Development
A starting point for the story's concept was the divorce of director Wes Anderson's mother and father, though the evolved story bears little resemblance to it.[10] French director Louis Malle's works, such as his 1971 Murmur of the Heart, were an influence on Anderson, with The Royal Tenenbaums particularly drawing from The Fire Within (1963), where a suicidal man tries to meet his friends.[11] A line from The Fire Within is translated into English and appears as "I'm going to kill myself tomorrow."[12] Orson Welles' 1942 film The Magnificent Ambersons was also an influence,[13] with Anderson acknowledging he may have subconsciously selected the main set for its reflection of Welles' production.[14] E. L. Konigsburg's book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, where the characters Claudia and Jamie run away to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, inspired the story of Margot and Richie hiding out in a museum.[15][16] Having read the book, Anderson said it long stuck with him.[16]
J. D. Salinger's characters in the 1961 book Franny and Zooey inspired much of the child prodigy material.[17] The children of the Glass family in Salinger's work are precocious with an abundance of exceptional talents.[18] Franny and Zooey also features characters wearing distinctive fashions and a character with the name Tannenbaum.[19] "Tenenbaum" is the name of a family of Anderson's acquaintance.[20]
The film Les Enfants Terribles (1950) by Jean-Pierre Melville partly inspired Richie and Margot's relationship.[10] Other inspirations were one of Anderson's childhood friends who loved his sister, and Anderson's interest in the incest taboo; he acknowledged the relationship became more believable when the story was revised to make Margot adopted.[21] In inventing the characters, Owen Wilson and Anderson also used neurologist Oliver Sacks as a model for Raleigh,[22] while the notion of Eli writing Old Custer was based on Cormac McCarthy's style of storytelling.[10] Wilson and Anderson completed the screenplay in two years, needing the extended time because of its complexity.[7]
Casting
Gene Hackman was Anderson's choice for Royal, with Anderson saying, "It was written for him against his wishes".[25] Etheline Tenenbaum was written with Anjelica Huston in mind.[14] Hackman was hesitant about accepting the role, citing his lack of understanding of, or commonalities with Royal.[26] Hackman's agent persuaded him to take the role, though his reluctance led to Michael Caine being considered for the part.[25] Gene Wilder was also rumored to be a possible choice.[27]
Hackman's decision to star made it easier to assemble a cast of high-profile actors to appear with him.[28] However, Ben Stiller and Gwyneth Paltrow were available only for a limited time, requiring the shooting schedule to work around them.[14] Following a nadir in his career with Larger Than Life and The Man Who Knew Too Little in the 1990s, Bill Murray had opted to focus on supporting parts in offbeat comedies, starting with Anderson's Rushmore and then The Royal Tenenbaums.[29] Anderson discovered Stephen Lea Sheppard, who played Dudley, through his friend Judd Apatow, as he was acting in Apatow's television series, Freaks and Geeks.[21]
Alec Baldwin was approached by Anderson to narrate the film, though Anderson reportedly told him at first that he actually didn't want the film to be narrated and wasn't going to use his voiceover for the finished film, as the producers were insisting he have one. When Baldwin shared this story during the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021 while celebrating the film's 20th anniversary, Anderson replied that he never said that. Despite Baldwin's claims, The Wes Anderson Collection author Matt Zoller Seitz pointed out in his book that the narration was always present on the screenplay.[30]
Filming
Around 250 sets were employed during photography, with art director Carl Sprague saying the crew avoided sites that would identify New York City, even altering street signs.[31] The house used in the film is located near the famous Sugar Hill in the Hamilton Heights section of Harlem in Manhattan at 339 Convent Avenue.[32] For the "quintessential New York story", Anderson went location scouting in May 2000, spotted the house and admired what he described as its "storybook quality".[32] The owner, Willie Woods, was planning to remodel it, but agreed to delay the project for six months for principal photography.[32] Anderson said the dalmatian mice that populate the house had their spots applied using a Sharpie.[21]
The Waldorf-Astoria was used for the hotel scenes,[21] while Central Park Zoo depicted a rain forest.[31] A United States Navy training ship represented Richie's ship.[21] The crew also added 10,000 square feet of AstroTurf at Forest Hills Stadium, to depict Richie's tennis match.[31]
Filming took place at the Waldorf-Astoria.During production, Anderson gave Huston photographs of his mother who, like Etheline, was an archaeologist. Huston said, "Wes would send pictures of his mother in aviator jackets or on archaeological digs, and he very specifically wanted me to wear a certain locket. Finally, I asked him, 'Wes, am I playing your mother?'" Anderson replied this was not the case.[7]
Anderson and Huston had a tense relationship with Hackman, who was not always amiable on set.[28] On the first day Hackman and Huston appeared in a scene together, Huston had to slap him, and later said the slap was real and "I hit him a really good one. I saw the imprint of my hand on his cheek and I thought, he's going to kill me."[28] During young Margot's birthday scene in the opening scenes, Huston's hair caught fire from a birthday candle. Anderson credited Kumar Pallana with extinguishing the blaze before Huston was seriously injured.[21]
As shooting continued, the bird used for Mordecai was caught by a citizen of New Jersey, who demanded a price for its return. It was replaced instead by one more white in color.[22]
