Trivia for
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) More at IMDbPro »

• Both Anjelica Huston and Gene Hackman turned down their roles until additional scenes providing more character depth were written specifically for them.
  
  
• The monster-masked men paintings in Eli's apartment are attributed to Mexican artist Miguel Calderón and were part of his 1998 exhibit "Aggressively Mediocre/Mentally Challenged/Fantasy Island (circle one)", though they were not actually painted by him. Calderón took photographs of his friends posed on motorcycles and, after deciding the photographs were not realistic, hired a portrait painter to reproduce them on canvas.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Wes Anderson] [in-camera speed change] The last scene changes from normal speed to slow-motion.
  
  
• The idea of Margot losing part of her finger was originally written for the character of Margaret Yang in Rushmore (1998).
  
  
• The opening of the movie with narration and character introduction was influenced by The Magnificent Ambersons (1942).
  
  
• Each character has a musical instrument in the soundtrack that corresponds to them, i.e. when we see Margot throughout the movie, we hear a harp. Director Wes Anderson attributes this to a "Peter and the Wolf" influence.
  
  
• In addition to the "Peter and the Wolf"-esque musical instrument-theming device, the song "Christmastime is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) (TV) plays in the background of some of Margot's scenes.
  
  
• Etheline Tennenbaum's character is loosely based on director Wes Anderson's own mother who, after divorcing his father, became an archaeologist.
  
  
• The character Henry Sherman was named after Wes Anderson's landlord.
  
  
• Danny Glover's look in the film was modeled after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. This was Wes Anderson's idea, after Glover, who knows Annan personally, introduced Anderson to him at a UN event.
  
  
• The glasses that Anjelica Huston wears as Etheline Tenenbaum actually belong to Wes Anderson's mother.
  
  
• Wes Anderson and Andrew Wilson provided the voices for the commentators during Richie Tenenbaum's tennis match. Many viewers thought it was a cameo from Jason Schwartzman, star of Anderson's previous film, Rushmore (1998). Also, the Wilson brothers all have similar sounding voices, therefore many people think that it is Owen Wilson providing the voice of the second commentator. Anderson also plays bass on the reggae in the initial sequence.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Wes Anderson] [underwater shot] In every Wes Anderson film there is a shot of one or more of the characters underwater.
  
  
• Not only does Wes Anderson include an underwater shot in every one of his films, one person is added for each film. In Bottle Rocket (1996), we have one character, Anthony underwater. In Rushmore (1998), we have a shot with two characters underwater. Then in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), there are three people underwater. The Royal Tenenbaums also stresses the number three. When the on screen novel reads, "3", it cuts to Ritchie, and the narrator says, that Ritichie had fed his bird 3 sardines. Then next we see Ritichie on the roof reading "3 Plays".
  
  
• Early on when Dudley is introduced, Bill Murray is administering a psychological test across a desk from him in an academic setting, much as he did early in Ghost Busters (1984)
  
  
• The name "Buckley" for the dog came from singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley.
  
  
• The movie is set in a fictionalized version of Manhattan, with such imaginary addresses as "100 N. 30th Avenue" (the address of the hotel where Royal stays) or the "375th Street Y," itself inspired by NYC-area facilities operated by the Young Men's Hebrew Association.
  
  
• Although the exteriors were largely shot in New York, Wes Anderson intentionally avoided virtually all shots of skyscrapers or other distinctive New York landmarks. In one scene, Royal and Pagoda are talking in Battery Park (on the southern tip of Manhattan) and Anderson intentionally had Kumar Pallana (Pagoda) stand directly in front of the Statue of Liberty so it wouldn't show up in the shot.
  
  
• The brand of cigarettes Margot smokes throughout the movie were only sold in Ireland and were discontinued in the 1970s. According to director Wes Anderson in the DVD insert (detailing all of the setting and props and the reasons why he used them) this was intentional, both because of the theme of the 1970s and to make Margot's secret smoking habit just a little stranger.
  
