The Story of the Fox (1937)

When Renard the Fox's mischievous pranks go too far, King Lion is forced to attempt to bring the trickster to justice.

Directors:

Irene Starewicz, Wladyslaw Starewicz

Writers:

Jean Nohain (dialogue), Antoinette Nordmann (dialogue)

Stars:

Claude Dauphin, Romain Bouquet, Sylvain Itkine

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Claude Dauphin	...	Monkey (voice)
Romain Bouquet	...	Fox (voice)
Sylvain Itkine	...	Wolf (voice)
Léon Larive	...	Bear (voice)
Robert Seller	...	Cock (voice)
Eddy Debray	...	Badger (voice) (as Debray)
Nicolas Amato	...	Cat (voice)
Pons	...	Donkey (voice)
Sylvia Bataille	...	Rabbit (voice)
Suzy Dornac	...	Fox Cub (voice)
Jaime Plama	...	Cat (singing) (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marcel Raine	...	Sire Noble (voice)

Storyline

In the kingdom of animals, Master Fox is used to trick and fool everyone. So the King Lion receives complaints about him. He orders that Master Fox is arrested and brought to him. This is one of the first animation film with puppets. The story is taken from a French medieval fable.

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Plot Keywords:

puppet animation | stop motion animation | satire | renard the fox | 1930s | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

10 April 1941 (France)

Also Known As:

The Story of the Fox

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wladyslaw Starewicz Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

63 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was released in France with a French language soundtrack in 1941; this is the version which is currently available on DVD.

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Connections

Featured in Animation Lookback: The Best of Stop Motion - The First Features (2014)

User Reviews

The Tale of the Fox

One of the first animated feature films of the world, The Tale of the Fox still holds up after 80 years since its completion. The story is based on old fables about the great anthropomorphic fox trickster Reynard: the sly and eloquent fox is making a living by cheating and stealing from the other animals of the kingdom, eventually provoking the lion king to send several of his servants to capture the fox and to put an end to his carefree lifestyle. The fox proves out to be anything but easy to stop even by the best of the king's men.

I've always been fond of animation, and the charming stop-motion technique of The Tale of the Fox doesn't let a fan down. The creators have clearly put a lot of effort to the puppets' lifelike appearances and mannerisms: especially the lion king and his reticent lioness queen look excellent but also funny with all the details on their faces and costumes. The movements of the characters and the camera are also well planned; the action-packed comedic scenes and the adorable little carnival of frogs and mice made me laugh out loud out of joy. Especially the grand battle scenes and the fox's elaborate traps in the castle at the end are pure slapstick, perfectly equal to many live-action comedies of the era. The music and the French voices are also top-notch and haven't dated at all.

Despite the hilarity of the fox's antics, it is also easy to feel sorry for his gullible victims thanks to their lifelikeness, be they bears, wolves or cats. Among the medieval set pieces there are also some obvious references to modern society that further emphasize the longstanding relevancy of the film; namely the newspaper ad, the commentated duel sporting event and the overly talented barrister badger who keeps twisting the truth like the best defense lawyers or our days. The queen's silly infatuation with the troubadour cat is also a subplot worth mentioning.

As even the ending avoids the predictable "evil will get its pay" message, The Tale of the Fox can only be strongly recommended to any enthusiast of classic animation. Hopefully the film will receive wider attention some day, as it is certainly superior to many modern family films that only rely on noisy bumbling or colourful CGI.