I'll admit that while I was completely excited to squeeze in the packed theater with viewers of all ages waiting for Fantastic Mr. Fox to begin, a tiny worry was playing on the tip of my popcorn-reaching fingers.

The reviews of the movie, which opened across the country yesterday, have been outstanding. I love all things Wes Anderson, so I had tremendous confidence in the way he would handle the beloved Roald Dahl classic. The trailer for the film shows beautifully detailed puppets, clothing and set decoration, so I imagined it would be a visual feast.  Amazing comedic talent was the foundation for the furry cast, including George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Willem Dafoe and Bill Murray. And in an interview Jason Schwartzman beguiled me with descriptions of the experimental creativity devoted to the shooting of the film's sound and animation.

I knew I was intrigued by and would admire Fantastic Mr. Fox, and I couldn't wait to see it as a creative work.  But I didn't expect to love it, because could I truly love a movie, love the entertainment offered by a film, that was so, well, anthropomorphic? 

You see, I have a problem, or some would say a black-spot in my soul, about talking animals.  They wear thin on me, even greats like Wind in the Willows and Watership Down eventually annoy me, and don't get me started about Disney and Pooh. What I'm saying is I can appreciate talking animals in art, literature and movies, but I don't love them.  This bias inexplicably goes way back. I remember being really annoyed at Beverly Cleary for messing with my head with the Mouse and the Motorcycle books.  I know you love Ralph S. Mouse. Don't judge me.

So if Fantastic Mr. Fox felt like a Richard Scarry zippity-do-foxes-can-drive oevre, I was going to be one step removed from the show, watching how it worked but not letting it in.

I'm happy to say that Fantastic Mr. Fox got into my little Grinch heart.  I loved every furry, corduroyed, bewhiskered, cider-drinking tiny mammal part of it. I want a little foxy Mrs. Fox doll to sit with crossed legs on my computer monitor. I want to make glassy-eyed puppets out of felt and cast them in an animated short 80s-style video called "Voles Just Wanna Have Fun." Okay, maybe I won't follow through with that.

But Mr. Fantastic Fox is perfectly balanced, and most importantly it never swallowed its own elevator pitch in a precious way. The wicked humor, and the subversive mirror-unto-a-mirror theme of anthropomorphized animals craving the wild broke through the cynicism of dumbed-down talking animal constructs. Anderson gives us amazing actors who aren't just voices for puppets; they are playing foxes and badgers and rats who have become animated foxes and badgers and rats to tell us their story in a way that can also hold ours. Those layers? Oh, man, so much fun, and the opposite of flat, the opposite of twee.

The themes are brilliant. Mr. Fox's midlife crisis. Ash's feelings of adolescent insecurity and need for attention. Corruption and greed. Triumph over oppression. Fighting for your right to par-tay. It's definitely a film an adult can respect, and I daresay, even love. I plan to see it again, soon.

Rachel Fox of Guttersnipe seems to agree. "Many of the cast are Anderson regulars and are delightful here, especially Jason Schwartzman (perfect as the grumpy son with an inferiority complex), Willem Dafoe and Bill Murray. It is utterly refreshing to have actors who perform, gifted with vocal talents that extend beyond the limited novelty offered by virtue of their celebrity recognition (I’m looking at you, Cameron Diaz—animated or otherwise)."

But what about the kids? With Anderson at the helm, there are understandable concerns that Fantastic Mr. Fox would play well for his fans but not for the upper elementary-aged kids who read the Dahl novels or the younger children who devour family films. I saw the movie with teenagers who loved it, and we heard children howling with laughter and cheering throughout the film, with only the toddlers seeming to max out when their candy was gone.

Jspicer, one of the smart women at Tiny Mix Tapes, says:

But the true measuring stick of Fantastic Mr. Fox lies in how kid-friendly it is. The animation is a wonderful throwback, bridging old, generational nostalgia for the holiday Claymation and stop-motion fare with modern technology. The fur of the animals bristles in the most natural ways, never neglecting that physics are always at work without burying the animation in too much movement to show off the technology.

Jessica DeVoe Riley of All Rileyed Up lists many reasons to the movie, including the very thing I worried about. She says to see it, "For love of the fur. They’re animals! What kids don’t like animals? And these animals are taking on the man! With laced blueberries, flaming pinecones, and a mini motorcycle for two! Huzzah!"

Nell Minow, the Movie Mom at Belief Net wrote that she thought the movie might feel suffocating for children if it were overworked by Anderson, but ended up liking it because of the voice cast. She writes:

The screen is filled with enticing details, but it is the performances that keep us connected to what is going on. The script is filled with arcane nonsequiturs but the warmth of those voices, with able support from Anderson's brother Eric and regulars Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson, keep us in the story. And that really is fantastic.

Parents should know that this film has violence including animal and human predators, guns, animal characters injured and killed, and characters who smoke and drink, The word "cuss" is humorously used to replace expletives. There are some parent/child and husband/wife difficulties. And the heroes in this story are thieves.

Similarly, Stephanie Precourt from Adventures in Babywearing saw the movie and tweeted "Fantastic Mr. Fox was great but skirty with language. No bad words but instead they'd say "what the cuss?" and "cluster cuss" so, uh, yeah."

What do you think? Have you seen it yet, are you interested, do you want miniature fox-people with tiny removable clothes and furbrushes, or are you doubting the fantasticness of Mr. Fox?

Deb Rox also blogs at Deb on the Rocks, where she admits to rapid-talking at Jason Schwartman. She is the author of 5 Ways to {Blank} Your Blog and tweets at debontherocks.  Speaking of anthropomorphizing, she thinks the introduction of Rudolph was the moment Santa flew over the shark, but she has begged to be put on the "Nice" list anyway.