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Wes Anderson's animated 'Isle of Dogs' packs in the stars

'Isle of Dogs,' Wes Anderson's first film since the acclaimed 'Grand Budapest Hotel,' includes voice talents of Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Yoko Ono, Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson, F. Murray Abraham, and Akira Ito.

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Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/File
Wes Anderson appears in the press room at the 2015 Writers Guild Awards, held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Anderson's next project will be an animated movie titled 'Isle of Dogs.'

Wes Anderson’s newest project, an animated movie starring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, and Yoko Ono, is his latest film following the success of his 2014 movie “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

“Isle of Dogs” is not Mr. Anderson's first animated project. He also helmed the 2009 movie “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” adapted from the Roald Dahl work of the same name, which was nominated for the Oscar for best animated feature film. 

He has also been behind such films as “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” and “Rushmore.” Anderson was nominated for the best original screenplay Oscar for several of his films, including “Moonrise,” “Fox,” and “Tenenbaums.”

“Dogs” will also star Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson, Yoko Ono, F. Murray Abraham, and Akira Ito. Its release date has not yet been announced. 

This will be Anderson’s first full-length feature since his 2014 movie “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” That movie, which takes place in a European hotel before World War II and stars actors including Ralph Fiennes, Ms. Swinton, and Tony Revolori, was one of Anderson’s most acclaimed works, becoming the first film by the director to be nominated for the best picture Oscar. (It lost to “Birdman,” but the movie did win other Oscars, including those for best original score and best production design.) 

What won over critics? According to Monitor film critic Peter Rainer, Anderson's “color palette is startlingly otherworldly, as are his trademark cinematic flourishes: the frantic tracking shots, the stop-motion chase scenes filmed with miniatures and dolls. Anderson makes hermetically sealed fantasias. What’s surprising here is that, for all its enforced artifice, the film exudes a sadness that doesn’t disperse when the lights go up.”

In addition, Mr. Rainer praised Mr. Fiennes’s performance as “superbly brittle and dandyish."

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