About The Story

After garnering worldwide attention, numerous award nominations, and wide critical praise for her role as Kevin Spacey's discontented daughter, Jane, in the Academy Award®-winning film American Beauty (1999), Thora Birch stars as Enid, an equally complex teenager searching for her place in the world.

Birch describes Enid as an extrovert who is, nonetheless, not very happy. "I think she doesn't really know what she wants in life," says the young actress. "She just graduates from high school and knows all the things that she really doesn't like and who she doesn't want to be. The only problem is that she has no clue about what she does want to do and who she is, really. I think that's one of the reasons she is constantly changing her appearance and trying different motifs and even testing out, in a subtle way, different personalities. "

Director Terry Zwigoff says, "Enid is an outsider. She doesn't quite fit in. That's part of her dilemma. She's trying to find some place for herself in a world that's rapidly turning into one big consumer theme park, a monoculture without much of anything authentic remaining. She's trying to connect with something truthful in this culture that's basically designed to just sell you things. "

The film opens with a musical bang that demonstrates Enid's less-than-mainstream tastes as scenes from an old Indian musical play on her television, with Enid dancing gleefully along. The scene is actually the opening dance number from Gumnaam (1965) ("Nameless"), directed by Raja Nawathe for Producer N. N Sippy and Prithvi Pictures. Although the name on the drum kit of the band reads "Ted Lyons and the Cubs," the masked actor is lip-syncing the tune "Jaan Pehechaan Ho," which is actually recorded by Mohammed Rafi.

Enid's best friend is the slightly more well-adjusted Rebecca, played by Scarlett Johansson, who broke out in a big way opposite Robert Redford and Kristin Scott Thomas in Horse Whisperer, the (1998). "Rebecca is this really smart girl who is sort of different," notes Johansson. "That's why she befriends Enid, who is really outrageous and loud. Even though they're best friends, in a way they're total opposites. Rebecca and Enid are always finding some interesting person to follow and exploit and embarrass, just for their own pleasure. But Rebecca is eager to get an apartment and get on with her life. "

In their post-high school meanderings, Enid and Rebecca find themselves drifting apart. "Enid really screws with her relationships," comments Birch. "She is constantly testing the people that are closest to her, especially Rebecca. They constantly feel each other out for weak spots, and yet they get along and are so comfortable with each other. Enid doesn't really know what she wants from her relationships. "

"This is not a typical teen film," adds Johansson with a hint of a smile. Adds Zwigoff, "I wasn't interested in making just another one of these Hollywood teen comedies, which are basically bad sitcoms with high production values. But I certainly didn't want to make some pretentious, self-indulgent art film either. I wanted to make a film that was entertaining as well as thought-provoking. "

By calling the number of an especially pathetic personal ad, Enid and Rebecca cross paths with Seymour (Steve Buscemi), a lonely collector of rare 78 rpm blues and jazz records. "They decide to play a joke on this guy who has put in an ad trying to look for this woman in a yellow dress that he met in an airport," says Buscemi, who has played signature roles in films as diverse as Armageddon (1998) and Pulp Fiction (1994). "So they call him and pretend they're the woman in the yellow dress. He goes to this diner looking for his dream girl and she's not there. Later on in the film they find out that he has this garage sale every Saturday, and so Enid buys an old record from him. They find out that he is a record collector. And then they develop this friendship from there. "

"Enid and Seymour develop this interesting relationship," says Birch. "They meet and at first she sees him as just some guy that she is basically having fun with, but then she starts to feel bad for him because he doesn't have the most glamorous life and he's not very socially active. Then she starts to really like him because he's different. She admires that he sticks to who he is, even if that means being a real loser. Seymour becomes to her a last ditch attempt at trying to find someone who she thinks maybe understands things on her level, and sees the world the way she does. And then it even changes from there. "

Populating the story are offbeat but real characters whom Enid and Rebecca encounter in their lives. illeana Douglas plays the art teacher, who she describes as "the ex-hippie art teacher everybody had in high school that was always into self-exploration and always wanting you to look within yourself and that mystical stuff," says Douglas. "She probably spent too much time in Santa Fe or something. "

The girls make daily trips to a convenience store where their teen crush Josh, played by Brad Renfro, works amid the burnouts for a demanding, screaming boss (Brian George). "Enid and Rebecca always try to make Josh feel uncomfortable," says Renfro. "And yet at the same time he's the only person they really have to toy with during the day because he's stuck at work and can't really ask them to leave. "

Enid also becomes increasingly uncomfortable at home, where her dad (Bob Balaban) is in the process of reconciling with his ex-wife Maxine (Teri Garr). "Apparently, they had a relationship before, and Maxine had quite an influence on young Enid," says Garr. "Now she's coming back and Enid isn't really happy about that prospect. "

With Enid's encouragement, Seymour manages to connect with the original object of his furtive personal ad (Stacey Travis). But Enid discovers she has mixed feelings about this. Without the distraction of Seymour and the security of her friendship with Rebecca, Enid is faced with some unthinkable decisions.

