And for those who continue to see Mr. Fox over the holiday weekend for the first time (or second…or third) please stop by and leave us your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter.

 
via In Contention

NPR Weekend Edition did a little piece on Wes Anderson’s influences in Fantastic Mr. Fox:

“Eric says he thinks that it’s based on my relationship with my older brother,” says Anderson. “He was always taller, and he’s very intelligent, and he was always better adjusted than I was. He’s also very well-mannered and just always had it together. Now he’s a doctor. … I was a kind of grouchier, less well-adjusted child, so I think that might’ve been an inspiration without me ever thinking of it.”

Jason Schwartzman is going to be the guest for the “Not My Job” segment on Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me (“the NPR news quiz”) this weekend. Here is Jason’s apperance.

Wes and Jason were at the 92nd Street Y this past Tuesday. Recap and photo from 92Y.

Last night at 92YTribeca—in a discussion moderated by Entertainment Weekly‘s Dave Karger—92YTribeca, Borders, and Twentieth Century Fox presented an evening of conversation with director Wes Anderson (The Darjeeling Limited, The Royal Tenenbaums) and actor Jason Schwartzman (The Darjeeling Limited, Bored to Death). In advance of the release of Anderon’s newest film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes and Jason discussed working together on the film, a stop motion animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel. 

Karger asked Anderson about the process he used for the voice overs, noting that in many animated movies, the actors will be alone in the studio reciting their lines, in “a very sterile environment,” separated from the other actors in the film. For Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes had everybody “on set” at his friend’s farm in Connecticut, where the actors worked together, recreating scenes from the book. Jason explained if the scene called for a tree, they would find a tree outside. “Yah, ok this tree looks good.” They would then proceed to run around, or do what was called for in the scene, acting out the roles while giving the voice overs. The movie’s website has video from the making of the movie, where you can see this process in action.

Our favorite part of the evening was the Q&A with the audience. One attendee asked Wes about his use of Futura in his films. “Font? Did you just ask a question about his use of fonts?” Karger responded. “Wow, we’ve got hard core font fans here tonight!” We smiled, because it’s true. We do have hard core fans, of all kinds. That’s how we roll at 92YTribeca.

You can view a photo album from the event at 92YTribeca’s Facebook. And keep abreast of all 92YTribeca Film offerings, here.

Further recapping via stretch in the Yankee Racers Forum.

Part one of the interview is below, part two is after the break.

Jason Schwartzman appeared this past Wednesday on KCRW’s excellent program The Treatment, hosted by former New York Times critic and TCM host Elvis Mitchell.

Schwartzman elaborates on his use of music in preparing for his roles, his appreciation for great writing, and working with Sofia Coppola and Wes Anderson. He also discusses his character in Bored to Death, a Brooklyn-based lovelorn writer-turned-private detective.

You can stream the show and download a podcast of it at KCRW’s website, where you can also listen to past shows with Wes Anderson (1999, 2002, 2004) and Noah Baumbach among many other great filmmakers. (KCRW also talked to Jason about some of his favorite songs last year, you can listen to that here.)

Borders Northridge (For Kids)
Saturday November 7, 2009 @ 11AM
From the movie: Jason Schwartzman

9301 Tampa Ave.
Northridge, CA 91324

o    Clips from film will be shown.
o    Jason will talk about his character, Ash. (See Ash in the production still above; he is the character on the right.)
o    Reading from ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ (movie) original book – Chapter 11: “A Surprise for Mrs. Fox”
o    Audience Q&A
o    Signing

Apple Santa Monica (For Kids)
Saturday November 7, 2009 @ 4PM
From the movie: Jason Schwartzman

1248 Third Street Promenade
Santa Monica, CA 90401

o    The trailer and clips from the film will be shown.
o    Jason will talk about voicing the role of Ash in the film.
o    Reading from ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ (movie) original book – Chapter 11: “A Surprise for Mrs. Fox”
o    Audience Q&A

92Y Tribeca (Sold Out!)
Tuesday November 10, 2009 @ 8PM
From the movie: Director Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman

200 Hudson St
New York, NY 10013

o    The trailer and clips from the film will be shown.
o    Moderated discussion
o    Audience Q&A

Apple Soho Store (NYC)
November 11, 2009 @ 7PM
From the movie: Director Wes Anderson, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman

o    The trailer will be shown.
o    Moderated discussion
o    Audience Q&A

Bill on working with Wes: “It’s an adventure.”

Jason Schwartzman

On Fantastic Mr. Fox’s style: “You could have taken the script and changed a couple things and had actors in it.”

Interviews by Dave Poland from Movie City News’ The Hot Blog