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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Film Petit: Fantastic Mr. Fox


"If what I think is happening here is happening... it better not be." -Mrs. Fox

It's Film Petit day!!! Yes, we came back to another Wes Anderson film. We just couldn't stay away that long. But Fantastic Mr. Fox is the only animated film Wes has done and the only one that even Hendrix is a huge fan of. He was very excited about this month's look.

The movie is stop motion animated. That combined with Wes' attention to detail really makes it visually stunning. I love watching the DVD extras about the animation process and just how much he was involved in every single little decision. He even acted out each character's parts himself on video just for the animators to learn how each character moved and acted.



My look is a little less literal this time, but I associate it loosely with the character Ash. Ash is Mr. Fox's son. He's grumpy, he spits, he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. He never seems to be able to get his father's attention in the ways he wants to. He is probably summed up best in a conversation with his mother in which she says he is just 'different,' as they all are in the Fox family. He responds with, "I don't want to be different. I want to be an athlete."





There are so many themes and lines and quirky Wes-isms that I love about this movie. The way the characters eat like wild animals even though they live and act like people, the way they say "cuss" in place of every actual cuss word, and all the capers stealing from the most hilarious trio of antagonists.



But my favorite scene is definitely the ending. SUCH a great ending. After being under siege by the three farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean, Mr. Fox finds a sewer entry into a great big supermarket after closing, filled with everything they could ever need. So of course, Mr. Fox makes a toast, and then they just dance. They dance to Let Her Dance by Bobby Fuller, which is just perfect. Every time we watch it at home, Hendrix immediately gets up at the end and shakes it all over the place. You can see he had no problem doing that in our actual supermarket. 



I guess I should tell you a little about the clothes. The pants are Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop's new skinny jeans pattern, the very same I made for Elsie a couple weeks ago. I definitely love a good unisex pattern, and this one will get lots of use this fall. The fits is great and the pattern spares no detail, which really makes them look pro. But my favorite thing about these is the bright electric orange hue. It's fine wale corduroy from Sewn, and Hendrix pulls it off like a pro. I couldn't love these crazy pants any more. 


The shirt is the raglan pattern from the book Sewing For Boys, made with a couple up cycled tees. (And I put the seams on the inside.) I hand stitched the entire diagram from the movie that explains the rules of Whack Bat. It's a game that Wes made up just for the movie, kind of a baseball/cricket hybrid where the players hit a flaming pinecone. I realize that it's the kind of thing that no one will recognize, not even most people who have seen the movie. But you know that I like my kid wearing weird references no one gets... that's definitely the fun of Film Petit sewing.




Whack Bat Rules
"Basically, there's three grabbers, three taggers, five twig runners, and a player at Whackbat. Center tagger lights a pine cone and chucks it over the basket and the whack-batter tries to hit the cedar stick off the cross rock. Then the twig runners dash back and forth until the pine cone burns out and the umpire calls hotbox. Finally, you count up however many score-downs it adds up to and divide that by nine." 





"There's a lot of attitudes going on around here... don't let me get one." -Ash



Now you absolutely HAVE TO go see Kristin's amazing Mr. and Mrs. Fox outfits. She seriously kills me. Dead.

And we had so much fun planning and previewing all month with the super-talented Cherie. Her little foxy look is just stunningly creative and beautiful, it cannot be missed. Thanks so much for sewing with us Cherie!







37 comments:

  1. Bright orange pants? Yes please!!!! And I love all the embroidery on the shirt...what an awesome idea! But I need to know - did you get crazy looks for taking pics of your child in the supermarket? :-)

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  2. I love Wes Anderson. I love this movie. And I adore the look you created here. The shirt is GENIUS. And you definitely get the attitude of Ash out of these pictures. Sweetness. <3

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  3. awesome. that's all I've got, just AWESOME

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  4. 1. this is my favorite wes anderson movie.
    2. ash is my favorite character in the movie.
    3. whistle whistle, click click!

    hendrix is adorable dancing in your supermarket. i love this so much!

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  5. those pants are, in fact, amazeballs. that is all.

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  6. Oh em gee, this is so much better than my Supermarket Sweep guess. :)

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  7. My problem with sewing for my boy is I feel like anything I could make for him, I could just buy at a store so what's the point. But those orange pants are definitely not found in a store and they are awesome! And who would have thought pictures in a grocery store aisle would be so great?

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  8. this is fabulous. Have I mentioned before how much I love this Series? Well done! your photos are so cute!