"Enid and Rebecca have this symbiotic relationship where each supplies qualities that the other one lacks, and they both have enjoyed that about each other," says Zwigoff. "They're two smart outsiders who gravitated to each other. They complement each other's personalities. Rebecca is this reserved introverted weirdo (albeit a rather cool, aloof, beautiful one), while Enid's this outgoing, imaginative, slightly abrasive character. It's a complicated relationship, and they're coming to a point in the relationship where they're facing adulthood and going their separate ways. "

About The Production

"I was once walking around Chicago in a really bad neighborhood and in the midst of some really illegible gang graffiti, somebody had written 'Ghost World' very clearly on a garage," explains Daniel Clowes, creator of the underground comic book that formed the basis for Terry Zwigoff's film. "I thought at the time that there was really something sort of beautiful about that. I had no idea if it was taken from a song or if it was something that somebody just made up, but it struck me as having a really evocative, poetic quality. I had been thinking of this story at the time and it just stuck in my head."

"It had so many levels of meaning to me," adds Clowes. "The America we live in is disappearing, bulldozed under our feet and constantly rehabbed and remodeled. It also refers more personally to the characters and the friendships that they've lost. "

Having a similar take on the decline of western civilization, director Zwigoff and producer Lianne Halfon, executive producer on Crumb (1994), approached Clowes about collaborating on the project. "Culture is declining all around the world; it's just happening sooner here in America than, say, Europe where they have deeper traditions," he says. "One of the reasons I wanted to shoot in California is because it's happening the fastest here and it looks like anyplace in modern America - just one big happy strip mall filled with Gaps and Starbucks and Burger Kings. This is part of Enid's dilemma - to find something authentic to connect with in this modern monoculture. "

"I think the title refers to the world in which these characters live - it could be Anytown, USA - that is slowly being taken over by malls and cappuccino places," says Steve Buscemi. "The town is starting to lose its character and become a ghost of what it used to be. "

In developing the screenplay for their celluloid Ghost World, Zwigoff and Clowes formed a great working relationship and worked closely together throughout the making of the film. "I guess most screenwriters aren't allowed anywhere near the set, so I feel fortunate to have been afforded this opportunity," says Clowes. "I wanted to be there to help in any way I could. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. " Clowes was able to serve as a consultant throughout the entire process, contributing his unique visual and verbal skills to every phase of production.

After the two year process of adaptation, Halfon brought the screenplay to her partners Russ Smith and John Malkovich at Mr. Mudd. Together with Zwigoff and Clowes they turned their attention to finding the right cast to bring their vision of contemporary life to the screen.

Thora Birch was a natural for Enid. "She's a very accomplished actress - smart and sensitive and fearless," says Zwigoff. "She somehow also got the wacky, goofy side of the character, and not with much help from me, I'm afraid. "

Playing Enid's best friend Rebecca is 15-year-old Scarlett Johansson, playing an 18-year-old character. "Scarlett's 15, going on 35 - wise beyond her years," notes Zwigoff. "She is a very natural actress and instinctively captured Rebecca's character. Very cool and reserved, but also a bit of a weirdo - rather peculiar and odd in a subtle way, so it worked out really well. "

"Scarlett is such a terrific young actress with such charisma," says Daniel Clowes. "And they have a great chemistry, the two of them, and became friends right as we started filming. They're very close, almost as close as the two characters. "

There was never any doubt who should be Seymour, and Zwigoff haunted Steve Buscemi until he signed on to play the role. "I never thought of Seymour as a loser, which is how every studio we talked to wanted to cast him," says Zwigoff. "He's based a lot on myself and some friends of mine, and I didn't want to make him into a broad 'type. ' I could never think of anybody but Steve Buscemi in that part. Steve was always the guy. "

"I didn't know Dan Clowes before this, but in reading his comics I've really fallen in love with his work. It's always exciting to read good writing," says the actor.

