15 Behind The Scenes Shenanigans From Everyone’s Favorite Wes Anderson Movie, “The Royal Tenenbaums”
We wouldn’t mind an entire separate tale about the character that is Mordecai.
![15 Behind The Scenes Shenanigans From Everyone’s Favorite Wes Anderson Movie, “The Royal Tenenbaums”](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/7/2/827472_320x180.jpg)
From Anjelica Huston’s hair catching fire on set to a full-blown kidnapping of a freaking hawk — here are some funtastic tales from the making of everyone’s favorite Anderson movie, The Royal Tenenbaums.
Wes Anderson's friend
![The Royal Tenenbaums The Tenenbaum name comes from the director's college friend. Brian Tenenbaum, Wes Anderson's buddy, also appears as a paramedic at the end of the film. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/5/827485.jpg)
Gene Hackman's paycheck
![The Royal Tenenbaums Gene Hackman wasn't too happy about his salary at first. Director Wes Anderson said Hackman wasn't used to such a small paycheck, but he fully committed and was on set the whole day every day, even when he wasn't in a scene. For that small amount of money, he gave us everything he had. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/7/8/827478.jpg)
The kidnapping saga
![The Royal Tenenbaums The bird MORDEÇA Mordecai was kidnapped and held for ransom. The hawk was sadly never seen again and the crew had to get a second bird to continue filming - prompting the addition of mentioning that it has more white feathers on it. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/1/827481.jpg)
Richie's tennis career
![The Royal Tenenbaums WELCOME TO FOREST HILLS STADIUM ON THESE HALLOWED GROUNDS RICHIE TENENBAUM PLAYED THE WORST Richie TENNIS OF HIS LIFE Tenenbaum's meltdown There's an actual plague of LONG LIVE THE BAUMER his big tennis FH loss at the Forest Hills Stadium that commemorates The Baumer. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/7/827487.jpg)
A different Royal
![The Royal Tenenbaums Michael Caine and Gene Wilder were considered for Royal Tenenbaum. Wes Anderson wanted Gene Hackman to play Royal from the very start, but Hackman at first rejected the part. The director considered Caine and Wilder, but along with Hackman's agent they eventually managed to convince him to do the film. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/7/5/827475.jpg)
The other Wilson brother
![The Royal Tenenbaums The other CAT. Wilson DIESEL POWER brother had himself a cameo. Andrew Wilson- brother of Luke and Owen- appears in the movie as Margot's Amish relative. He's the one who accidentally chops off her ring finger. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/2/827482.jpg)
The director's inspirations
![The Royal Tenenbaums FROM THE MAN WHO MADE THE BEST PICTURE OF 1941 Wes Anderson's inspirations The director has said that his inspirations for this film were both Orson ORSON Welles' The Magnificent WELLES® Ambersons from MERCURY PRODUCTION OF 1942 as well as the The BOOTH TARKINGTON'S work of JD GREAT NOVEL Salinger. Salinger's Glass family members Magnificent are much like the Tenenbaums- Ambersons extraordinary, and JOSEPH DOCORES OM TIM Nerman troubled COTTEN COSTELLO BAXTER HOLT Rockwell AGNES ERSAINE to characters. MOOREHEAD COLLINS SANFORD and RICHARD BENNETT CRACKED.COM WIS Screen Play, Production and Direction by Orson Welles](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/9/827489.jpg)
The title card
![The Royal Tenenbaums The inspiration behind the title card scene. THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS Cookelly request the please Lyrus company of heme - adidas The director was inspired by a similar scene in the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/6/827486.jpg)
The Witness quote
![The Royal Tenenbaums There's a quote from Witness in The Royal Tenenbaums. In the 1985 film Witness, Danny Glover's character shoots Harrison Ford in a parking garage, and Ford yells, I know you, asshole! Gene Hackman repeats that line in Wes Anderson's movie. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/4/827484.jpg)
Mordecai the character
![The Royal Tenenbaums The part of Mordecai, the bird, was written for Jason Schwartzman. Yeah, before Mordecai was a bird, he was an actual character-a boy who lived in an attic across the street from the Tenenbaums. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/8/827488.jpg)
The fight scene
![The Royal Tenenbaums Royal and Henry's fight was shot through a window. The room in which the scene took place was a kitchen too tiny to accommodate the film crew, so they had to film the action through a window. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/3/827483.jpg)
Gwyneth and Paul McCartney
![The Royal Tenenbaums Gwyneth Paltrow tried to bribe Paul McCartney into letting them use a couple of Beatles songs. Wes Anderson wanted to use quite a few Beatles tunes, but the rights to the original recordings were hard to come by. At one point he sent Paltrow to try and sweet talk McCartney into helping them out, but no dice. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/7/9/827479.jpg)
Ocean's Eleven cast
![The Royal Tenenbaums Three of the cast turned down roles in Ocean's Eleven to do the movie. Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and Danny Glover were all offered parts in the Ocean's movie. The Wilson brothers were optioned to play the Malloy brothers. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/7/7/827477.jpg)
Spot the mice
![The Royal Tenenbaums The fictitious dalmatian mice had spots drawn on them with a sharpie. No one tell PETA. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/8/0/827480.jpg)
Anjelica Huston's hair
![The Royal Tenenbaums Anjelica Huston's hair caught fire in a deleted scene. It was brief, but some of the birthday candles got a bit too close to Huston's luscious locks there for a second. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/7/6/827476.jpg)