Independent cinema originated from filmmakers with ideas that stood counter to the norm of Hollywood films. Over time, however, the independent scene has grown in such a way that it is no longer so easy to distinguish what is “indie” from what is mainstream. Films like Napoleon Dynamite and Juno, as we have seen, have accumulated large audiences – deeming independent culture “cool,” and giving filmmakers more opportunities than ever to have their projects seen. Perhaps one of the first film makers to bridge this gap, though, was Wes Anderson – whose feature film, The Royal Tenenbaums made a splash in American culture when it was nominated for an Academy Award in 2001.

Anderson had always shown interest in film, and he recalls loving the Star Wars films as well as Scorsese and Hitchcock works, which he credits for teaching him “(for the first time), the role of a director” (Brody 1). He began writing, directing, and shooting his own silent films at a young age on a Super 8 camera which his father had bought for him (the first of these films was titled, A Study in Murder) (Brody 1). Building his own sets out of cardboard, and with the help of neighborhood friends, Wes’s parents remember coming across their son’s scenes (which could be attributed to Martin Scorsese’s impact on young Wes) - viewing “kids staggering across the sand dunes by our beach house with fake blood on them” (Colloff 1).

It was not until college that Anderson began to take his films seriously. Despite his major in philosophy at the University of Texas, Wes still showed interest in movie making, where he cast a young Owen Wilson in his first play. The two formed an inseparable bond, ultimately leading them to their living together the next year (Colloff 1). They quickly became writing partners, resulting in 1996’s Bottle Rocket. Five years earlier, Wes released a short film version of Bottle Rocket, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival with sub-par reviews. The full-length film was produced on a $5 million budget after producer James L. Brooks came across the short at Sundance – offering the duo the full package – money, crew, editors, cinematographers, etc (Colloff 1). Only two years later was Anderson’s second flick produced, Rushmore.

Up to this point, Anderson has written and directed six feature films (Bottle Rocket [1996], Rushmore [1998], The Royal Tenenbaums [2001], The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou [2004], The Darjeeling Limited [2007], and Fantastic Mr. Fox [2009]), as well as two short films (Bottle Rocket [1994], a precursor to the full-length 1996 release, and Hotel Chavlier [2007], which was released as a prologue to The Darjeeling Limited). In addition, Anderson helped to produce The Squid and the Whale, a 2005 production directed by Anderson’s good friend, Noah Baumbach. The film, like many of Anderson’s, follows the plotline of a dysfunctional family, complete with the not-so-happily-ever-after ending which are so native to his films.

Over time, Anderson’s films have made their mark on American cinema – defining a distinguishable style that can be found in all of his films. From the music to cinematic technique, and even down to the font – a Wes Anderson film has become almost as easy to detect as a Woody Allen or Spike Lee flick. His themes, which focus primarily on upper class characters or families - the prestigious Rushmore Academy, the snooty Tenenbaum family, or the quest for family inheritance in Darjeeling Limited, for example. His characters, primarily male, are often found smoking cigarettes while brooding over their “complex” issues, which seems sympathized with by the filmmaker. Anderson is known for using overhead, 90-degree angle shots, action montages within scenes, heavy usage of close ups that emphasize symmetry, and slow-motion ending shots. Within almost any of his films, a viewer is likely to find portraits of his characters hanging on the walls, and a thematic dry humor, featuring the usage of understatement and malapropism (Kalos 1).

As Kalos later notes in his article on The Life Aquatic, some of Anderson’s movies have seemed to follow the structure of different forms of media – starting with Rushmore, which he suggests is formatted like a play, Tenenbaums as a book, and finally The Life Aquatic as a documentary (Kalos 2). Likewise, Fantastic Mr.Fox, which is based on a book by Roald Dahl, is set up as a book with headings displaying across the screen to map out important parts of the plot.

Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about an Anderson film, however, is his use of sound and visuals. Each of

his movies incorporates rich, primary colors – tied together by sets, costuming, etc. Names, titles, and introductions

of settings are all formatted in the same way – Futura Bold font, which can also be found in the opening and

closing credits of each movie. In addition, the credits display a signature look of Wes’s: first names in regular case, while last names are capitalized. Additionally, Anderson is known for exploiting “indie” music: Elliott Smith’s

“Needle in the Hay,” employed at the climax of The Royal Tenenbaums, for example, sets a tone that no other

song or score could have accomplished, and paints a picture in the viewer’s mind that fails to fade away. The same

is true for all of the music Anderson uses – much of which is influenced by “British Invasion” bands (such as The

Kinks). Numerous critics have argued that Anderson’s frequent usage of Cat Stevens songs recalls classic films, like

Harold and Maude (1971). These aspects of Anderson’s films are particularly aesthetically pleasing and easy to

remember, allowing for his features to be pinpointed at the very beginning of the film – creating a look and feel

that cannot be denied.

