50 Fun Facts About Life of Pi

In Life of Pi, Pi's father teaches him to fear tigers by making him watch one kill which animal?

A goat. His father does not stop there: in the novel he goes on to show his sons how each of the other animals in his care could injure or kill them.

What is the name of the Bengal tiger in Life of Pi?

Richard Parker. That was the name of the hunter who caught him as a cub: the paperwork for the shipment mixed up the two names, and the tiger kept the man's.

Who directed the 2012 film adaptation of Life of Pi?

Ang Lee. In 2010 the studio judged his budget too high and put the project on hold; the finished film went on to take more than $600 million worldwide.

What business does Pi's family run in India in Life of Pi?

A zoo. When his father decides to sell up and move abroad, the animals travel on the same freighter as the family, which is how a tiger ends up in Pi's lifeboat.

In which ocean is Pi stranded in Life of Pi?

Pacific. The freighter goes down at night in a storm, and why it sank is never explained, which is what later brings two investigators to Pi's hospital bed.

To which country is Pi's family emigrating when their ship sinks in Life of Pi?

Canada. Pi gets there in the end, alone: the novel has him tell his story years later in Toronto, and the film moves that conversation to Montreal.

In Life of Pi, in which Indian town does Pi grow up?

Pondicherry. The novel's frame story starts there too: an elderly man in a café tells the visiting author he has a story for him, and sends him off to find Pi.

In Life of Pi, which animal kills the zebra and the orangutan in the lifeboat?

Hyena. It is then killed itself: the tiger, hidden under the lifeboat's tarpaulin the whole time, comes out at last and makes a meal of it.

Which literary award did Yann Martel's Life of Pi win in 2002?

Man Booker Prize. After the win, Martel's agent revealed that at least five London publishers had turned the novel down before a small Edinburgh house, Canongate, took it.

In Life of Pi, the orangutan drifts up to the lifeboat on a floating mass of which fruit?

Bananas. In the novel the investigators later say the story cannot be true because bananas don't float, so Pi has them drop two in the sink of his hospital room, where they float.

In Life of Pi, Pi is named after a swimming pool in which city?

Paris. The pool was the Piscine Molitor, a favourite of the family friend who taught Pi to swim, and when classmates twisted Piscine into 'Pissing' he shortened it to Pi.

In the opening chapter of the novel Life of Pi, the adult Pi describes his fascination with which slow-moving animal?

Sloth. The interest is professional: after his ordeal Pi went on to study both animals and religion at university, and he finds the three-toed sloth a worthy subject for both.

In Life of Pi, what is the name of the orangutan in the lifeboat?

Orange Juice. Gentle by nature, she startles Pi by landing a mighty blow on her attacker's head before she is overpowered.

In the novel Life of Pi, what does Pi hold up as a shield during his training sessions with the tiger?

A turtle shell. Turtles prove one of his easier catches at sea, and he kills his first for its blood, which the lifeboat's survival manual recommends as a drink.

Who plays the teenage Pi in the film Life of Pi?

Suraj Sharma. He had never acted before: a 17-year-old student from Delhi, he was chosen after a months-long search in which some 3,000 young men auditioned.

In Life of Pi, which three religions does the young Pi decide to follow at once?

Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. His secret comes out when his priest, imam and pandit all meet his parents at once, and the three men fall to arguing over whose faith is the true one.

In Life of Pi, the floating island is home to a huge colony of which animals?

Meerkats. Every evening the whole colony leaves the ground and climbs into the trees, and a puzzled Pi takes to sleeping up there among them.

After 227 days adrift in Life of Pi, in which country does the lifeboat finally come ashore?

Mexico. The tiger bounds off into the jungle without a backward glance, and Pi, carried to hospital by villagers, weeps that they never said goodbye.

In the second story Pi tells in Life of Pi, which human does the tiger stand for?

Pi himself. In that version there are no animals at all: the survivors are Pi, his mother, a sailor and the ship's cook, and it is Pi who ends up killing the cook.

Who plays the adult Pi in the film Life of Pi?

Irrfan Khan. He filmed his scenes twice: they were first shot with one actor as the writer who interviews him, then redone with another after that actor was cut from the film.

In Life of Pi, what does Pi discover about the floating island he lands on?

It is carnivorous. After dark the ground burns Pi's feet and the freshwater ponds turn acidic, killing whatever is swimming in them.

Which French star plays the ship's cook in the film Life of Pi?

Gérard Depardieu. His cook is the villain of the second story Pi tells: he takes the injured sailor's leg for bait, later kills Pi's mother, and is killed by Pi.

In the novel Life of Pi, officials from which country's Ministry of Transport question Pi about the sinking?

Japan. The lost freighter was Japanese, so two officials come to Pi's hospital bedside; they doubt his tale of the tiger, yet their final report commends him for surviving so long beside one.

In Life of Pi, what does Pi use to signal the tiger during training?

A whistle. He blows it while rocking the boat until the tiger feels seasick, so that in time the sound alone is enough to send the animal back to its own end.

In Life of Pi, when his listener chooses the story with the animals, Pi replies 'And so it goes with' what?

God. In the novel Pi points out that neither story can be proved and asks the two officials which they prefer; in the film it is the visiting writer who chooses the animals.

Which film beat Life of Pi to Best Picture in 2013?

Argo. Life of Pi still left with four Oscars, more than any other film that night, while the Best Picture winner collected three.

Which studio released the film Life of Pi in 2012?