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  9. Jessica, you just blow my mind with your creativity and style. I LOOOOOOOVE how this came out. And I wouldn't be surprised if every once in awhile someone recognized the whackbat diagram - and you'll instantly know that they are a cool person. The photos are brilliant and those pants are EPIC! Ash is one of my favorite characters, so I'm glad you tackled this and definitely nailed his spirit. Thank you SO much for letting me play along with you guys this month. You and Kristin and so awesome and inspirational!

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  10. dude, friggin awesome! those pants are amazing. I love the fit too. The butt on them looks absolutely adorable on your handsome little man. He pulls this look off like a boss.

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  11. I'm totally in love with the orange skinnys. Amazing outfit!

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  12. I seriously need to watch this movie. Those orange pants are awesome!!!!!!

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  13. Really love it! You both inspired me, love this "blog tour" (is that the name?) "Film petit" is amazing, and the movies you choose fantastic. Love it, love it.

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  14. AWESOME! And thanks for introducing me to a movie I've never seen...will have to check it out. My fave are the orange pants so perfectly made and perfectly modelled by Hendrix. Super cool!

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  15. Ok, the orange pants are totally rad...but that embroidery?!? So flippin' cool!! I just love seeing how each of you interpreted the movie, you all have creativity oozing out of your pores!! this series is so much fun!!

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  16. LOVE that you did whackbat, LOVE those orange skinnies. Your boy sewing is seriously such an inspiration. Like Chelise said, boy sewing is so hard mostly because it's so much easier to just buy them a $5 t-shirt, but you ALWAYS elevate boy style in a way that remains totally boyish but is just so cussin' interesting and fresh! Great work. I'm so glad we're doing this series together. :)

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  17. Awesome job!!! I love the pants!! In fact, so funny...just the other day I came across some leftover orange corduroy from when I made a Rollie Pollie for Once Upon a Thread and I thought...hmmm...these would make some awesome pants...and I put it aside for KCWC!! So, sorry, I may be "copying" you! ;)

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  18. I think those orange pants are the best thing I've seen in a while!! Hendrix makes the most fantastic Mr. Fox! Wonderful job, Jessica!!

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  19. I love it! Your use of color here is fantastic, and the embroidery on that shirt?! It rocks!! Was it too difficult to embroider in that kind of fabric? Love it!

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  20. Awesome. You are such a dork. I mean that in the nicest way. Excellent photos too.

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  21. Jessica, these pants are taffeta. Seriously. So cool! And the photos are just as radical too. Love all of it! And now I want to watch the movie...

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  22. I love you.....and H.....and the pants.

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  23. Oh whatever!!! You are just too freaking good! LOve those pants. And the diagram is so clever. You guys are amazing. As usual!

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  24. Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of our family's favorites...like a year ago I made everyone matching fox pillowcases for our Fantastic Mr. Fox campout. The Whack Bat rules are AWESOME! Love them on that shirt.
    liZ

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  25. Yay! Another great movie choice. The supermarket photoshoot is so fun!

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  26. I love, love, love the outfit. The pants look so great, and I JUST showed that Whack Bat rules clip to my class as an example of jargon. I'm so impressed.

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  27. I LOVE THE PANTS!! ohmigoodness, and the embroidery on the shirt is awesome. so boy. I love everything about this outfit. (And your pictures are perfect).

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  28. This is Mom in for Dad, and this is so clever and cute and creative and brilliant. love Love Love it all, but mostly that boy, and you.

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  29. I love your style and those orange cords make me swoon. I am so jealous. Really. I could use a pair of those. Hendrix's face is so cute in that last pic I could eat it for breakfast. What a little hunk ;-)

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  30. So cussin awesome!! I showed my husband, and for the first time ever he told me "you should make one like that!" He never takes an interest in sewing:)

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  31. Can I comment? That's my Great Grandson. What a Ham!!!

    Ron McTaggart (Poppy)

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  32. I've been meaning to tell you how much I love this post! The movie, the inspired outfit - that shirt rocks, Hendrix (what a stud), the photo shoot location. Wow...seriously I love it. Also...I'm procrastinating writing my post for tomorrow. :)

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  33. I know I'm seriously behind on commenting on this post, but every time I see it somewhere, I'm like... I need to go comment and tell her that 1)her outfit is awesome, but 2)taking photos in the grocery store (i know it went with your theme)... but taking photos in the grocery store is SO funny and just plain fun and I've been thinking about how much I just want to take my kid and take photos there, because of this post... is that not hilarious?

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