I'd say about 75 percent of the story is based on true stories from growing up, [but] not necessarily things happening to me,

That image is a couple different people's homes that I knew growing up.

I always liked the story of Noah's Ark and the idea of starting anew by rescuing the things you like and leaving the rest behind.

It's hard for me not to be extraordinarily cute, ... I had to fight it.

I always liked the story of Noah's Ark and the idea of starting anew by rescuing the things you like and leaving the rest behind.

I didn't necessarily have a total idea when I was writing the movie of where everything was going. I just wanted to have really realistic dialogue and write like people I knew talked. I tried to keep it very real.