie instead of a good one imo. The voice acting is actually brilliant!
share[deleted]
not very much box office success i'm guessing... Also, some may not be a fan of the animation and can automatically be turned off by it.
shareIt flopped because it's different, really that's all there is to it. Animated films still have the stigma associated with them that they are targeted at children but really this one was for adults. No way a mainstream animated film like this one is gonna do extremely well like Megamind or Toy Story 3. Plus the humor is so very different, like a few have already said it definitely is an acquired taste.
shareI don't think Toy Story 3 was targeted at kids any more than this one. Just like the first TS movie, it was actually surprisingly dark and occasionally creepy.
Besides, my kids liked FMF more than TS3. So go figure.
__________________
A year is a long time.
Not so long. Just once around the sun.
This movie is a masterpiece and really original. I watched it and really liked it. It feels like a computer geek's brilliantly scripted animation. I don't understand why it flopped. It is so brilliant.
shareI don't even think I remember hearing or seeing anything about it! I would have gone to see it if so since Roald Dahl is one of my favorites. Maybe because it was not a mainstream movie it was considered a "flop", but as a piece of artwork it is masterful and I think it was a great vision put to a great story. They did Roald Dahl proud with uniqueness.
share[deleted]
Yeah, I love Wes & really liked FMF, though thinking about what age to show my niece & nephew (currently 4 & 2), might not until they're at least 10 or so.
Part of the lack of mainstream appeal is it's a children's book with a grown up screenplay. 'Are you cussin' with me? ' made me laugh out loud, yet what child would you want seeing that?
...top 50 http://www.imdb.com/list/ls056413299/
My nieces at 6 and 4 loved this movie.
Can't stop the signal.
I've grown to like it more, as time goes by. I remember watching it for the first time and thinking it was just okay, but it took me a while to figure out exactly what about it didn't work, for me.
What I finally realized is that Mr. Fox didn't come across as all that sympathetic of a character. His family wasn't starving, the farmers weren't bothering him; yet he went and stole what was rightfully someone else's property and harassed them when he had no need to do so, and the entire animal community wound up suffering for it. The farmers may have overreacted, but they didn't start the war.
He's more of a classical Greek hero, with the requisite Tragic Flaw, than the modern American hero, or even anti-hero.
"You may have come on no bicycle, but that does not say that you know everything."