The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (2017)
★★★½ — The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (2017)
There's a moment in The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales where a fox, having accidentally hatched a clutch of chicks, finds himself being called "Mum" by three tiny birds who follow him everywhere. And something about the sheer commitment of that absurd premise, played completely straight, made me realise I was having an absolutely wonderful time. This is the kind of film that doesn't need to try hard to win you over. It just does it, quietly, with a pencil and a watercolour brush.
The film comes from the same French-Belgian creative team behind Ernest & Celestine, and if you loved that one, you'll recognise the DNA immediately. The same loose ink lines, the same soft, almost smudged watercolour textures, the same sense that every frame has been drawn by someone who genuinely enjoys drawing. In an age where family animation means polished CGI and the uncanny glow of a billion-dollar render farm, this feels like finding a storybook left on a park bench. You pick it up, you sit down, and before you know it an hour and a bit has gone by.
The structure is a neat little anthology: three fables set on a sleepy farm, each one introduced by the animals themselves performing a sort of rustic theatre show. It's a clever conceit, warm and self-aware without being smug about it. The stories build in confidence as they go. I'll be honest, the first segment is the weakest of the three. It's perfectly watchable, funny in patches, but it takes a little while to find its feet. Stick with it, because the second and third tales are something else entirely. The fox-as-accidental-mother story in particular hits a comic rhythm that had both me and my son in stitches. The gags are fast, physical, and beautifully timed, with a soundtrack that seems to be in on every joke before it lands.
My son absolutely loved it, and that matters. A lot of family films are "family films" in only the loosest sense, meaning there's enough visual noise to keep kids distracted while parents slowly go numb. This one actually earns the label. The slapstick works for the little ones because it's broad and energetic. It works for adults because it's inventive, not lazy. There's craft in these gags. You can feel the timing has been thought about.
Where it falls slightly short of Ernest & Celestine is in emotional depth. That film got me somewhere tender, somewhere genuinely affecting. Big Bad Fox is lighter on its feet and seems happy to stay there. That's not a criticism exactly, more an observation. Not every film needs to reach for your heart. Sometimes it's enough to make you laugh and send you home in a good mood, which this absolutely does.
What I keep coming back to, though, is the look of it. There's something increasingly rare and precious about hand-drawn animation that wears its own imperfections, where you can practically feel the paper underneath. It sits in a tradition I genuinely love, and if you've ever found yourself watching something like Josep and thinking "why don't they make more films like this," then Big Bad Fox deserves your attention.
Three and a half stars. Light, funny, made with real care. Not the deepest thing you'll watch this year, but one of the most purely enjoyable. Perfect Sunday afternoon viewing, especially if you've got young ones beside you on the sofa.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 2017 | Watched: 2025-11-29
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Studiocanal Presents Amazon Channel
Rent: JustWatch TV · Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Benjamin Renner: Ernest & Celestine (2012)
More from France: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Letter from Siberia (1957) · Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Here and Elsewhere (1976)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Wonder (2017) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