In addition to the technical aspects of his films, Anderson has made quite a name for himself in Hollywood by working with some of the most renowned actors in the business. Owen and Luke Wilson, Bill Murray, Angelica Huston, and Jason Schwartzmann, to name a few, have been cast in recurring roles in his features, forming a dream-team of actors in the independent cinema world – only adding to Anderson’s credibility and fame.

Ironically enough, the success of many of these actors can be directly attributed to the popularity his movies have gained over the years. With the success of these actors, he has also gained access to stars like Natalie Portman (Hotel Chavlier), Alec Baldwin (Tenenbaums [narrator]), Kate Blanchett (The Life Aquatic), Adrian Brody (Darjeeling), Ben Stiller (Tenenbaums), and George Clooney (The Fantastic Mr. Fox). Since The Royal Tenenbaums, more and more A-list actors have found themselves in starring roles, giving proof of Anderson’s slow transition from independent director to household name.

If Anderson’s posse of Hollywood well knowns isn’t enough proof of his successful breakthrough from the independent world into the mainstream, then take for example his emergence in pop-culture. From books to music to the World Wide Web, Wes Anderson has taken the world by storm. His movies have become the epitome of “independent” cinema, causing bands within the independent scene to reference lines from his movies in their songs (Brand New’s “Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades” and Every Time I Die’s “She’s My Rushmore,” to name a few – both crucial lines taken from the plot of Rushmore). In addition, several books have been written (Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture: “Anderson’s films generate a sort of bizarre fandom that is tailor-made for most emo obsessives, making him one of the quintessential directors of our time” [Simon 121]). The book’s segment on Anderson truly says something about his fame, by criticizing and parodying the independent scene and dubbing Anderson one of the kings of cool. His popularity and cultural relevance could also be measured by the hoards of Wes Anderson movie characters that appear each Halloween (Margot Tenenbaum is perhaps the most overdone costume for hipster ladies, while one can rest assured to see at least one Max Fischer, Steve Zissou, or Richie Tenenbaum each year since the movies have been released).

In 2008, Anderson was included on the website “Stuff White People Like” – ranked at number ten – falling short of such things as Barack Obama, organic food, film festivals, and coffee. Countless other websites have since been dedicated to Wes and his legacy, which analyze his fame and its origins. One website in particular uses McLuhan’s concept of retrieval – citing that Anderson’s movies make reference to cinema classics, such as The Graduate, Harold and Maude, and even A Boy Named Charlie Brown, through his use of music, recurring themes, and cinematic techniques.

Wes’s signature style has become so famous that fans and critics alike have begun to create videos that either mock or praise his work. For instance, “Wes Anderson’s, ‘The Fellowship of the Ring,”’ incorporates light-hearted indie music over scenes from the original Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, to give the mock- trailer the Wes Anderson feel.

In 2006, Anderson starred in an American Express marketed commercial that depicts him on set, directing a movie. The ad even uses the same font and “Crayola-bright” color scheme that is typical of Anderson’s movies, and features a cameo role by Anderson film regular, Jason Schwartzmann.

In making an advertisement centered on Wes, American Express is recognizing his status and prominence in American society, and entrusting their product in the hands of this young, hip, auteur.

But along with the glory of fame comes also the pressures from Hollywood bigwigs who invest their money in a director’s projects, expecting that their ideologies will be expressed in the film. Through this process, many directors have “sold out,” so to speak, and some wonder how soon Anderson will do the same. However, in his most recent film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes managed to stick to his guns – standing up to the heads of Fox Searchlight Productions (the not-so-independent production company that budgeted his $40 million film), refusing to remove scenes that depicted smoking and violence that Fox deemed “unfit” for child audiences. Because Anderson’s vision is so clear, and because he has built a name for himself in the independent world, he was able to get away with such a scheme just as others like Woody Allen and Melvin Van Peebles have done; on the other hand, Anderson noted that “If it [Mr. Fox] cost what Ice Age 3 did [an estimated $90 million], it would have to be more conventional” (Davies 1). Likewise, The Life Aquatic, perhaps Anderson’s biggest flop at the box office to date, was “a $60 million – dollar art film, which was marketed to a general audience,” a fact which alludes to the difficulty independent film makers have in staying true to their artistic visions while making a film appeal to the general public. Despite its financial backbone, The Life Aquatic was unable to stay afloat.

