A Beautiful Spectacle of a Film, Truly Unique and in a League of Its Own

The film is based on the beloved Caldecott Award Winning book of the same name by Maurice Sendak. This book is not a children’s novel rather a picture book that is read to 3 and 4-year-olds in typical day care centers or pre-schools. The book is also used by elementary school teachers in the primary grades; (I incorporated the book into my lesson plans as a part of my second grade curriculum). One way or another, you have probably heard of this book as it has been a wonderful teaching tool for teachers since 1963.  

My reaction to this film was highly emotional. I found, to my bewilderment, that I was actually tearing up during the trailers. I suppose it was because I have such a strong loving connection to the story and the illustrations. I have cherished memories associated with “Where the Wild Things Are” as I so enjoyed reading this book aloud and seeing the delight on children’s faces and their reactions to it. 

Without a doubt, Jonze has created a deeply-layered, beautiful film that captures the essence of childhood. Could this film become a classic? My answer is yes. Has Jonze completed something similar to the scale of “The Wizard of Oz”? Again I’d say yes—And I’d go so far to add that this book was far more difficult to replicate due to the incomplete story. The original Wizard of Oz book is a children’s novel about 5th grade reading level and 128 pages. Jonze had 37 pages of illustrations and 9 sentences. The Wizard of Oz book has an abundant supply of extra characters that were cut for the film, (Jack the Pumpkin-Head comes to mind).  ‘Wild Things’ needed back story that gives us insight into Max’s real world and feelings to fully understand the ‘The Wild Things’ personalities. 

The greatest accomplishment of this film was the overwhelming task of replicating the monsters. These huge creations were hand crafted in Australia with the capabilities to jump, run, throw, roll and wrestle to name a few. The faces are CGI, although hardy noticeable. They pout, yell, scream, laugh, talk, reason and demand. Are they scary? Yes! Parents you will have to use your own judgment here. To be safe, I’d say that an 8 or 9-year-old should be fine with the film.

The original story is very simple; Max, a little boy with a highly creative imagination, is scolded by his mom and sent to bed without any supper. He falls asleep wearing his wolf suit and dreams that a forest grows in his bedroom and ends up traveling via a boat to a place where huge furry monsters, called ‘wild things,’ live. When they roar their terrible roars and gnash their terrible teeth and roll their terrible eyes and show their terrible claws; Max tells them to “Be still!” No one has even tried to tame the wild things and they crown him as king of the wild things. Max plays with the wild things and has fun, but begins to miss his mom and suddenly goes home where his dinner is waiting for him. And—It’s still hot.

In the film version, Max is the younger brother to an older sister that is too cool to play with him anymore and too embarrassed to stand up for him in front of her friends when he is teased. His mom (Catherine Keener) is single and dating. This causes her attention to be on her date and not exclusively on Max. He’s a frustrated, angry, sometimes lonely little boy that worries that the sun may die. He plays in his imaginary world and invents new playmates.  He becomes very angry with his mother, yells at her and displays other childish temper-tantrum-type behavior. Mom sends him to his room and he is still furious and decides to run away. It’s an emotionally raw scene when Max is running into the neighborhood at night in his wolf suit as his mother is frantically looking for him.

To me, Max has always been a bright child in the story with a vivid imagination. A characteristic of gifted children is that they tend to worry about world issues. When Max’s teacher tells him the sun is going to die, he truly worries about that and wants to talk about it. Most children don’t take on these issues and therefore can’t relate to a child that does. Most children don’t want to talk about the dying sun, they want to talk about who is going to be on the team for kickball at recess—thus comes the loneliness for the gifted child. These children often make up imaginary friends and worlds to ease their isolation. 

I applaud Spike Jonze as the back story that is developed shows realistic urgency. Max is a rambuncous, inventive, intuitive child with a creative imagination. He craves attention and is frustrated that his mom can’t give him the time that he so desperately needs. Max acts out and runs away. By this point in the story, Spike Jonze has made sure that we understand Max. We’ve observed him in enough situations that we truly care about this little boy when he runs away.

When Max does finally make it to the land of the ‘Wild Things,’ we are concerned about his safety as the monsters talk about eating him and we are shown bones from previous dinners. 

Jonze has created a visually stunning landscape of the habitat of the ‘Wild Things.’ Their home looks hauntingly beautiful. The ‘Wild Things’ themselves are masterpieces! The detail is magnificent. You will not be disappointed! These scenes are the reason to see the film and the reason I loved it so much. It’s powerfully emotional as Max connects with these new creatures. And, what do these creatures represent? When I interviewed Jonze, he told me that they are a mirror to his feelings. Wow—ok, now I know why I was tearing up and why I was misty-eyed when Max leaves the ‘Wild Things.’  My life has been devoted to the nurturing of children’s feelings, especially my own children’s. I totally get what Jonze has created here. 

Many of the ‘Wild Thing’ scenes with Max are slow and filled with the camera closing in on Max without much dialogue. I appreciated these scenes as they set a tone that allows us to reflect and simply enjoy, much as the book does. I’m thrilled that no extra storylines were added as none are needed. Max represents all kids and their delicate feelings that must be nurtured and protected by teachers, parents and adults.

Sarah Adamson © October 2009