“I don’t want to live in a hole anymore.”  

With an introspective awareness not usually expected of a children’s film, Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) touches on serious themes of the self, fear, and insecurity. In the beginning, Mr. Fox (George Clooney) repeats this line about living in a hole, and it takes on new meaning with his insistence. He’s willing to return to a life of crime in exchange for living above ground, despite seeming to have it all. Mr. Fox has a comfortable life: a home, a family, and safety. But he wants adventure, danger, and an escape from monotony. Despite being a fox, he’s deeply affected by a consumerist and achievement-driven mindset. It’s reflective of many people today who struggle to feel content with what they have, constantly chasing highs, material goods, or personal “greatness.” Like Mr. Fox, we’re often restless even when we’re secure. And much like us, Mr. Fox justifies risky or selfish behaviour under the banner of authenticity or identity.  

“I’m a wild animal.” Similarly, we often rationalise disruptive choices, like quitting jobs, abandoning relationships, and chasing fame, as “being true to ourselves,” even if those choices hurt others. Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) is on the receiving end of Mr. Fox’s recklessness, and in the opening scene, it nearly gets her, and her unborn son, killed. It isn’t fair to her, but Mr. Fox is too caught up in his own existential yearning to realise what he’s doing. He wants to escape the ‘hole’, yet his efforts to do so may end with him and his family buried in one.  

What is the ‘hole’, then? Is it just the mediocrity of his suburban life? Is the whole film an allegory for accepting contentment over excitement? I think that it’s perfectly applicable, although it feels like something deeper is happening inside of Mr. Fox throughout. It’s almost like the ‘hole’ he’s referring to isn’t the actual physical hole he lives in, the stiflingly average existence he’s sunk into, but a mental ‘hole’ he’s hiding inside of. He’s hiding from himself, from having to look at himself, because he knows he isn’t who he wants to be. “I need everybody to think that I’m the greatest, the quote unquote ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox,’ and if they aren’t knocked out, and dazzled, and kind of intimidated by me, then I don’t feel good about myself.” He’s hiding from his fear of being known as he is, and pretending to be someone he isn’t, due to his need to feel impressive.  

Mr. Fox’s existential dilemma mirrors many narratives we see today surrounding social media and how it affects us. We need to feel better than we are, we need to feel impressive, we need to feel like others think we’re… fantastic. Looking at Fantastic Mr. Fox as a critique of modern society’s achievement-centred, appearance-forward attitudes, the message of the film is a hopeful encouragement for us to crawl out of our own ‘hole’ and be true to who we are, not what we want other people to think of us. 

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons