Hyperbole is so often thrown around when people are promoting a film, and I try to not pay attention to such exaggerated claims. So what makes Jason Schwartzman’s opinion on FANTASTIC MR. FOX different? The man knows his Wes Anderson movies better than most. He’s acted in about half of Anderson’s films and even helped write the wonderful DARJEELING LIMITED a couple of years back. When asked by MTV how he rated FANTASTIC MR. FOX against Wes Anderson’s other movies, this is what he said:

“This is my favorite one…when the lights first came down and the movie came on, I almost wanted to start crying. That’s how beautiful it was.”

That is a bold statement, especially when you consider that Wes Anderson directed THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, a movie that I consider to be pretty damn close to perfect, but I can’t wait until November so I can see the movie for myself. I have a feeling it’s gonna be pretty damn awesome. Schwartzman also talked about some of the techniques Anderson used to make this animated movie uniquely his.

I think most of us have seen making-of clips of animated films and know that the actors tape their lines alone in studios, making for clean, crisp takes. Instead of doing this, Wes Anderson brought the actors together and had them “overlapping, [and] cutting each other off.” I think that if Robert Altman made animated movies, he would’ve used the same technique!

He also reveals that at one point, some of the actors, including George Clooney and Bill Murray, “spent a week living together in a house, and the days were spent acting out the movie like a play.” I hope Wes Anderson filmed that because if this directing thing doesn’t work out for him, he can sell the tapes to MTV. Best Real World ever!