Wes Anderson, like few before him has not only managed to step out of the realm of independent film making, but in doing so, he has created a recognizable style that others have begun to imitate and parody. Anderson is still widely perceived as “independent” by audiences – especially those who have followed him from his early days of Bottle Rocket and Rushmore – making his creative dream not only relevant as a cultural reference, but also creating a culture around Anderson and his movies that advertisers have begun to use in marketing their products. By creating relatively normal characters, the new, “hipster” generation has been able to relate to and see themselves in his characters’ “romantic ironies” (Colloff 1) on the big screen – turning the independent world inside out and making the unknown somewhat commercial. His vision, with references to the past, has allowed for his creativity to flourish and spread, causing well-known names to view him as the auteur that he truly is. It’s no wonder that in a 2000 issue of Esquire Martin Scorsese himself named Wes Anderson “the next Martin Scorsese” (Brody 1). It’s Anderson’s originality and new take on cinema that has opened doors for others, not only reshaping the independent cinema world, but also what is acceptable in Hollywood.

Fun Facts:

As a kid, Wes's teachers would bribe him into doing his math homework by promising to allow him to direct his plays during recess if he finished his multiplication tables.

Anderson was so set on Gene Hackman playing the role of Royal Tenenbaum that he ended up "essentially stalking" him until Hackman finally committed.

Wes went to private school for most of his life; however, when he first entered high school, he attended a public school (against his will). To prove his defiance, he continued wearing his private school blazer around, quite like his character, Max Fischer, did in the movie, Rushmore.

Jason Schwartzmann was only 17 when he was cast as the lead role, Max Fischer, in Anderson's second film, Rushmore. He had no previous acting experience at the time,

Because Rushmore was made on an $11 million budget, Bill Murray agreed to shoot the film with little to no pay. He even wrote Anderson a check for $25,000 when the studio refused to pay for a scene that Murray considered necessary for the film's success.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was shot on an actual boat, in the water. The cast and crew were forced to endure the harsh weather conditions while filming, in order to create the feel that Wes was looking for.

For The Darjeeling Limited, Anderson ordered that there be no personal trailers on set, and that all actors did their own hair and makeup. No streets were closed off for the making of the film, so interactions with civilians were all real, impromptu occurrences.

Fantastic Mr. Fox, Anderson's first stop-motion flick, was shot with Nikon D3 digital cameras in order to capture the slightest details of his characters in each shot.

The original trailer for Fantastic Mr. Fox does not include Wes Anderson or Roald Dahl's names.
Budgets for his first four films doubled with each release (Bottle Rocket- $6 million, Rushmore - $11million, The Royal Tenenbaums - $25 million, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - $50 million), but dropped by his fifth film (The Darjeeling Limited - $17.5 million), and raised again for his latest project Fantastic Mr. Fox ($40 million)

Here's another Wes Anderson spoof - "How Does a Wes Anderson Enthusiast Eat a Reese's?"

Trailers

• Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

• The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

• The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

• Rushmore (1998)

• Bottle Rocket (1996)

  Works Cited

  1. Brody, Richard. "Wild, Wild Wes." Academic Search Premiere. EBSCO, 02 Nov. 2009. Web. 09 Nov. 2009. .

  2. Colloff, Pamela. "Grand Royal." Academic Search Premiere. EBSCO, Jan. 2002. Web. 15 Nov. 2009. .

  3. Colloff, Pamela. "Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson." Academic Search Premiere. EBSCO, May 1998. Web. 14 Nov. 2009. .

  4. Davies, Sam. "Wild Thing." Academic Search Premiere. EBSCO, Nov. 2009. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. .

  5. Kalos, Jacob. "Spotting an auteur: Wes Anderson's fictional pseudo-documentary The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." Guilfordian. College Media Network, 21 Jan. 2005. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. .

  6. Simon, Leslie, and Trevor Kelley. Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture. New York: Harper Entertainment, 2007. Print.