20th Century Fox. Its Fox 2000 arm bought the rights when the novel was a new bestseller, and its chief, Elizabeth Gabler, kept the project alive through years of stalled attempts.

In the film Life of Pi, what destroys Pi's raft and supplies one night?

A humpback whale. It breaches beside him out of a sea glowing with plankton; in the novel it is a storm, raging for a day and a night, that carries off the raft.

Who plays the writer in the film Life of Pi, after another actor's scenes were cut?

Rafe Spall. He was a late replacement: the scenes had already been shot with a far more famous actor, whom the director decided was too recognisable for the part.

In Life of Pi, what is the name of Pi's older brother?

Ravi. Popular and sports-mad, he teases Pi mercilessly once he learns his little brother is practising three religions at once, and he is lost when the ship goes down.

Which Hollywood star's scenes were cut from the film Life of Pi because he was judged too recognisable?

Tobey Maguire. He had already filmed his scenes as the writer who interviews the adult Pi; they were reshot with a lesser-known actor so that the cast would be 'entirely international'.

In Life of Pi, what is the name of the freighter that sinks?

Tsimtsum. The name is a Kabbalistic term for the contraction that made room for creation; as the ship goes down, crewmen throw Pi into a lifeboat, and no other person survives.

In the film Life of Pi, what does Pi find inside a flower on the floating island?

A human tooth. The film gives him a single flower to open; in the novel he peels the leaves from a whole tree of fruit and finds a tooth in each, enough to make a full set.

The tiger's name in Life of Pi was inspired by a character in a novel by which author?

Edgar Allan Poe. In his only novel a sailor of that name is eaten by fellow castaways, and in 1884 a real cabin boy who bore that name met the same fate, a coincidence Martel could not resist.

In the film Life of Pi, how was the tiger in most of its scenes put on screen?

Computer animation. A real tiger named King was filmed for the few shots where the digital one would not do, and a leaked email from the set's animal-welfare monitor later claimed he had nearly drowned.

Which US president wrote to Yann Martel that he and his daughter had just finished reading Life of Pi together?

Barack Obama. The note arrived in 2010, when Martel had spent three years mailing a book every two weeks to his own prime minister, Stephen Harper, without one reply from Harper in person.

Where was the giant wave tank for Life of Pi's ocean scenes built?

Taiwan. The tank went up inside an abandoned airport, and little of the film's open sea is real: effects artists later replaced its walls with digital ocean in shot after shot.

Which studio created most of the visual effects for the film Life of Pi?

Rhythm & Hues. It filed for bankruptcy roughly two weeks before its work on the film won the visual effects Oscar, and hundreds of effects artists demonstrated outside the ceremony.

Which director passed on Life of Pi in 2005 and made Children of Men instead?

Alfonso Cuarón. He was the second director to move on: M. Night Shyamalan had already left to make Lady in the Water, and a third, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, would write a script and leave too.

In Life of Pi, which Indian political upheaval prompts Pi's father to emigrate?

The Emergency. In 1976 Indira Gandhi's government brought down the state government of Tamil Nadu, and Pi's worried father decided the family's future lay abroad.

In Life of Pi, what name did the hunter originally give the tiger cub?

Thirsty. A shipping clerk then reversed the two names on the paperwork, so the cub arrived bearing the hunter's name while the hunter was put down as Thirsty.

In Max and the Cats, a novella that inspired Life of Pi, which animal shares the hero's boat?

Jaguar. Moacyr Scliar's hero is fleeing Nazi Germany for Brazil when his ship goes down; Martel, who says he had read only a review of the book, thanked Scliar in Life of Pi for 'the spark of life'.

In the novel Life of Pi, what is the floating island that Pi lands on made of?

Algae. Pi finds the weed good to eat and the island's ponds full of fresh water, so he and the tiger stay for weeks and recover their strength.

Which Canadian prairie city's public library made Yann Martel its writer-in-residence soon after Life of Pi made his name?

Saskatoon. The residency began in 2003 and the city kept him: he came back two years later as a visiting scholar at its university and made his home there with the writer Alice Kuipers.

In the novel Life of Pi, Pi's atheist biology teacher and the devout baker who guides his faith share what?

The same name. Both are called Satish Kumar, and each shapes his future: the teacher's science leads Pi to study animals at university, the baker's faith to study religion.

In the novel Life of Pi, lifelong vegetarian Pi weeps over the first creature he kills at sea; what is it?

A flying fish. He needs it for bait, and with it he hooks a three-foot dorado, which he finds he can kill with far less anguish.

Life of Pi's release was first pushed back a week to avoid opening against which movie?

The Hobbit. Peter Jackson's film took 14 December 2012, the date Life of Pi had held, so its release first slipped a week and in the end moved up a month, to Thanksgiving.

The seven performers who together play the tiger in the stage version of Life of Pi shared which 2022 Olivier Award?

Best Supporting Actor. The acting prize went to a puppet's operators: the tiger is a puppet, and its makers shared the set design award that night, two of the show's five Oliviers.

In the novel Life of Pi, what does Pi lose for a time at his lowest point at sea?

His sight. While blind he meets another castaway, also sightless, who climbs into the lifeboat meaning to kill and eat him and is killed by the tiger instead.

In the novel Life of Pi, what brings the diary Pi keeps on the lifeboat to an end?

His pen runs dry. By then the entries have turned to despair: starving and convinced he is dying, he can no longer even write it down.