Origin Of Royal Tenenbaums Title? (1 Viewer)

[Chuck C]

I went over to imdb.com to check out other Wes Anderson flicks, and I noticed in the cast of credits the name "Brian Tenenbaum"... he's been in all three Wes Anderson movies. Don't tell me this isn't the answer!

Sorry if this has been discussed or is in the wrong place.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Probably is an inspiration. Just like Stephen Dignan who is in Royal Tenenbaums (Paramedic at the end), Rushmore (Reuben the DJ who plays the Faces song at the dance) and Bottle Rocket (Rob).

I wouldn't doubt everything in their films was inspired by real life-- their dialog often comes from things they've seen or heard.

BTW- The guy's name is BRIAN, not Brain.

-Vince

 

[Matt Stone]

Hehe...I was thinking, "Brain...is that a name??"

 

[Eric Dahl]

I thought, too, that the credited "Brian" was the origin of the title, but another possibility is from the writings of J.D. Salinger.

Anderson has stated in many interviews that Salinger's work influenced this film a great deal (anyone who has read "Franny & Zooey" knows what I mean) through his dysfunctional family of grown-up child prodigies, the Glass family.

When I was reading Salinger's "Nine Stories", in the story "Down at the Dinghy", there is a girl character named Tenenbaum who married into the Glasses.

Anyone else notice this, or maybe know more on the subject?

 

[Alex Spindler]

Check out Ebert's Answer man for the week. You questions are mostly answered.

 

[Chuck C]

Thanks for the link, Alex.

. Director Wes Anderson replies: ''Brian Tenenbaum is a very good friend of mine and the three Wilson brothers. There is some inspiration for the character of Richie Tenenbaum (the tennis champion son in the movie) in Brian, and he does come from a very tightly-knit and interesting family (from Savannah, Ga.), but the name Tenenbaum was really chosen just because I liked the sound of it. His sister is named Margot Tenenbaum, which is also the name of a character in the movie, and it is more difficult to come up with a reason why we would use someone's FULL name if they have nothing to do with the story, but then I suppose that's about all I have to say about that.''

I'm still a bit confused...he like sthe sound of the name, but it wasn't inspired by Brian Tenenbaum? Huh? But he took the name from Brian, right?

 

[Alex Spindler]

More than likely they're expressing that their inspiration came from many sources. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't originally written with different last names and then went for Tenenbaum after realizing what a great name it was. They may have already named Margot before the last name was decided on. That would be a tough one to discount.

Anyway, it's a theory.