  
• Throughout the movie everyone wears the same clothing (or some variation of the same clothing). All of the clothing is also from the 1970s. Director Wes Anderson did this intentionally so that it would appear that the Tenenbaums are trapped in the era of their heyday while time moves on (the gravestone at the end reads 2001). Much of the setting, including the use of gypsy cabs and Green Line buses, are also in keeping with this theme.
  
  
• Scenes aboard Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson)'s yacht were filmed aboard the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy training vessel "Kings Pointer," based in Kings Point, NY, Long Island.
  
  
• Wes Anderson wrote the part of Royal Tenenbaum with Gene Hackman in mind.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Wes Anderson] [peanuts] According to Anderson on the DVD commentary track, Buckley the beagle is a tribute to Snoopy. The Vince Guaraldi Trio song "Christmastime is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) (TV) recurs as Margo's theme.
  
  
• Wes Anderson has given Kumar Pallana (Pagoda) a part in each of his movies (with the exception of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)). Pallana used to work at Anderson's favorite coffee shop in Dallas.
  
  
• The name "Ari" is taken from the nickname of musician Nico's son. Nico also has two songs on the film's soundtrack.
  
  
• The original hawk used to play Mordecai was kidnapped during shooting and held for ransom - production could not wait for him to be returned which is the reason that the bird that appears later in the movie has "more white feathers" - it's a different bird.
  
  
• Fellow filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson collaborated with Wes Anderson on the soundtrack.
  
  
• The spots on the dalmatian mice were created using a Sharpie pen.
  
  
• Many of the characters in the film were directly and/or indirectly based on members of the Karnas family, Director of Photography Robert D. Yeoman’s brother-in-law's family.
  
  
• Luke and Owen Wilson's mother, Laura Wilson, worked closely with photographer Richard Avedon. Laura documented Avedon's "In the American West" series project. The photo clipping of Owen Wilsons character, sent to Anjelica Hustons character, copies a famous portrait from the Avedon series, of a young man holding a disemboweled snake. The Wilson brothers would definitely be aware of their mother's project, and this would be somewhat of an inside family joke.
  
  
• Brian Tenenbaum, who plays one of the paramedics, was a college friend of Wes Anderson and brothers Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson at the University of Texas. His name was used for the film and family because, says Anderson, "I just like the name." Brian Tenenbaum's sister is named Margot.
  
  
• The hand that is seen with the BB lodged between its knuckles is not Ben Stiller's, but Andrew Wilson's, brother of Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson. When they were children, Owen fired a BB gun at Andrew's hand and the pellet has been there ever since.
  
  
• Owen Wilson’s character arrives to the wedding with a strange Indian paint design on his face. In the movie Zoolander (2001) (with Ben Stiller), there is a fashion picture of Hansel (Owen Wilson) wearing the exact same Indian face paint.
  
  
• Danny Glover, Luke Wilson and Owen Wilson all turned down parts in Ocean's Eleven (2001) to appear in this film.
  
  
• Margot is said to keep a secret studio under the name Helen Scott. Helen Scott was the name of one of 'Francois Truffaut's closest American friends and confidants.
  
  
• Rex Robbins' final film.
  
  
• First film by Wes Anderson that was not filmed in Texas.
  
  
• The scene where Richie punches the glass in Mortaci's pen is unscripted, this was improvised by Luke Wilson on the spot and the scene quickly cuts to Richie and Ralleigh (Bill Murray) talking up close, this is because when Wilson punched the glass, director Wes Anderson thought he seriously hurt himself.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Wes Anderson] [Rolling Stones] Features "She Smiled Sweetly" and "Ruby Tuesday".
  
  

• SPOILER: In the bathroom scene where Richie cuts his hair and, eventually, his wrists, the music playing is "Needle in the Hay" by Elliott Smith. On October 21, 2003, Elliott Smith (allegedly) committed suicide through self-inflicted stab wounds. Owen Wilson (co-writer with Wes Anderson) reportedly attempted suicide in 2007. Owen is the brother of Luke Wilson, who played Richie.
  
  

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