40. Ash (Jason Schwartzman in “Fantastic Mr Fox”)
An alternate reading makes this film the story of plucky Ash coming of age and becoming more secure in his father’s love, with Schwartzman giving the character a surly fragility that makes him so typical of teenagers, vulpine or otherwise.
39. Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum in “The Grand Budapest Hotel”)
There’s maybe no greater service Anderson has performed for cinema than reclaiming Jeff Goldblum, and in their third collaboration he gives one the all-time great reactors one of the great reaction lines: “Did he just throw my cat out of the window?”
38. Badger (Bill Murray in “Fantastic Mr Fox”)
Short of doing a ranking only of Bill Murray’s Wes Anderson characters and giving them their proper due, suffice to say that the slightly delusional “demolitions expert” lawyer Badger only languishes in the 30s because we don’t get to see Murray’s gloriously hangdog face.
37. Madame D. (Tilda Swinton in “The Grand Budapest Hotel”)
A triumph not just for the always-triumphant Swinton, but for maybe the greatest Old-Lady makeup ever, the plummy-accented Madame D, whose death kicks the whole insane plot of “Grand Budapest” into gear, is an indelible creation despite minimal screen time.
36. Pagoda (Kumar Pallana in “The Royal Tenenbaums”)
One of two appearances on this list for Anderson talisman Pallana (there could have been more), Pagoda is the Man Friday to Royal’s Crusoe, serving and investigating for him, being his truest friend and confidant, all in recompense for stabbing him in a Calcutta bazaar.
35. Anthony Adams (Luke Wilson in “Bottle Rocket”)
In “Bottle Rocket,” Dignan is the mind, Bob the cynical heart and Anthony is the soul. Tender and naive, he’s a beautiful loser described as “like a paper blowing in the air.” His head is entirely in the clouds, until he’s cleaning up Dignan’s mess, making it impossible not to love him.
34. Jack (Jason Schwartzman in “The Darjeeling Limited”/”Hotel Chevalier”)
The sensualist of the three ‘Darjeeling’ brothers, Jack is also the writer and the peacemaker between Francis (Wilson) and Peter (Brody). Therefore he’s a little passive, but when the focus is on him, like in “Chevalier’, he’s a great portrait of self-absorbed dissipation.
33. Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson in “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou”)
One of Wilson’s best naifs in one of the Anderson’s least satisfying films, Ned Plimpton is Zissou’s newfound adult son (or is he?) who experiences a gradual disillusionment with his famous father, only to be let down by last turn of the story.
32. Laura Bishop (Frances McDormand in “Moonrise Kingdom”)
Call it Anderson maturing, or McDormand magic, but Mrs. Bishop is a rare Anderson bird: complex but not so mysterious she isn’t also real. And even if she’s dallying with Willis’ “sad, dumb policeman” it’s her sparring with Walt (Murray) that feels most truthful.
31. Wes Anderson (Wes Anderson in “American Express” commercial)
We’ve extolled our love of Anderson’s commercial before, but it bears repeating: in case we were in any doubt that Anderson’s world is a fully imagined one in which he views even himself as a quirky, nonsensical character, this slyly self-parodic turn quashes it.
