CBR18 BINGO: Joker, because Mr. Fox is a bit of a joker
I was looking for a short diversion recently, and while skimming our collection of Roald Dahl, I realized I had never read Fantastic Mr. Fox, though I have seen the delightful stop-motion animated film by Wes Anderson. I know enough about Dahl to realize this could be a wild ride, so I was curious.
The plot is simple: Mr. Fox (who is very dapper!) lives with his wife and 4 children. Every night he sets out to find food for them, which is totally reasonable–what dad doesn’t want to feed his family? He targets 3 farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, who own a chicken farm, a duck-and-goose farm, and a turkey-and-apple farm, respectively. The 3 farmers get tired of Mr. Fox constantly raiding their farms, so they decide to trap him underground and shoot him the minute he shows his face.
The villains
I guess protecting their farms could also be considered reasonable, but Dahl takes great pains to make sure we know how terrible and disgusting these farmers are. Bean spends a lot of time picking his nose and he apparently he never showers. “Bean never took a bath. He never even washed. As a result, his ear holes were clogged with all kinds of muck and wax and bits of chewing gum and dead flies and stuff like that.”
Farmer Bean’s ears, apparently
The farmers are also terribly mean to each other. At one point, Bean (after cleaning the massive landfill out of his ears) says to Bunce, “Got any more stupid ideas?” Another time, Bunce asks what the next move is, and Bean says to his height-challenged friend, “We’re sending you down the hole. . .Down you go, you miserable midget.” Now that I’m writing this, I’m realizing that Bean is pretty consistently the worst. He also has scarlet, bleeding gums, so I guess he doesn’t floss either?
Farmer Bean’s gums, apparently
Anyhoo, after being trapped underground for several days, Mr. Fox and his family dig tunnels in search of a way up to the farms without going out their normal exit, where the farmers are laying siege. Along the way, they run into Mr. Badger, who is also trapped. It seems Mr. Fox’s antics have had consequences for all the critters in the area! No matter, he decides to team up with the Badger family and the Rabbit family, even though the rabbits would make a delightful meal for a group of foxes (rabbits are friends, unlike chickens, geese, and turkeys).
Throughout the story, our hero Mr. Fox is undoubtedly clever, but I’m not sure he’s not also a bit of a psychopath. At one point, his son suggests stealing some carrots, and Mr. Fox yells at him, “Don’t be a twerp. . . You know we never eat things like that.” Um. . for the rabbits, his son explains. “My goodness me, you’r right!” Mr. Fox responds. When Badger expresses some reservations about all the thievery, Mr. Fox reminds him they are just stealing some food here and their to feed their families, saying, “We down here are decent peace-loving creatures.” I’m not suggesting Mr. Fox needs to pull himself up by his boot straps, but he seems to have forgotten that foxes know how to hunt.
In the end, the Foxes, Badgers, and Rabbits have a giant feast and are comforted to know they have tunnel access to the “three finest stores in the world” and never have to go outside again. I’d say this makes him an unapologetic introvert, but being trapped underground at a perpetual Thanksgiving dinner with that many people would be torture for me. I’d brave the farmers with the guns if it meant some peace and quiet. Nevertheless, the solution seems to work for these families.
A happy ending for everyone except the poultry!
Children’s books were a bit different in the 70s, and I’m not sure how parents would feel today reading some of this to their children. In 2023, Puffin books expurgated some of Dahl’s works (I haven’t seen the edited version of Fantastic Mr. Fox, but I suspect the lines about fat midgets were removed). Look, publishers are going to do what they can to sell more books, so I don’t consider these revisions censorship; however, Dahl was reportedly protective of his work and would undoubtedly disapprove. His estate agreed, so here we are.
Good or bad, I’m glad to have the original text as written by Dahl. This copy also includes the original illustrations of the psychotic Mr. Fox and friends, as drawn by Donald Chaffin.
