Flicks.co.nz's intrepid reporter ASHLEY BIRD is in London for the highly anticpated debut of the Roald Dahl, stop-frame animated adaption...

It's 9am on the first day of the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival and Leicester Square is being decked out with scaffolding runways and lights for tonight's gala opening. Already, there are a group of film fans camped out with warm blankets, flasks and folding chairs, eager to get a good spot for festivities which are still a good eight hours away. Why so keen? Well, Wally Wolodarsky's in town, people. Yeah! He's written and produced episodes of The Simpsons! And Eric Anderson's here. High five! He played Air Kentucky Pilot in The Life Aquatic. Other than that it's just a bunch of lesser-known names – Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Wes Anderson, some dude called George Clooney. Isn't he in ER?

In truth, the UK press is going crazy about Clooney's presence in London, with his Italian girlfriend in tow. The man's taken over the city – indeed he's in three separate films showing at the festival so there's no wonder his profile is through the roof. And the first of those – Fantastic Mr Fox, set to premiere tonight – is the reason we're here. Directed by the aforementioned offbeat genius Wes Anderson, it's an animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl tale about a chicken-thieving fox who tries to ‘go straight' for the sake of his wife and stroppy kid, but just can't ignore his wild instincts and ends up getting everyone embroiled in a war with three ‘orrible farmers with ‘orrible English accents called Boggis, Bunce and Bean.

While London's finest scaffolding men prepare their erections for Clooney to mount later (couldn't resist), a group of international film press types – including us, yay! – are ushered into the glitzy Odeon cinema to check the film out before anyone else. And guess what, it's brilliant. It's not Wes Anderson doing a kids film (a lot of the jokes will go right over the heads of many young ‘uns), it's Wes Anderson doing a Wes Anderson film based on characters from a kids' book. In old-school stop-motion animation. With real fur. All his visual ticks are in place – perpendicular, symmetrical framing, point-of-view shots, the lot – and many of the voices, from Schwartzman and Murray to cameos by Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and more – will be familiar from previous Anderson films such as The Darjeeling Ltd and The Royal Tenenbaums. But while his live action films err towards being a bit over-long, this is a tidy hour-and-a-half of great gags, naughty behaviour and charming visuals.

NEXT PAGE: Political subversion, Bill Murray and George Clooney...

It opens in New Zealand January 7th 2010, people. Stay tuned to Flicks for advance screenings in December.

• more on the film and all videos
• poster set of main characters

Talk of ol' London Town: George Clooney and his Italian ladyfriend at the gala premiere.

Bill Murray, who plays Badger, director Wes Anderson and one of the puppets used in the film at the press conference.