A stop-motion animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1970 children’s novel Fantastic Mr Fox follows the titular character as he outsmarts his farmer neighbors to steal their food.

Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) embark on a scenic route to Berk’s Squab Farm to steal fledgling pigeons, but are trapped in a cage. Facing imminent danger, Mrs. Fox reveals her pregnancy and asks her husband to find another line of work if they can survive the night, to which he agrees.

Two years later (or 12 fox-years), Mr. Fox, now a columnist for the Gazette newspaper, lives in a hole with his wife, Mrs. Fox, and their son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman). Though they are poor, they are happy. However, Mr. Fox no longer wants to live in a hole. He dreams of living above ground with better views. He is also worried that he is now 7 human-years old, and his father died at 7 and a half. He simply does not want to die while living in a hole.

Mr. Fox covets a Beech tree house, but his lawyer, Badger (Bill Murray), advises against purchasing the property due to its proximity to facilities run by the notoriously dangerous farmers Walt Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), Nate Bunce (Hugo Guinness), and Frank Bean (Michael Gambon). This neighborhood is widely considered the most hazardous in the country, especially for foxes. However, Mr. Fox disregards Badger’s advice and insists on purchasing the Beech tree house.

Upon moving into their new tree house, Mr. and Mrs. Fox welcome their nephew, Kristofferson (Eric Anderson), who is sent to live with them temporarily. Ash, feeling frustrated and irritated by his cousin’s apparent superiority, watches as Kristofferson quickly wins over everyone’s affection.

Yearning for his old days as a thief and the thrill of the chase, Mr. Fox recruits an opossum Kylie (Wallace Wolodarsky) to be his accomplice. They systematically steal from Boggis, Bunce, and Bean’s farms, one at a time. When they break into Frank Bean’s farm, Mr. Fox invites Kristofferson to join them.

After realizing that they have all been robbed by the same fox, Frank Bean summons Walt Boggis and Nate Bunce to an emergency meeting. Determined to end this shameful incident, the three farmers resolve to kill the fox.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX is a truly remarkable stop-motion animated film, with incredibly detailed animation, a brilliant script, an engaging story, and sublime music. Every frame is a work of art, and it is a pure delight to witness one of the best animated films ever created.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX premiered at London Film Festival on 14 October 2009. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 13 November.

It was released on Blu-ray on 23 March 2010. The Criterion Collection also released the film on Blu-ray on 18 February 2014.