The World of Wes Anderson
The tubes of Twitter and the blogosphere have been full of talk about the recent Empire interview with Fantastic Mr. Fox cinematographer Tristan Oliver, who (in the posted bit of text) suggests that Wes called in the film.
Since we haven’t read the full interview, we don’t plan to weigh in on a out-of-context comment. There is some discussion on the Yankee Racers forum… join in!
From IFC, “Starting Small: Ten Notable Shorts That Became Features.” Among them, Bottle Rocket:
What’s another $4,000 after paying private school tuition? That was probably the pitch made by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson to their fathers, a year after the two met in a playwriting class at the University of Texas at Austin and decided to pen a script together about a trio of unlikely hoodlums. Similar to the clueless would-be criminals they created — Bob (Robert Musgrave), Anthony (Luke Wilson) and Dignan (Owen Wilson) — Anderson and Wilson scored the initial amount of cash that they asked for from their parents, but only wound up shooting eight minutes of 16mm footage before running out of funds. As a result, the Wilsons’ father contacted family friend and “Paris, Texas” screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson to see if the kids’ work had promise, which led to Carson finding enough money to finance the rest of the 13-minute short, as well as producer Barbara Boyle getting in touch with then-Gracie Films vice president Polly Platt. The short got into Sundance in 1993, and though the unusually rhythmic patter of the characters didn’t make much of an impression on audiences in Park City, it got the attention of Platt’s boss, James L. Brooks, who would ultimately bankroll the feature — which ironically was rejected by Sundance, though there’s no question who got the last laugh.
So What’s Different? Beyond an expansion of the plot, not a whole lot is different except for a jazzier score and that it’s shot in black-and-white.
From the Noah and the Whale blog, after the Fantastic Mr. Fox trailer:
Looks as amazing as I imagined it would. I actually walked past Mr. Anderson a couple of weeks ago. We were mixing the sound for the film at the same post production house that he was mixing ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’. As I got out of a lift, he walked in. I said nothing. Minutes later the building next door burnt down. Seriously.
Their new album/film The First Days of Spring drops 6 October 2009. We can’t wait.
The Chronological Wes Anderson
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Might I add that Rosemary Travale has made a beaaaaaautiful flyer?
Spencer Krug wants to hear from Wes Anderson, and I would love to hear from either of them. Sunset Rubdown‘s lead man, Spencer Krug, mentioned Wes in a recent Pitchfork “Guest List” interview in which the band talks candidly about virtually everything.
Artist I’d Most Like to Collaborate With
SK: I can’t totally decide, but I will say that for a long time now I’ve had this fantasy where Wes Anderson just calls me up, casually introduces himself, and explains that he’s run out of cool 1960s and 70s pop to use for soundtrack material and would really appreciate it if I could try writing some tunes for his upcoming film. Then I’d say that I’m super busy right now but his ideas sound “interesting,” and that we should talk about it over a beer.
Krug happens to be a personal favorite musician of mine, and Sunset Rubdown is my favorite of his many projects (read: Wolf Parade, Swan Lake, et al). Needless to say, I was excited to read Wes’s name in Pitchfork’s sub-head.
Full interview can be read here (Wes is mentioned once more): http://pitchfork.com/features/guest-lists/7674-sunset-rubdown/
Slow news week… A *very* brief Wes Anderson homage (?) three or so in…
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We posted excerpts from Wes’ interview/conversation with Mr. Fox collaborator Jarvis Cocker last week.
The interview has now been posted in its entirety here.
“Welcome to the Dahl House”
August 18th, 2002 – New York Times
By Wes Anderson
My brothers and I grew up reading Roald Dahl’s stories. Our mother had gotten us nameplates to put in our books, and we used to steal one another’s copies of ”Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and ”The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” tear out the other’s nameplates and replace them with our own. Dahl was our favorite.
For me the best were ”Danny the Champion of the World” and ”Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
Last year I decided to find out what it would take to make a movie from ”Mr. Fox.” I arranged to meet with Dahl’s wife, Felicity, or Liccy, who runs the Dahl estate and helps to produce the films, operas, etc., that have come from his books.
She is a very charming and energetic woman, with an infectious enthusiasm for her husband’s work. She invited me to Gipsy House. I knew about Dahl’s residence in Great Missenden near Oxford, and I was especially eager to see the tiny hut where he wrote for four hours each day in an armchair with a green-felt-upholstered board across his lap for a desk.
Continue reading “From the vault: “Welcome to the Dahl House””
