Wes Anderson

Who is Wes Anderson?

• Wes Anderson is an American filmmaker who was born on the 1st May 1969,
making him 54 years old. He has directed a total of 11 feature films with 3 short
films that came out in September which are based off of Roald Dahl’s short
stories. His most famous films are The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Asteroid City
(2023), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) with his highest grossing film being The Grand
Budapest Hotel which earned $175 million at the box office. His first film was
called Bottle Rocket which is based on a short film with the same name which he
made with Owen and Luke Wilson which was a heist film, which was well-
received but didn’t do as well at the box office.
• Wes Anderson is a unique director because of his bright, eccentric visuals and
melancholy themes, such as grief, loss etc. In some of his films it is also displayed
as a sort of play while using props that you would expect to see at a pantomime.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Fantastic Mr. Fox is a film by Wes Anderson which
was released in 2009 and is based off the story by
Roald Dahl. The film was a worldwide success and
got great scores such as 7.9/10 by IMDb and 93% on
Rotten Tomatoes. The film follows the story of Mr.
Fox who has a habit of stealing things from
dangerous people, although he said he would never
do it again after his wife, Felicity got pregnant. But
then three evil men named Boggis, Bean, and Bunce.
Which ruins the lives of the foxes and other animals,
which angers Mr. Fox and puts him back into his old
habits
The Grand Budapest
Hotel
• The Grand Budapest Hotel is a film that released in
2014 and was directed by Wes Anderson, the film
was a worldwide success and it earned $173
million at the box office, which made it Anderson’s
highest-grossing film to date. The film was also
nominated nine awards at the Academy Awards,
showing what a success, this film really was.
• The film is set in the 1930s at a popular ski resort in
Europe, which is the ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, In
the film, it shows the story of Zero and Gustave and
the thrill of trying to solve a murder mystery
 Wes Anderson’s Netflix
Short Films
• In 2023, Anderson released 4 short films on Netflix that was inspired by
some of Roald Dahl’s short stories, these include: The Wonderful Story of
Henry Sugar, The Rat Catcher, The Swan, and Poison. These films are short,
some being only 17 minutes long, but they are very well crafted, and it
shows Anderson’s unique filming style.
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar – This short, 39-minute film follows the
story about a rich man who while reading an old book, discovers the story
of an old man who could see without using his eyes, and how the rich man
sets off to try and unlock this skill and use it to cheat at gambling, making
him richer.
• The Swan – This is an even shorter, 17-minute film which is follows the story
of a boy and his two bullies and shows the hopelessness that the main
character feels when he is bullied, unable or too scared to fight back.
• Poison – This short, 17-minute film follows the story of an Englishman in
India, who has ended up in the situation of having a snake slithering around
on his stomach, and the race to save his life from the venomous creature.
• The Rat Catcher – This short 17-minute film follows the story of a well-
trained rodent killer who has been sent by the Health Office to rid a local
hayrick of its rat infestation. We learn much about the character and his
cruel but effective methods.