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Wes Anderson: 5 things to know about the master of fantasy
An exhibition at the Cinémathèque française, his first Oscar win, and a film, The Phoenician Scheme, presented at the Cannes Film Festival… Wes Anderson’s name is everywhere in 2025. The Gagosian gallery in Paris invited the Texan filmmaker to recreate the art studio of American artist Joseph Cornell for a unique exhibition open from December 16th, 2025, to March 14th, 2026. Here’s a closer look at the whimsical the director’s career through five anecdotes, from his tumultuous debuts in the industry to his critically acclaimed animated features.
Published on 1 August 2025. Updated on 16 December 2025.
From March to July 2025, American director Wes Anderson was at the heart of a major exhibition at the Cinémathèque française in Paris. In a press release, the institution encouraged visitors to “discover how Anderson’s iconoclastic vision and attention to detail have resulted in some of the most visually and emotionally captivating films of the past few decades.”
Awarded the first Oscar of his career in 2024 for the short film The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, the filmmaker has always brought to life unusual worlds. His quirky characters have been portrayed by Hollywood stars who remain ever loyal to him – Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, and Adrien Brody, to name a few.
A Parisian gallery honours Wes Anderson
This year, Wes Anderson unveiled a new feature film entitled The Phoenician Scheme. It delved into the inner workings of a family-run business and had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025. With this twelfth addition to his filmography, the prolific director proves once again that he can easily surprise us.
The Gagosian gallery in Paris invited him to recreate the studio of American artist Joseph Cornell, as part of an exhibition running from December 16th, 2025 to March 14th, 2026, Numéro takes a closer look at some lesser-known facts about his career.
He used to put on puppet shows as a teenager
Foreshadowing his future animated films Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and Isle of Dogs (2018), the teenager loved to stage puppet shows. Wes Anderson would create costumes, props, and sets with patience and meticulous care. A hobby that nourished the imagination of this autodidact, who taught himself the art of filmmaking.
He met actor Owen Wilson at the University of Texas
It was the University of Austin, Texas, that Wes Anderson met Owen Wilson, who would go on to become one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors. At the time, the future filmmaker was a philosophy student and shared a dorm room with Wilson. Along with Owen’s older brother Andrew, the three formed an inseparable trio both on and off camera. Wes Anderson would go on to cast Owen Wilson in many of his films, including Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).
His first film was a total flop
Wes Anderson’s debut film, Bottle Rocket (1996), a story about a naive, clumsy trio planning a heist, was a total flop at the U.S. box office. A failure that hit co-writer Owen Wilson hard, so much so that he nearly abandoned his acting career to join the army.
He works remotely with his teams, using his mobile phone
Nine years after Fantastic Mr. Fox, the animated film adapted from Roald Dahl’s short story Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson directed a second animated feature. A tribute to Japan titled Isle of Dogs (2018). For both of those films, the director would send daily videos of himself, shot on his mobile phone, acting out each character’s movements. While some describe this method as “remote directing” and have criticized his repeated absences from the studio, Wes Anderson sees it as “the best way not to get overwhelmed by the technical aspects.”
An exhibition with his wife, the costume designer Juman Malouf
For two years, the filmmaker and his wife, costume designer Juman Malouf, embarked on what they called a giant treasure hunt. Together, they assembled over 400 eclectic and whimsical items, including costumes, paintings, musical instruments, they uncovered from the storage rooms of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. As a result, they curated an exhibition Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and Other Treasures, a direct reference to the tiny Egyptian shrew sarcophagus featured on the exhibition’s poster. First presented in Vienna in November 2018, the exhibition will remain open until next April.
“The House on Utopia Parkway: Joseph Cornell’s Studio Reimagined by Wes Anderson”, until March 14th, 2026, at the Gagosian gallery, Paris.
