Like Coraline, Spirited Away, and Where the Wild Things Are before it, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a children's film that doesn't treat its pint-sized audience with kid gloves. Though Wes Anderson's previous directorial outings have had their fair share of man-children, this is the first film that the hipster favorite  has created with kids in mind. However, this smart adaptation of a Roald Dahl classic never talks down to its viewers, and its fun, feisty adventure proves to be Anderson's best work since The Royal Tenenbaums.

Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney) has ambition. He gave up the life of a bird thief 12 fox years ago (that's two years, to you and me), and he now spends his days as a corduroy-suit-clad newspaperman. He, Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep), and their rebellious son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman), have finally moved up in the world: instead of calling a hole their home, the Foxes are now in a lovely house in a tree.

However, their new home gives Mr. Fox a view of his new neighbors: the evil farmers Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), Bunce (Hugo Guinness), and Bean (Michael Gambon). Their fences are meant to keep foxes and their kind away from their stashes, but Mr. Fox is no ordinary animal. With the the help of the sweet but slow opossum Kylie (Wally Wolodarsky) and Mr. Fox's athletic nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderson), Mr. Foxes resumes his life as a thief, against the wishes of his wife and the advice of his lawyer, Badger (Bill Murray). Now, he has to defend himself and his family against Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, who all want their enemy dead.

Though Fantastic Mr. Fox is presumably children's fare, it bears all the hallmarks of an Anderson film. Of course, Anderson alumni Schwartzman, Murray, and Owen Wilson are all in attendance. Chapters break up the action, fathers and sons clash, and characters feel inadequate while interacting in a meticulously created environment, all set to a vintage-y soundtrack.

But while the previous two Anderson films, The Darjeeling Limited and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, were all quirk and no soul, The Fantastic Mr. Fox has a playful spirit that works with, rather than competes against, its highly detailed world. It's at once a film for children that isn't afraid to be serious and a film for adults that isn't afraid to be silly.

Anderson again partners with Noah Baumbach (The Life Aquatic and his own Margot at the Wedding) for the script, which proves to be a fine adaptation of Dahl's novel. It's not entirely faithful to the book's story, but Anderson and Dahl are kindred spirits who revel in the strange. Anderson may have seemed like an unlikely director for the material, but his devotion to detail works well with the film and particularly the stop-motion animation.

With the help of animation director Mark Gustafson and the rest of his crew, Anderson has crafted a film that pays attention to the smallest of elements, including the way wind blows over the hair on the animal puppets. While 3-D animation keeps trying to be the wave of the future, the people behind Fantastic Mr. Fox have given a surprising amount of texture to this otherwise 2-D film.

Clooney has played the rogue before, and he continues his more-charm-than-smarm approach with Mr. Fox. He's in Danny Ocean mode here, but imagine the Ocean's Eleven hero with the warmth of a family man, err, fox. He and Streep are new to the Anderson universe, but obviously, the veteran performers fit right in. As Mrs. Fox, Streep exudes wisdom while her character tries to keep her sly husband out of trouble. Defoe's gravelly growl is perfectly suited to Rat's villainy, and Murray is almost good enough to erase the memories of his voice work for Garfield and its sequel.

Source writer and director have rarely been as well matched as Dahl and Anderson are with Fantastic Mr. Fox. With the director's previously adult-oriented material, the pairing might have seemed like a stretch, but both men's work shares a sense of fun, whimsy, and love of all things strange. Regardless of age, viewers will find it hard not to be charmed by this film that celebrates originality in both its declared on-screen message and its innovative crafting.