Where the Wild Things Are (Film)

"Happiness isn't always the best way to be happy." –Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

What is the context?

This fantasy drama is based on the widely popular children’s book. The book was originally written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak in 1963. In 2009 it was remastered and directed by Spike Jonze. This film surrounds the life of nine-year-old Max. Max is a lonely boy who dresses up in a wolf costume. The mischievous Max is sent to bed after getting in trouble and enters a world where the “Wild Things” live. After what seems like some time, these creatures name Max their king. Once Max comes back into reality his mom prepares him dinner and he watches her fall asleep as he eats. The film has a running time of 104 minutes and was released on October 19, 2009. Throughout the film, viewers can experience live-action, actors in costume, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery (CGI). Disney, in the early 1980s, considered making a film from the book as well, but got no further than a test film. Two decades later, Universal Studios seized the rights to the adaptation and began creating an animated version of Where the Wild Things Are with the animator Eric Goldberg. In 2003 Goldberg was dropped for Jonze and a version of the book containing CGI and live-action. After the film’s release it appeared on many top ten lists.

Spike Jonze (Director) 

What is the artist communicating and how?

Where the Wild Things Are shows a steady theme of innocence and fantasy. The young character in the film has a wild imagination and even dresses up to escape reality. The opening credits, like any other movie, contain the company’s logo and other production tags, but with a small twist. They appear to have scribbling and drawings of monsters, swords, and crowns. This, though it is a small detail to the movie, turns an official title sequence into a young mind’s sketch pad further enhancing the beginning of imagination and innocence. Next, the opening scene shows Max tumbling down the stairs in a wolf costume, chasing and barking at his dog. Immediately after that Max builds an igloo and lays inside as if in a new world. This shows Max’s imagination because dressing up as an animal alters his reality and puts him in a fantasy world. At the end of the movie Max has a yearning to return home, away from his imagination, even against the will of the “Wile Things.” When he comes home he sees his mom and a soup dinner set up for him. This is his return from a wild day of fantasy.

Why do I find this beautiful?

I find this film very beautiful because it is based on a book I used to read as a child. I find it very intriguing that the director and writers of the screenplay had to expand a 338 word, 40 page book into a 104 minute movie. This alone shows the skill of the people behind the film. As the second attempt at making Where the Wild Things Are into a movie, I think if it was done by anyone else it would be unsuccessful. This movie contains many lessons for both children and adults. Some of the lessons that make it beautiful are ideas such as not judging someone by their appearance and that everyone has their own “Wild Things” in their minds. The innocence of the main character, Max, allow any person of any age to be brought into an innocent and imaginative world. The final reason this film is beautiful to me is because of the emotion it evokes. Throughout the film wonder, happiness, and sadness can be felt. We feel mystery when the monsters are first present, we feel happiness when Max is crowned king, and we feel sadness when Max leaves.