File this one under “Wes Anderson Doing Wes Anderson-y Things,” natch: the acclaimed director’s latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, has a fully-animated version floating around out there in the universe somewhere. That is, according to two new interviews surrounding the soon-to-be-released film, because of course it does — is there anything more quirky, charming, and adorable than a Wes Anderson film turned into an animated adventure? (The answer is no, FYI.)

Considering Anderson’s deft hand when it comes to crafting entire worlds through intricate detail and beautiful shots, it’s no wonder the thoroughly, uh, thorough Mr. Anderson made the decision to have it both ways. According to a piece in The New York Times, the film was created in advance of getting the actors involved. Once cast, they were given “the option of watching an animatic (a rough film of storyboard images edited together) Mr. Anderson had made of the entire movie, as he envisioned it, with him voicing all the characters” as preparation.

Jeff Goldblum went into a bit more detail in an interview with The Wrap, noting that “[Anderson] had, I think developed from having done Fantastic Mr. Fox, an animated version of the movie. It was a beautifully animated version of the whole movie, with all the cuts as they pretty much I think wound up to be. … I had it on my computer, you could see the whole movie.”

While there’s not currently any visual evidence of the animated film’s existence online (yet), we’ve got our fingers crossed it will become available at some point. After all, Anderson isn’t one to shy away from providing his audience with a delightfully inordinate amount of supporting backstory and information — we all saw the Zumbrowka website, yes? — so there’s still a chance this becomes a DVD extra in the future. Until then we’ll just have to be satisfied with the film as-is when it hits theaters on March 7, 2014.

What do you think of the idea of an animated version of the film? Excited for The Grand Budapest Hotel? Comment on!