Wes Anderson's new movie, Fantastic Mr. Fox opens nation-wide this Thanksgiving and has been praised for its particular sense of style, parts of which are based on the home, clothes, and fetishes of the book's author, Roald Dahl. Dahl, who died in 1990, was an intriguing and contradictory figure whose passions ranged from chocolate Crunchie bars to Matisse and Beethoven.
The Roald Dahl Museum and official website both offer a peek into the personality of the famous children's book author, whose masterpieces include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, George's Marvelous Medicine, Matilda, the Witches, and many more. According to information gathered from interviews and writings, Dahl's tastes were both high and low, and might best be described as "eclectic."
- Gipsy House was Dahl's home from 1960 until his death. Located in the countryside of Buckinghamshire, England, it's a traditional cottage with extensive gardens and a "Gipsy Caravan," painted in bright red and blue, installed in the backyard. Dahl also had a writing hut, where he worked nearly every day. It was a messy space furnished with a hand-me-down wingchair from his mother, photos pinned to the walls, and odd knick knacks.
- Orchids were Dahl's favorite flower. "Some people like tomatoes, I like orchids," he said. "Partly because of their beauty, partly because they are tricky to grow - it takes two years before any buds appear, and the flowers are very small." He was an avid gardener.
- Matisse was one of Dahl's favorite artists, along with Bonnard, Renoir, Degas, and others. "Even when I couldn't afford anything, I'd sell a story to the New Yorker and then go straight out and buy a picture," he remembered.
- Chocolate candy bars and caviar were two of his great loves. Of the 1930s, he said, "In the seven years of this glorious and golden decade, all the great classic chocolates were invented: the Cruncie, the Whole-Nut Bar, the Mars Bar, the Black Magic Assortment, Tiffin, Caramello, Kit Kat, Rolo, and Smarties. In music the equivalent would be the golden age when compositions by Bach and Mozart and Beethoven were given to us."
- Yellow was Dahl's favorite color. He loved classical music, and named Beethoven his favorite composer. One of the authors he most admired was Ernest Hemingway, a friend and colleague. Dahl called him "a great American writer" and studied his work as a young author.
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Photos: Roald Dahl photo from Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Van Vechten Collection, reproduction number LOT 12735, no. 273. via Wikimedia Commons (1), Roald Dahl Museum (2), Architectural Digest Celebrity Homes 2, 1980 (3), Lily Gahagan (4), The Red Studio by Henri Matisse (5), Pantone (6), Old Man and the Sea Book Cover via Wikipedia (7), Bust of Beethoven via Wikipedia (8), mrschnips licensed under Creative Commons (9), Adambro licensed via Wikimedia Commons (10)
Bounard=Bonnard?
view trikitixa's profile
Yes, thank you for correcting the typo, trikitixa.
view sarah c's profile
He liked Beethoven, and his favorite color was yellow.
So what?
view ebanfield's profile
Of course Dahl had great taste; he was married for 30 years to the fabulous actress Patrica Neal.
view aychihuahua's profile
I love the gypsy caravan! That yellow is amazing, too. It's similar to the yellow used in Monet's kitchen at Giverny: http://www.fondation-monet.fr/uk/upload/photos/grand/carntet_de_cuisine.jpg.
I love to see how creative people live.
view heather77's profile
I love Roald Dahl's as a kid. His writing captured my imagination. Thank you for sharing all these tidbits.
view JuliaL's profile
Sorry, that should have read "loved Roald Dahl's books".
view JuliaL's profile
Great post! Roald Dahl was one of my favorite authors growing up. It's so cool to see the space he created his classics.
view ShopgirlCA's profile
The gift to create worlds children wanted to live in, is rare. Seeing the crooked pictures, the funky old chair, the amazing caravan is like a delicious peek at genius. Thank you!
view Piewacket's profile
Is anyone going to rush out on Thanksgiving to see the movie?
view lychee's profile
Thanks for this post! I loved Roald Dahl's books as a kid and loved reading them to my kids, too.
But what's with the random photos? I can visualize the color yellow, orchids and candy bars myself :-) I want more photos of Dahl's estate!
view lella's profile
His kids have a rather different take on him than do his fans.
view FantasticMrFaux's profile
I liked this post VERY much.
view Jess2nola's profile
Dahl was one of the first authors I ever read. I'm so grateful for all the magical reading adventures. Why am I not surprised he had a great sense of style? ;-)
view Elise_B's profile
1) Is the photo of Dahl's hut really two photos pieced together? It looks as though the middle portion of the picture interrupts the bottom and top parts.
2) Fantastic Mr. Fox was excellent...anyone who loves Dahl and/or stop motion and/or Wes Anderson and/or awesome things should definitely watch it ASAP.
3) After seeing the flick, I watched a short special (HBO maybe? it was On Demand...) on the making of the movie where it said Wes Anderson was inspired to write the screenplay in Dahl's writing hut. I know this isn't anything monumental but I just thought it was interesting.
4) Thanks for this article and the photos. Even the photos of yellow, which were a bit weird. You can post pictures of chocolate bars any day though =)
view stylefyles's profile
5) You should definitely NOT check out the short special On Demand until AFTER seeing the movie, BTW. No big spoilers, but a lot of scenes or shots that you just want to see as an actual part of the movie for the first time, not in a TV special.
view stylefyles's profile
And he beat his wife. Repeatedly. Hospitalized her.
view omartiger's profile