Some writer from some Scottish mag: "My question is for Wes. On the topic of stop-motion animation, I'm wondering whether you intentionally evoked the cultural history of that form, specifically Czech filmmakers like Jan Spankmeyer who used it for politically subversive ends?"

Bill Murray: "That's the kind of question we've been hoping for. That's why we flew over here. Go get ‘em Wes…"

It's an odd situation, an international film festival press conference featuring some of Hollywood's hottest talent. There are about 150 or so variously odd/annoying journalists in a glitzy, chandelier-lit ballroom in the Dorchester hotel, possibly the swankiest in London (and London has a lot of swank). There's a bank of TV cameras at the back of the room. There are cute girls scuttling discreetly about, giving microphones to those chosen journos who get to ask questions. And at the front, from left to right, sit today's moderator David Gritten (film critic for The Telegraph), Eric ‘brother of Wes' Anderson (who plays Mr Fox's nephew Kristofferson), Bill Murray (who plays Badger), Wes ‘brother of Eric' Anderson, George Clooney from ER (Mr Fox), Jason Schwartzman (Mr and Mrs Fox's son Ash), Wally Wolodarsky (Kylie the opossum) and ex-Pulp man Jarvis Cocker who appears as a rubbish folk singer called Petey. Meryl Streep (Mrs Fox) was supposed to be here, but rumour has it she has flu, which will later disappoint a gaggle of foamy-mouthed Streep fanatics hoping to shake her hand when she arrived at the big premiere. In front of each actor is the puppet of their character from the film – and before they came in, we were able to go see them up close. I had a good look at Bill Murray's badger. Cute.

The questions asked today are thankfully not all about Eastern European subversive animation. In fact, some are embarrassingly tabloid, attempting to coax the suave and charismatic Clooney in to saying he wants to have children ("Did playing a father in this film make you broody?" etc… he sidesteps them all, at one point declaring he intends to "adopt some of Brad Pitt's kids"). But for the most part, they are pretty standard, and garner some quite interesting responses. Like this one, from Wes Anderson: "Fantastic Mr Fox was the first book I ever owned. It was a book I loved and the book that introduced me to Roald Dahl's work in general, so it made a big impression on me. About 10 years ago I approached Felicity Dahl to ask permission to do it, so it's been a long process. I always intended for it to be stop-motion, I've always wanted to do a stop-motion movie with animals with fur. I love the way that looks. It's magical."

But the most entertaining bits of the press conference are when everyone loosens up a bit. Clooney and Murray clearly bounce off each other, with jokey exchanges including:

Clooney: "I didn't enjoy working with Bill. We fought a lot. That's fair to say, right?"

Murray, in full deadpan Peter Venkman mode: "That's accurate George."

Each one of these elicits some over-loud sycophantic chortling from the press corps. As does Clooney's realisation that his Mr Fox figure is dressed in exactly the same off-beige suit as Wes Anderson. "There's something a little scary about that," he points out, to more guffawing from the floor.

So what do we learn from this half hour of collective interviewing, other than the fact that in a room full of other journos, no one dares ask Wes Anderson directly if it's true he pissed off all his animators by not being present for much of their work, as reported in the LA Times recently? Well, quite a bit actually.

NEXT PAGE: The LA Times issue, recording the voices and celebrating thievery...

Bill Murray being great at the gala premiere.

Jason Schwartzman voices Fox Jr, Ash.

Jarvis Cocker.