Fantastic Mr. Fox/Headscratchers

• The song about the farmers. OK, so these guys are fairly unethical, and downright gross. But "crooks"? Remind me again which party is doing the stealing here?
  • The song was made up by a bunch of kids who don't like the farmers. They could call them pretty much anything.
    • Remember, you can be a perfectly legitimate businessman and still be the scum of the earth. Considering the kind of monomania the three farmers demonstrate - don't forget, by the end they've literally abandoned their farms in the name of bloody vengeance - it's not hard to imagine them as having cut a great big bloody swath on their way to the top. (I mean, what kind of person wears a severed fox tail as a necktie?)
    • An awesome person, that's who!
  • Kids are silly, and the "villains" get served the Villain Ball by Dahl. That's how.
    • You know, I just had a bit of a Fridge Brilliance moment. Now, I don't live in the UK, so correct me if I'm wrong, but...doesn't it look a bit like Bean has way more Dakka than the legal limit?
    • You can apply for a gun license in the UK, and will probably get one if you have a real reason to use a gun and don't have a criminal record. As a result, many farmers (and their mums) can and do own guns (see Hot Fuzz). Bean's main problem is that he's operating heavy machinery after having gallons of cider every day.
    • Not when the book was written, nor when the film appears to be set.
    • Like the book says, "We are just trying to steal from them, they are trying to KILL us!"
• The farmers noticed when the animals were stealing from their farms via the underground. Won't they notice that the animals are stealing from their grocery store eventually?
  • The supermarket might be run by less attentive people, and the animals might be more cautious this time around, and keep it sustainable. But who knows? Despite the dancing, it certainly wasn't an unambiguously happy ending.
  • The animals apparently won't have to resort to extreme and conspicuous tactics such as drugging beagles with spiked blueberries or ensnaring security rats.
• In the finale at the supermarket, when Mr. Fox makes his speech about the five-and-a-half most fantastic animals he's ever known - why was Agnes there? She didn't do anything in the movie and only had about five lines. I guess you could argue he's really saluting the next generation - having just heard about Mrs. Fox's pregnancy - but still, characters like Badger or even Weasel did a lot more work than Agnes...
  • She may just be closer to the Fox family than Weasel or the Family Lawyer Badger. Considering her blooming relationship with Kris, it's not a bad idea to toast to your favorite nephew's girlfriend.
• Why are foxes and rats the same size?
  • ...but you're okay with them talking and wearing clothes...?
  • Actually, I think that Rat's a little taller than Mr. Fox. So yeah.
  • It's a side-effect from all the cider.
  • Looks like the movie was lampshading that with Depth Deception; the rat doesn't look as big when he's up on the shelf.
• In the movie, why did Mr. Fox feel the need to distract Spitz (the rabid beagle)? He was making absolutely no move towards them, and stayed that way until Mr. Fox came within a couple feet of him.
  • He probably figured that if they all tried to head for the wall, Spitz would react and chase them. Somebody had to stay behind and distract him, so that while his attention is focused on Mr. Fox, Kylie and Ash would be ignored and escape.
• Why didn't they just tip the crate over on its side?
  • At the time they didn't know how strong it was... or whether Kris would survive that.
• Is it just me, or does Kristofferson look more like a Kit Fox or Swift Fox or a fox species that would live in the desert? I mean, the light color of his fur, the shape of his head and ears, the long skinny limbs, etc.