The filmmakers carefully hand-picked actors and extras to populate the environment without drawing attention away from the central storyline. "In a way, we were almost trying to incorporate certain noir elements such as paranoia, alienation, and cynicism into the landscape. But none of that was conscious, although, of course, I love film noir. But I certainly wasn't trying to copy that noir style in any visual way - I thought an updated realistic reproduction of the way I see the world was grim enough!" laughs Zwigoff. "You know, it's colorful and bright, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's cheerful - it's almost a contrived, phony, corporate cheerfulness. I spent a lot of time trying to get the extras just right - sort of glum, bland, modern slobs and schmucks. "

"We got lucky with every single person we hired for those small parts as well," remembers Zwigoff. "We hired Sheriff John Bunnell from the Fox TV show America's Wildest Police Chases to play Seymour's boss who fires him, and he was just right. Illeana Douglas was great as this pretentious, overly sincere, under-talented art teacher. All the kids in her class were terrific as well. "

A number of castmembers improvised much of their roles, such as Dave Sheridan, who plays Doug. "He's this lowlife guy who hangs out at a 7-Eleven-type convenience store where Brad Renfro works," notes Zwigoff. "

And Brian George plays Brad's angry boss. I just let them ad lib, and they were so grateful for the freedom. All I had to do was stand Brian in a different aisle and he'd just look at the package next to him. If it was shampoo, he'd make up some line based on it; if it was motor oil, he'd make up a different line. He was incredible. We learned about Dave Sheridan from Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead). Dave had sent him an unsolicited videotape of him doing this lowlife character, hoping he'd somehow get involved in a Beavis and Butthead film. He's perfected this character over the course of many years, and I thought it was really hilarious and wrote in a part for him in the film. "

The artisans created an equally real environment, from Affonso Beato's sun-drenched photography to production designer Edward T. McAvoy's faceless strip malls and the alternate universes of Seymour's and Enid's rooms to Mary Zophres's totally unique but irrefutably teenage outfits for Enid and Rebecca.

Though set in a typical American city filled with the same people, places and things that are found in every other American city, Clowes explains that the relationship between the girls is also deeply connected with their relationship with their town and their community. "The America we live in is disappearing," says Clowes. Says co-star Teri Garr, "These kids want to be in a place that's real, they want real food and real music, and they want real people. And all that's real is going away. "

Balaban adds, "People have been dealing with these issues since ancient times. There's a famous letter that a Roman parent wrote home around 200 B. C. in which he moans that the world isn't what it used to be, that kids have no respect for their elders, and that the world's going to end tomorrow. People have always worried about that. "

About The Artwork And Drawings

Since Clowes's work as a comic artist originally brought Ghost World to life, it's only appropriate that his artwork permeates the film, from the hand-drawn Ghost World logo in the opening credits, to the Cook's Chicken scrapbook, to the unicorn drawing in Enid's art class.

To create the drawings that Enid scrawls in her sketchbook, Zwigoff called on the daughter of his longtime friend and the subject of his award-winning documentary, Sophie Crumb.

"Part of Enid's dilemma in the film is that she's an artist," says Zwigoff. "She may not take it seriously yet, but she does keep a sketchbook. She's very observant and sensitive and smart and funny, and of course it's completely unappreciated by her art teacher, who sees no value to 'lower art' like cartooning. But Dan and I were talking about how we were going to have this sketchbook. The first thing I did was ask Thora if she draws and she said, 'Not really. ' So I asked Dan to do it and he said, 'I can't draw like a girl. It has to be girl art; it's a totally different thing. '

So we thought of getting Sophie Crumb to do it. She's a great artist, she already had the sketchbooks, and they'd work well for the character with a little judicious editing. So I called Robert and he said he'd ask her, and she was actually very excited about doing it. We used mostly drawings of hers that already existed, but she had to make some especially for the film as well. "

Communicating by mail, Zwigoff and Clowes sent Sophie Crumb photos of Don Knotts (who graciously agreed to allow the filmmakers to use his image), Brad Renfro, and some of the other people Enid sketches in the film. "We asked her to draw them, either with little hearts around them or whatever. She did a great job. I give her a big credit. "

About The Coon Chicken Inn

One of the most outlandish things in the film is the name of the company for which Seymour works, Cook's Chicken, once known as the Coon Chicken Inn. The Coon Chicken Inn, however, is not made up. The company really existed, as did its incredibly non-p. c. logo.

