Is George Clooney about to resort to adoption to halt the constant inquiries about when he intends to settle down and start a family? It's doubtful but at the press conference for new animated movie Fantastic Mr. Fox, the actor was happy to joke about taking some of Brad Pitt's kids off his pal's hands.

Amid questions from the assembled journalists about his 'eternal bachelor' image, Clooney's co-star Bill Murray asked: “Do you plan to adopt?”

“Yes, I’m going to adopt some of Brad Pitt’s kids,” joked the 48-year-old star. “I owe him a couple!”

Clooney voices the titular Mr Fox in the adaptation of the classic children's book, and revealed that bringing Roald Dahl's animal magic to the big screen involved some usual situations.

“It was a very different process to what most people go through on an animated film," said Clooney.

"We were out in the middle of nowhere out on people’s farms, and doing animals noises in fields!"

As for the moral lesson of the film, he quiped: “Stealing is good! We applaud thievery! I don’t know what the message is...we just want to be true to our animal nature!”

Perhaps he's not quite ready to be a responsible father figure just yet...

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