100 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.

The pool complex that gave the hero of Life of Pi his name staged the 1946 debut of which garment?

The bikini was unveiled there by designer Louis Réard at a poolside fashion show, 17 years after Olympic champion Johnny Weissmuller had opened the complex.

The first publication of Yann Martel's Life of Pi fell on the same morning as which world event?

The September 11 attacks struck hours after Martel had flown out of New York, leaving on the evening of the 10th to be at his own book launch the next day.

A real 1884 court case that helped name the tiger in Life of Pi involved castaways doing what?

Eating their cabin boy led two English seamen to a murder conviction, and the 17-year-old victim bore the very name Yann Martel later gave the tiger.

In the novel Life of Pi, how does Pi copy the tiger to stake out his end of the lifeboat?

Marking it with urine, on the locker lid and the tarpaulin, is his answer to the spray the tiger has already left across the floor of the boat.

In Life of Pi, how does the boy teased over his first name get his school to call him Pi?

Writing it on blackboards at roll call, he underlined the nickname and said it aloud in every new classroom until the other pupils joined in.

What happened to the main effects company behind Life of Pi shortly before its work won an Oscar?

It filed for bankruptcy on February 11, 2013, and nearly 500 effects artists then demonstrated outside the ceremony where the film's digital tiger took the prize.

The German edition of Yann Martel's Life of Pi swaps the hero's name for a title meaning what?

Shipwreck with Tiger translates Schiffbruch mit Tiger, the title the book has carried in German since 2003, and the film's German release kept it as a subtitle.

In Life of Pi, what does the tiger do on finally reaching land that reduces Pi to tears?

Leaves without a glance, walking straight into the jungle, and Pi weeps less at being saved than at being denied any kind of goodbye.

Trailers and TV spots sold the film Life of Pi as the next version of which 3D blockbuster?

Avatar was the yardstick, and James Cameron, who made it, then appeared in two featurettes about the newer film's use of 3D and digital imagery.

In the novel Life of Pi, what can the two investigators never establish after interviewing Pi?

Why the ship sank stays a mystery: the final report calls the cause impossible to determine and instead salutes a castaway who lived so long beside an adult tiger.

In the novel Life of Pi, what does Pi fling to the tiger to buy time to flee the lifeboat?

A rat that had scurried up onto Pi's head was his one bargaining chip; the tiger swallowed it and slipped back under the tarpaulin, seemingly satisfied.

In the novel Life of Pi, which devices from the lifeboat locker give Pi fresh water from the sea?

Solar stills, twelve of them, float beside the boat and evaporate seawater into drinkable drops, though Pi does not believe they will work until he checks them.

In the novel Life of Pi, which three-foot fish is Pi's first big catch, fed straight to the tiger?

A dorado took his baited hook, and Pi found he could club it to death with far less anguish than his very first kill had caused him.

In the novel Life of Pi, which weakness of the tiger does Pi turn into a punishment during training?

Seasickness was the lever: Pi swung the boat side-on to the swell until the tiger felt ill, pairing the nausea with a signal that alone soon made the animal retreat.

In the novel Life of Pi, which passing vessel nearly crushes the lifeboat without ever noticing Pi?

An oil tanker bore down so fast that Pi only just got clear, and his shouts and signal flare went unseen as his best hope of rescue slid past.

In the novel Life of Pi, what does Pi do with a bottle salvaged from floating rubbish?

Seals a message inside and throws it back into the sea, one more attempt to reach the outside world that, like every other, brings no reply.

In Life of Pi, where does Pi learn to spend the nights on the floating island, copying its animals?

Up in the trees is the only safe place after dark, as Pi works out once he notices that the ground burns his feet at night but never by day.

In the novel Life of Pi, where does Pi perch after the sinking, too afraid to sit in the lifeboat?

Clinging to an oar that juts out over the water, he dangles between the fins circling below and the big cat he has just helped aboard.

In the novel Life of Pi, the hunter who caught the tiger cub had been hired to kill which animal?

A panther blamed for seven deaths in two months was the real quarry; the hunter's tranquilizer darts instead felled a tigress whose cub was hiding in a bush.

In Life of Pi, Pi is short for which first name that classmates twisted into an insult?

Piscine honours the favourite swimming pool of a family friend who had been a champion swimmer, and one classmate's toilet-humour version of it soon spread through the school.

In the novel Life of Pi, what does Pi call the champion swimmer who inspired his name?

Mamaji, born Francis Adirubasamy, is also the elderly man who offers the author this story over coffee and so sets the whole book in motion.

In the novel Life of Pi, which group can Pi not stomach, though he respects firm atheists?

Agnostics earn his scorn because they settle for permanent doubt, whereas he treats a committed atheist as a fellow believer who has simply chosen a different faith.

In the novel Life of Pi, why does Pi say a lion tamer enters the cage before the lions?

To claim territory: arriving first makes the space the trainer's own, so the lions walk in as respectful guests, a rule Pi later puts to work on the lifeboat.

In the novel Life of Pi, which adventure classic does Pi's mother hand him years before his ordeal?

Robinson Crusoe turns out to be a preview: like its hero, Pi will be cast away, keep a journal of his days and train animals in order to survive.

In the author's note of Life of Pi, the writer says he flew to India to work on a novel set where?

