‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’

It seemed the year’s animated films couldn’t get smarter or more visually intriguing when the very sly “Fantastic Mr. Fox” showed up to steal the chicken and the stage. A stop-motion miracle adapted from the Roald Dahl children’s book, there is much to captivate: its painterly look -- you can count the foxes’ whiskers should you be so inclined; its clever way with foibles, human and otherwise. It doesn’t hurt that director Wes Anderson got George Clooney, already the sliest fox in Hollywood, and Meryl Streep, who rules the acting hen house, as the leads. Watching Mr. Fox muse on the existential nature of life one moment, only to tear wildly through his breakfast toast the next, is to be reminded of the dual nature all of us have, and how amusing it can be to watch that struggle in the right hands.

-- Betsy Sharkey