Trivia
The name of the prison at the end of the film is "Wasco", the same as the last name of production designer David Wasco.
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Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson got Dignan's name from their good friend Stephen Dignan and repeated this trend with the name "Tenenbaum" from their other friend Brian Tenenbaum (for The Royal Tenenbaums).
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Dignan introduces himself and Bob to Inez in the hotel room as Jerry and Cornelius. Jerry Cornelius is a character from Michael Moorcock's books such as "The Cure for Cancer" and "The Final Program".
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There is a black and white picture of Jacques-Yves Cousteau hanging on the wall during the party.
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The film scored the worst test screening points in the history of Columbia Pictures at the time.
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According to the The Royal Tenenbaums DVD's director's commentary, Wes Anderson wanted the final scene to be set to Bob Dylan's "Billy (Main Title Theme)" from Dylan's score to Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, but could not afford the rights to use it. (Anderson later used the song in The Royal Tenenbaums in the scene where Royal is kicked out of the house.)
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Wes Anderson first met up with his writer, co-star and friend Owen Wilson when they were both enrolled at the University of Texas.
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Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson made a 13 minute B/W short film called Bottle Rocket which was first shown at the USA Film Festival in Dallas. It met with a sufficiently enthusiastic response that they took it to Sundance where it came to the attention of screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson who directed it to towards Polly Platt and James L. Brooks. It was with their intervention that the team were able to get financial backing from Columbia to expand their short into a feature film.
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Wes Anderson established such a good working rapport with cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman that he has been the director's cameraman on every one of his subsequent films.
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Bottle Rocket never played in more than 48 theaters in the USA. Little wonder that it failed to recoup its $7 million budget.
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James L. Brooks insisted that major work be done on the script so he had Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson flown to Los Angeles and set up in an office on $100 a day. Wilson tried to exchange his plane ticket for a bus ticket, hoping to pocket the cash instead.
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James L. Brooks was nervous about the way Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson handled the rewrite process as they never took any notes during meetings.
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After the movie bombed at the box office, Owen Wilson seriously considered joining the Marines, convinced that acting held no future for him.
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Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson completely rewrote and reshot the entire beginning of the film when Sundance initially refused the film.
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Director Cameo
Wes Anderson:
barely visible as a passenger on the bus near the beginning of the film, sitting right behind Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson.
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Director Trademark
Wes Anderson:
[mid-shot speed change]
The last scene changes from normal speed to slow-motion.
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Wes Anderson:
["put"]
Dignan hands Anthony a pair of gloves and says, "Here, put these on."
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