Portugal was the setting of the book that died on him there, and Yann Martel finally went back to that country in 2016 with The High Mountains of Portugal.

Which Brazilian writer does Yann Martel thank in the author's note of Life of Pi?

Moacyr Scliar felt his 1981 novella had been borrowed without a word of warning, but after the two men spoke he decided against taking any action.

In which country was Life of Pi author Yann Martel born while his parents were studying abroad?

Spain, in the university city of Salamanca, was his birthplace, and his parents' work later took the family on to Alaska, Costa Rica and France.

What did Yann Martel study at university before odd jobs and travel led him to write Life of Pi?

Philosophy was his degree, taken at Trent University, and the years that followed included spells as a dishwasher, a tree planter and an embassy security guard.

Life of Pi author Yann Martel spent four years mailing a book every two weeks to which politician?

Stephen Harper was sent more than a hundred novels, plays and poetry collections between 2007 and 2011, and the covering letters were later published as a book.

Which composer won an Oscar for scoring the film Life of Pi, having earlier scored The Ice Storm?

Mychael Danna spent a year on the score, blending a Western orchestra with sitars and bansuri flutes, and took the Golden Globe for it as well.

Pi's Lullaby, the Oscar-nominated song that opens the film Life of Pi, is sung in which language?

Tamil gave the Oscars a first: no song in the language had been nominated for Best Original Song before, and the singer, Bombay Jayashri, wrote the words as well as performing them.

Which Indian star, billed under a single name, plays Pi's mother in the 2012 film Life of Pi?

Tabu had already crossed into American cinema with The Namesake, and one New York critic called her brief screen time here excellent.

An actor from which teen comedy wrote a memoir about his failed bid to play the lead in Life of Pi?

Mean Girls mathlete Rajiv Surendra first read the novel on that film's set, then left university and learned to swim to prepare for a part he never won.

The 2012 film Life of Pi missed the top Oscar but won four others, including which major prize?

Best Director was one of four wins from eleven nominations, a bigger haul than any other film released that year managed.

In the film Life of Pi, who questions the rescued Pi, in place of the novel's ministry officials?

Insurance agents acting for the freighter's owners hear both versions of his story and leave dissatisfied, without pressing him any further.

The puppet-led stage version of Life of Pi had its world premiere in 2019 in which English city?

Sheffield's Crucible Theatre staged it first, two years before a West End transfer that went on to win five Olivier Awards.

Which cinematographer won an Oscar for the film Life of Pi after helping to design its wave tank?

Claudio Miranda shaped the tank so that he could conjure storm clouds, nightfall or real sunlight at will during the two and a half months of shooting inside it.

Which playwright adapted Life of Pi into the puppet-filled stage version first seen in 2019?

Lolita Chakrabarti, also an actor, published a working diary of the year she spent developing the play alongside a film of her earlier drama Red Velvet.

In the novel Life of Pi, which snack does an interviewer hand the rescued Pi, who asks for more?

A cookie opens the hospital interview and another is requested at the first break, small comforts for a boy who has spent months starving.

In the novel Life of Pi, which spectacle thrills Pi while the tiger cowers in fear?

Lightning bolts lift Pi into a state of exaltation, one of the few moments at sea when his terror gives way to pure wonder.

In the novel Life of Pi, the freighter sinks a few days after leaving which Asian port?

Manila was the freighter's last call; days later a noise in the night wakes Pi, who goes up on deck and finds the vessel already listing badly.

In the novel Life of Pi, which catch thrown into the lifeboat manages to bite the tiger's paw?

A mako shark four feet long, hauled in with bare hands, bit back when the tiger clubbed it, a reminder to Pi that his companion was far from perfect.

In the novel Life of Pi, which friendly snorting sound from the tiger persuades Pi to tame him?

Prusten is a soft puff through the nose that signals harmless intentions, a sound Pi knew of but had never actually heard until that moment.

Before it found a publisher, Life of Pi was rejected by at least five houses in which city?

London turned it down at least five times before a North American house said yes, and the novel went on to sell more than ten million copies.

How does author Yann Martel turn up on screen in the 2012 film version of Life of Pi?

As a park-bench extra, he sits across a pond while the grown-up Pi talks with the actor who is playing a fictional version of Martel.

Yann Martel followed Life of Pi with Beatrice and Virgil, whose title pair are which animals?

A donkey and a monkey, mounted by a taxidermist, are the leads of a play within that novel, an allegory of the Holocaust named after Dante's two guides.

Which 2012 storm had pundits asking if the sinking in the film Life of Pi would deter audiences?

Hurricane Sandy had struck only weeks before the release, yet the studio said it had no plans to change its marketing and the film became a worldwide hit.

Which screenwriter, Oscar-nominated for Finding Neverland, adapted Life of Pi for the 2012 film?

David Magee earned a second Oscar nomination for this script and went on to write the Disney musical Mary Poppins Returns.

In the novel Life of Pi, which name belongs to the wife whose existence startles the author?

Meena comes as a shock because the author has visited the house many times without noticing any trace of her, or of the couple's son and daughter.

In the novel Life of Pi, which seabird does the starving Pi manage to kill, skin and eat?

A masked booby is the one bird he catches, and the meal shows how far the boy raised as a strict vegetarian has travelled from his old self.