Honestly, if you're looking for a movie that doesn't overstay its welcome, you’ve found it. The fantastic mr fox running time is exactly 87 minutes. That is it. Just under an hour and a half of stop-motion foxes, existential dread, and cider-stealing.
It’s fast.
In a world where every superhero epic wants to hold you hostage for three hours, Wes Anderson’s 2009 masterpiece feels like a sprint. But don’t let that short duration fool you. The film manages to pack more character development into eighty-seven minutes than most franchises do in a trilogy. You've got George Clooney as a fox having a mid-life crisis, Meryl Streep being the voice of reason, and a literal wolf cameo that still makes people cry.
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Breaking Down the Fantastic Mr Fox Running Time
So, where does the time actually go? If you look at the clock, the credits usually start rolling around the 83-minute mark, with the full fantastic mr fox running time wrapping at 87 minutes including the scroll.
The pacing is frantic.
It starts with a literal "12 fox-years later" jump and never really slows down. Because stop-motion is so painstakingly slow to produce—we are talking about animators moving puppets frame by frame—every second on screen is expensive. You don’t waste time when it takes a week to film a few seconds of a fox eating breakfast.
Why is it so much longer than the book?
If you grew up reading Roald Dahl, you know the original book is tiny. It’s basically a pamphlet. If Wes Anderson had stuck strictly to the source material, the movie would have been over in twenty minutes.
To beef up the story, Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach added:
- An entire prologue about Mr. Fox’s younger, "wild" days.
- The rivalry between Ash and his cousin Kristofferson.
- The "whack-bat" sequence (which is essentially a fever dream of nonsensical rules).
- That heavy, melancholy ending in the supermarket.
Basically, the "middle" of the movie—the part where the farmers dig up the hill—is the only part that really mirrors Dahl's 1970 book. The rest is pure Anderson.
The Logistics of 87 Minutes of Stop-Motion
Creating 87 minutes of footage required 535 puppets. Let that sink in. For Mr. Fox alone, there were 102 different puppets in various sizes. The production was a logistical nightmare based at 3 Mills Studios in London.
Wes Anderson wasn't even always on set.
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He was often in Paris, directing via iPhone and email. He’d send videos of himself acting out the movements he wanted the foxes to make. "Do it like this," he’d basically say, and the London crew would spend days mimicking his gestures with fur and wire.
The color palette also plays a role in how the time feels. There isn't a single frame in the movie that contains the color green or blue (except for a few tiny exceptions like the sky or a character's eyes). Everything is orange, gold, and brown. This "autumnal" vibe makes the fantastic mr fox running time feel cozy, like a warm blanket, even when the characters are being shot at by farmers with shotguns.
How it compares to other Wes Anderson films
Anderson usually keeps things tight, but this is one of his shortest.
- Asteroid City: 105 minutes.
- The Grand Budapest Hotel: 99 minutes.
- Moonrise Kingdom: 94 minutes.
- Fantastic Mr. Fox: 87 minutes.
It’s his leanest work. No fat. No filler. Just pure, distilled style.
Is the Runtime Kid-Friendly?
Parents ask this a lot. The short answer? Yes, but it’s "weird" kid-friendly. The 87-minute length is perfect for a child's attention span, but the dialogue is very adult. They use the word "cuss" as a substitute for actual swear words, which is hilarious but also kinda sophisticated.
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"Are you cussing with me?"
The themes are heavy, too. It’s about a father who feels like a failure and a son who doesn't feel "natural" enough. It’s a heist movie, but it’s also a therapy session. The fact that it manages to resolve all those complex emotions in under an hour and a half is a testament to how tight the script is.
The Legacy of the 87-Minute Mark
When the movie came out, it actually underperformed. It made about $58 million against a $40 million budget. Not a disaster, but not a smash. However, over the last decade and a half, it has become a cult classic. People watch it every Thanksgiving. It’s the ultimate "vibe" movie.
If you’re planning a rewatch, here is the best way to handle the fantastic mr fox running time:
- Don't skip the intro: The opening scene with "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" sets the entire tone.
- Watch the background: Because the runtime is short, Anderson packed every frame with detail. Look at the labels on the cider jars.
- Notice the textures: You can see the fur moving on the puppets because of the wind or the animators' fingers. It gives the movie a "crunchy" feel that CGI just can't match.
The movie ends with a dance party in a grocery store to "Let Her Dance" by The Bobby Fuller Four. It’s joyous, slightly sad, and perfectly timed. You’re in, you’re out, and you feel like you’ve actually been somewhere.
If you have 90 minutes to spare tonight, you literally cannot do better than this. It is a masterclass in efficiency.
Next Steps for Your Viewing
Check which streaming platforms currently host the film; as of now, it's a staple on Disney+ in many regions. If you're a physical media nerd, look for the Criterion Collection version. It includes a bunch of "making-of" documentaries that actually run longer than the movie itself, giving you a deep look at the puppets and the miniature sets.