Even after you’ve seen “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” the question still lingers: Did writer-director Wes Anderson make the movie, an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book, for kids, or did he make it for the longtime grown-up fans of his movies, like “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums?”

Then the obvious answer hits. He made it for Wes Anderson.

Though a movie starring puppet woodland creatures would seem to be a vast stylistic departure from Anderson’s arch comedies, in practice “Mr. Fox” is steeped in Wes-ness. From the wry dialogue to the droll camera movements, from the ’60s rock soundtrack to the slightly retro elegance of the costumes, Anderson has put his stamp on every frame of the movie. When the Fox family buys a new treehouse and starts painting the kitchen in that shade of goldenrod yellow that Anderson favors for all his typefaces, you know he’s made himself right at home.

Maybe that’s why the movie is so thoroughly charming and entertaining; unlike most family films, which are created and executed by committee trying to guess what kids will like, “Mr. Fox” is the product of a singular vision. Anderson doesn’t worry about whether the kids would get that joke, or adults would find that image too childish. If he liked it, and it seemed to work, it’s in.

“I used to steal chickens, but now I’m a newspaperman,” growls the dapper Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney), who favors the sort of corduroy suits that Anderson himself likes. Fox did indeed used to be quite the master thief, but after nearly being nabbed along with his wife and accomplice, Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep), he’s quit a life of larceny and settled down to raise their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and write newspaper columns. (Actually, the most fanciful part of the film may be the notion that a dad could support a family working for a newspaper.)

But when he finds the family’s new treehouse is in close proximity to three heavily-guarded chicken farms run by the dastardly Boggis, Bunce and Bean, he can’t resist. Late at night, after the family’s asleep, he and his opossum sidekick Kylie sneak out and raid the farmhouses. When Bean gets wind of Fox’s infiltrations, he starts an all-out war against the local woodland creatures that rapidly escalates out of control.

Instead of using computer animation, Anderson opted to use stop-motion animation, in which detailed models are photographed again and again, with the animators having to make minute adjustments between each photo, like in a flip book. The fur on Mr. Fox’s face is real fur, the cut of his suit is real corduroy, and the smoke belching out of Mr. Bean’s shotgun is a plume of cotton.

It’s a visual marvel, and you can just savor the incredible technique and loving care that went into every shot. What’s more, there’s something just plain lovable about the movie’s handmade quality; it feels like something that could have been made in 1970, the year Dahl wrote the book.

This also feels like Anderson’s most accessible and funniest movie to date; he and co-writer Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale”) have peppered the screenplay with great lines that play even funnier when coming out of the mouth of an animated badger or a mole.

Bill Murray is hilarious as Fox’s badger attorney, and Schwartzman revives his old prickly “Rushmore” charm as Fox’s son Ash, who fumes as his perfect cousin Kristofferson (Eric Anderson, Wes’ brother) gets all his dad’s approval. And Willem Dafoe turns in a great, weird supporting part as the villainous Rat, who is sort of a cross between a Southern redneck and a switchblade-wielding beatnik ninja.

Every kid probably won’t get “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” But then again, not every adult gets a Wes Anderson movie. But if the right kid and the right parent find themselves in the seats, they should have a ball together.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

3 1/2 stars

Stars: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman

Rated: PG for action

How long: 1:28

Opened: Wednesday

Where: Point, Eastgate, Star Cinema, Sundance

For fans of: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Rushmore," tailored corduroy suits who always wondered what a fox would look like wearing one

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