Jarvis Cocker is to provide the voice for a puppet in Wes Anderson's new movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's story Fantastic Mr. Fox.

The singer joins a cast that includes George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Willem Dafoe.

He told The Times he'll perform a "little hoedown number" as Petey, a mandolin-playing marionette.

He added, "I did a narration bit at the start, too, but they showed that to test audiences in the U.S. and they were very bamboozled. So I've ended up on the cutting-room floor."

(by Daniel Melia)