The first Coon Chicken Inn was a small restaurant that opened in 1925 just outside of Salt Lake City. The business took off immediately and was soon enlarged to accommodate the many customers. In late 1929, another Coon Chicken Inn was opened in Seattle, then a third opened in Portland the following year. All three sites were quite successful and included a cabaret, live music, and an outside catering business.

As a business gimmick, a novelty was devised to attract children and help bring in their parents. A giant three-dimensional cartoony head of a black man was built outside the entrance to each restaurant.

Customers would actually have to walk through this head's huge open mouth in order to enter. Inside the restaurant, they would soon discover that this colorful logo was on the menus, silverware, plates, cups, glasses, ashtrays, toothpick holders, receipts, straws, and placemats. Amazingly, the Coon Chicken Inns survived until the late 1950's, when they were leased out to other businesses.

The Coon Chicken Inn never changed its name to Cook's Chicken Inn as it does in the screenplay. Screenwriter and cartoonist Daniel Clowes drew the fake Cook's menu cover, napkin, placemat, and stationery shown in Seymour's scrapbook, tracing the imaginary progression that the company's logo took throughout its history.

About The Music

Like Steve Buscemi's character Seymour, director Zwigoff also collects original 78 rpm jazz and blues records from the 1920's. This made choosing some of the music for the film easier, as he could draw upon his own vast library. That wasn't without its own set of problems, though.

Zwigoff says, "Choosing music was sort of tough for me because we'd written Seymour as a 78 collector like myself. That makes it easier in some respects because I have favorite old records of mine I've been wanting to use in a film for years. But I'm extremely fussy about this music I love. It has to complement the scene. It can't fight the dialogue, the pace, the emotion. It's strange sometimes what works and what doesn't - it's not always what you think might work.

The first time I married an old jazz 78 of mine to the picture, I was hit with the realization that the audience would think of the music I chose as 'Woody Allen music' instead of it just blending into the film. After all, Mr. Allen has virtually cornered the market on using old jazz in contemporary films. You certainly would have trouble using Django Reinhardt or Louis Armstrong without seeming derivative of him at this point. "

"After much trial and error," Zwigoff continues, "what wound up working was something quite unexpected - some very obscure recordings of Lionel Belasco, a West Indian bandleader/pianist. Belasco's mother was a Trinidadian Creole who taught classical music on the piano, and his father was a Sephardic Jew who played violin and sang baritone.

Although classically trained at home, he would sneak off into the rural countryside to hear the 'jungle music' (calypso) that he loved. His own music reflects all these influences and somehow also worked for Seymour, with its charming, yet poignant quality. " The Belasco tunes chosen for the film - "Miranda" (1933), "Venezuela" (1929), and "The Palms of Maracaibo"(1930) - are taken from extremely rare original 78 rpm recordings that are among the few known copies to exist.

For the pivotal blues record Enid picks up from Seymour's garage sale, Zwigoff chose "Devil Got My Woman," a 1931 recording by Skip James. "It was a great privilege and thrill to be able to use James' music as part of this film," says Zwigoff. "Skip James was, by all accounts, a strange, suspicious, paranoid, secretive, and solitary individual; some say he was even a murderer. All that may be true, but I believe him to be the greatest blues musician who ever recorded. He had no interest in his music being particularly crowd-pleasing nor entertaining - it was his goal to startle with his musicianship".

Zwigoff also used a late 1920's jazz composition "Clarice" by the 300-pound pianist Hartzell "Tiny" Parham, and two pieces by the great trumpet legend Joseph "King" Oliver: "You're Just My Type" and "I Must Have It. " Both of these tunes were recorded by Oliver and his Orchestra in 1930.

Zwigoff says, "Originally, I had used 'You're Just My Type' for the opening credit sequence in my film Crumb, but had to replace it when it proved too expensive to license.

Our music budget was also so small on Ghost World that again I couldn't afford it. I turned to Vince Giordano, who leads a New York band that plays old jazz better than anyone else still living, and asked him to recreate it for the film along with the Hoagy Carmichael classic 'Georgia (On My Mind). ' He did a remarkable job of duplicating not just the notes, but the bittersweet emotion of this music as well. "

The Ghost World soundtrack will be released by Shananchie under their Yazoo Records division. More information can be found at Yazoorecords. com.