LFP Magazine

Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson

Fantastic Mr. Fox is the latest picture by Wes Anderson, and his first animated film. He spoke about his experiences making the movie today at the NYPL LIVE venue with his long time friend and collaborator, filmmaker Noah Baumbach.

He described the experience of working with animation as “the most demanding” experience of working on a film to date, contrary to his initial expectations.

Wes and Noah talked about how “it has become harder to steal things” as their careers have unfolded. They spoke about the legal issues associated in making films under corporate sponsors, and how the dailies are gone over, line by line, to insure that there are no legal infringements.

They referred to their film, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and how “you may or may not have picked up on this, but there are certain parallels running between this story and that of Jacques Cousteau’s”. After the completion of this film, the producers sent the Cousteau family an offer of $200,000 in order to promise that they would not pursue a lawsuit against them. The family accepted and also added to the contract that at the end of the film, it must be noted that “The filmmakers wish to thank the Cousteau family, who had nothing to do with the making of this film”; the two filmmakers explained, while laughing at the absurdity.

During the making of Bottle Rocket, Wes Anderson’s first feature film, he was the “most confident I’ve ever been in my life” and at the subsequent screening of Bottle Rocket, he was “the most unconfident I’ve ever been in my life”. Audience members where leaving the theater, “and not to go to the bathroom. People don’t leave in groups and bring their jackets to go to the bathroom.” After the screening, the test audience submitted their report cards, and one simply read “SUCKD”. Amongst all the cards, Wes found one that was written by a woman who “got it”. He raised the card to the studio executives and said, “I found it! This is our target audience!”

Wes Anderson explained that he still continues to have negative reactions to his work, and how it is difficult to separate the work from the personal. In response to a hostile journalist who “hates everything about me and everything I’ve ever been involved with”, at a press conference, Wes Anderson replied to his bitter questioning with, “If I was Oliver Stone, your nose would have been broken by now. You’re lucky I am who I am”.

The two filmmakers reflected on a time when they were at the end of production on Noah’s, The Squid and The Whale, and how they still needed to acquire a clip from David Lynch’s Blue Velvet to insert into a scene where the Father, played by Jeff Daniels, takes his children (the eldest, who happens to be on a date at the time) to see the darkly perverse film. At a dinner party in LA, they were by chance, seated on either side of Isabella Rossellini, the actress who was featured in the clip of Blue Velvet, from which they wished to use. Wes and Noah described themselves as, “typically shy and quiet” at these types of events, but for whatever reason, this night, Wes had decided to be “like a producer” and aggressively pursue the “gracious” Isabella. Wes, to her left, explained the situation of their need of acquiring a clip from the film and then turned her attention over to Noah, to her right, who was unknowingly enjoying his meal. Isabella asked Noah, “You are looking to use a scene from Blue Velvet in your film? Which scene would you like to use?” Noah, turned bright red and froze. Wes quickly abandoned him and turned away from the situation, immediately joining another conversation at the table. Noah swallowed hard and said uncomfortably, “the one where you’re…naked and have your arms in the air…and say…’he put his disease in me’”.

Later on that night, walking with one another along the streets after the party, Wes apologized to Noah for putting him in that awkward situation, and asked him if he would be interested in adapting the children’s book “Fantastic Mr. Fox”. Of course Noah agreed.