 Wes Anderson is one of the most beloved filmmakers working today, and for good reason. There's a passion that can be found within every shot of every scene of every movie. And that passion comes directly from Anderson's love of his craft. And with his upcoming film The Isle of Dogs being released early next year, I thought now would be the perfect time to peel back the curtain and explore some of the ideas found within each of his movies. Because despite a happy and cheery exterior, his films are filled with broken and sad characters. Some suffering from depression, loneliness, anxiety, or just a feeling that you can achieve more than what you currently are. Honey, I'm seven non-Fox years old now. My father died at seven and a half. I don't want to live in a hole anymore. It's these characters that I want to focus on because from his very first film, Bottle Rocket, to his most recent work, The Grand Budapest Hotel, there are common themes running throughout his films embodied in these characters. And although Mr. Gustav is nothing like, say, Chaz Tenenbaum, there is a connection of desire, ambition, and obstacle. Anderson has always liked to reuse and reincorporate different actors back into his films. And much like Bill Murray or Jason Schwartzman can be found within almost every film, the same themes and ideas come with them. I want to begin by exploring the character archetypes by age. You're probably a much more intelligent person than I am. In fact, I guarantee it. The children in the films of Wes Anderson are unique. They're mature, responsible, and ambitious. In many ways, they're written like adults, and oftentimes will take on adult responsibilities. In the case of the young Tenenbaums, they proved to be more successful than their parents. Even though this is an exaggerated representation of children, they still have real problems. There's a substantial weight on the shoulders of all the adolescent characters, and more importantly, a general feeling that they don't belong. They want to stay true to themselves and what they want, meanwhile society is trying to make them conform to a different set of rules. Take for example, Max Fisher from Rushmore, someone who at first wants to fit into society. He is seemingly no personality. In this scene, he lies about his father's career, trying to inflate his own social status. What's your dad doing, Max? He's a nurse surgeon at St. Joseph's Hospital. However, by the end of the film, Max starts to focus on what will make him happy, not what he thinks others expect of him. On the other end of the spectrum is someone like Zero from the Grand Budapest Hotel. What he wants and what society wants are pretty similar. They both want a job and to find success. However, Zero doesn't work at the Grand Budapest Hotel because that is what others expect of him. He works there because... Other children in his films try to run away from societal expectations. In Moonrise Kingdom, Sam and Susie think that they can hide from their problems, that they can make their lives what they want and not have to face any responsibility. By the end of the film, they realize what most adults on the island don't. That life is full of conflict, and the only way to find a substantial purpose in life is to face it head on instead of trying to hide or run from it. This ambition and maturity is stripped away from a lot of his adult characters. Even characters who are full of potential as children seem to have given up on life as we see in their Royal Tenenbombs. Something similar can be said about Mr. Fox. In his younger years, he had a love for life and a love for adventure. Should we go through the hole under the horsements or climb the rail over the bridal path? However, he chose to put that behind him and live a more traditional life with his family. It's this traditional life that at first he thinks is making him unhappy. It isn't until he goes out on his own trying to relive his glory days that he realizes that he was wrong. Although this may bring him short-term satisfaction, it doesn't bring him any real happiness or satisfaction in life. In fact, it eventually leads to his life as he knows it being uprooted and causing chaos and turmoil. By the end of the movie, his character's arc is complete, when he finds out that the best way to live life is to find a balance between order and chaos. He's a wild animal. He can't be completely domesticated, but he's also a father and owes it to his family to be a mature and responsible provider. Much like Mr. Fox, Steve Zisu is also unhappy with where he is in life. In his younger years, he was a successful oceanographer and documentarian. However, his career is going downhill, as are his relationships with those around him. In order to try and recapture the past, he surrounds himself with outdated and ineffective technology, making it hard to compete with modern explorers. Over the course of the film, he finds that it is just important to look to the present as it is to the past. He begins spending time with the people who mean something to him now. He may have had a rough past, but that doesn't mean he can't make a bright future. The evolution from childhood to adulthood is the central conflict of his feature length debut, Bottle Rocket. In the film, Anthony is stuck somewhere between adolescence and adulthood. Others expect him to be mature and responsible, and he expects that of himself, but he also just wants to have fun. He wants to enjoy life and to spend time with his childhood friends, the people who always made him happy. When he meets Inez, he chooses to settle down. In this, he grows up the right way. He doesn't have adulthood thrust upon him. Instead, he chooses it for himself. In the Darjeeling Limited, adulthood is thrust onto Peter. His wife became accidentally pregnant, something that at first he hides from in a trip across India. I'm trying not to get too caught up in it right now. While on the trip, he sees the beauty and the emotion of parenthood after watching a father lose his son. This prepares him to be a father. He knows how much is at stake and will do everything in his power to be mature and responsible, like he has to be. By the time his characters reach old age, they go into a period of self-reflection. All of the pettiness and monotony of life that defines the majority of adult life no longer matters. Societal pressures hold little to no significance, just like when they were children. They realize that life is about making the most of it. In the Grand Budapest Hotel, Mr. Gustav realizes this and brings pleasure to his older guests. Not so similarly, in the Royal Tenenbaum's, Royal takes a good look at his own life and realizes that he wasted it. He tries to reconnect with his family and patch up the damage that he created in his younger years. If there's one unifying theme running through our Anderson's work, it's examining how people — and foxes for that matter — respond to loss, be it loss of childhood innocence, loss of a loved one, or loss of one's freedom. This theme extends to his older characters as well. Now granted, there aren't many in his films, but the characters that we do see know that their life is coming to an end, and they make the most of it while they still can. Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed. Wes Anderson is one of the best filmmakers working today. I'm glad he's able to continue to make these movies with seemingly less studio interference with every project he works on. Needless to say, I cannot wait to see the Isle of Dogs. I'm interested in knowing what your favorite Wes Anderson film is. Mine would probably have to be Fantastic Mr. Fox, followed very closely with a half a dozen of his other films. They're also consistent in quality and content and themes, and it's part of why I love him so much. Anyway, if you're new here, be sure to hit that subscribe button and check out my last video where we discussed Vertigo. Thanks for watching, and I will see you next week.