An Introduction to Wes Anderson
Nadya 8-9X “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is a colourful stop -motion animated film, adapted from the
classic Roald Dahl book we all know and love. With its vivid and distinct artistic direction, spiced up with a side of comedy, the film received an Oscar nomination, and became a massive career breakthrough for its director, Wes Anderson. However, sometimes the creators do not get much credit as they deserve. Whilst his films are widely known around the world and continuously praised and admired, his name might still sound unfamiliar to your ears. Born to Malver Anderson and Texas Anne Burroughs on the first day of May 1969, in Houston, Wesley or simply “Wes” Anderson had shown great interest in filmmaking ever during his youth. He has two brothers, Eric Chase Anderson and Mel Anderson. As a result of a divorce that occurred to his parents, Wes became ill behaved and had a wild behavior as a child.
It was then he began to seek interest in making artistic endeavours, and began filming with a Super 8mm camera. Whilst he attended a prep school called S t. John’s School in Houston, Wes was very much engaged in writing numerous elaborate play productions (which was an important source of inspiration for his 1998 film, Rushmore). Wes attended the University of Austin and a friendship began to bloom
between him and his playwriting classmate, a soon-to-be famous actor, Owen Wilson. While both of them had different college majors (Anderson majored in philosophy, while Wilson had chosen to study English), both of them shared similar interests, which were playwriting and films of the 1970’s. Their friendship led them
to become roommates, produce short films together, and eventually raise them to fame with their 1996 short film, Bottle Rocket .
Through connections in the film industry, Wes and Owen raised a small budget to create their first full-length movie entitled Bottle Rocket . Unfortunately, Bottle Rocket eventually became a short film instead. A producer named Polly Pratt
encouraged Wes to enter the short film at Sundance Film Festival, a film festival that showcases independent films created by lesser-known directors. A director named
James L. Brooks then increased the film’s budget to five million dollars, and Bottle Rocket was recreated to beco me Wes Anderson’s first feature -length film. Bottle Rocket was praised by critics all over the world, and had gained a cult audience, however this was just the beginning to Wes’ success.
After the success of his first film, Wes continued to collaborate with his long-time friend Owen to produce more films, and one of them was Rushmore, which was funded by Disney’s chairman Joe Roth. The plot of the film resembled much of Wes’ high school years in St. John’s school . Its main character, Max Fischer (played by now
renowned actor Jason Schwartzmann), attended a prestigious prep school and wrote complex play productions, much like Wes Anderson. Wes had not failed to manifest his creative mind through his films, however none of his films made him achieve a career breakthrough. In 2001, Wes released a film entitled The Royal Tenenbaums , with a cast assembled together of acclaimed actors and actresses such as Anjelica Huston (who starred in The Addams Family as Morticia Addams) and Bill Murray (who starred in Ghostbusters as Dr. Peter Venkman).
With fifty million dollars at the box office and an Oscar nomination, The Royal Tenenbaums proved that Wes Anderson was one of the greatest directors of his
generation. The film was inspired by JD Salinger and tells the tale of an intellectual, dysfunctional family consisting of Royal Tenenbaum, Etheline Tenenbaum, and their children: Chas, Margot and Richie, reunited together after their father had announced he was dying of stomach cancer. Following the success of The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes created several more films such as The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited , Fantastic Mr. Fox , Moonrise Kingdom, and his recent
film: The Grand Budapest Hotel .
One of the most recurring themes in his films is dysfunctional families or family strife. In his 2007 film The Darjeeling Limited , three brothers reunite in India with the intended purpose of wanting to have a spiritual journey after their father has just recently died, Through his films, Wes shows the fights and feuds between one family member and another, however it will always end happily and in reconciliation. Wes
Anderson’s artistic genius has made his filming techniques differ greatly from other films. He is recognized for his “foregrounding” techn ique and directing the camera
towards books as if the viewer is the character themself, vivid colouring, gliding the camera on rails, uniquely introducing the characters individually at the beginning of the film, scene symmetry, and characters or objects precisely centered at the middle of the shot. Some of the most recurring actors/actresses in his films are Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzmann, Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Jeff Goldblum.
Wes Anderson is a primary example for independent film directors that creativity is key to create a great film. Daring to be different and creating your own styles can also be very advantageous. Wes is proof that independent films deserve far more attention, and that there are potential prominent directors in the independent film industry. Directors, businessmen, artists, everyone starts from the very bottom, and Wes Anderson teaches us that hard work and determination are greatly needed to achieve success, whether it be in the film industry or not.