Here are some facts about Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl.
- Fantastic Mr Fox was first published in the UK in 1970 by George Allen & Unwin, and in the US by Alfred A. Knopf.
- It first came out in paperback in 1974.
- Several artists have illustrated the different versions of Fantastic Mr Fox over the years, including: Quentin Blake, Tony Ross, Donald Chaffin and Jill Bennett.
- In 2009, the book was made into a film directed by Wes Anderson, and featuring the voices of Bill Murray, Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Michael Gambon and Owen Wilson.
- Fantastic Mr Fox has also been adapted for the stage and turned into an opera.
- When Wes Anderson was writing the Fantastic Mr Fox movie script he spent a lot of time at Roald Dahl’s home in Buckinghamshire. Dahl’s widow allowed him to look at Dahl’s writing shed and the gypsy caravan he kept in his garden.
- The book is said to have been inspired by the ‘Witches’ Tree’, an old tree that grew close to his home in Great Missenden. Roald Dahl always used to tell his children that a family of foxes lived under the tree, in a hole beneath the trunk. Unfortunately, the tree is no longer standing.
- In the book, Mr and Mrs Fox aren’t given first names, but in the film version, Mrs Fox is called Felicity after Roald Dahl’s widow.
- The pub that Roald Dahl used to drink in, ‘The Nag’s Head’, appears in the Fantastic Mr Fox movie.
What next? Discover more facts about Roald Dahl and his books.
