The warm fuzzies of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’
Oct 15th, 2009 by dino-ray
Just as I was about to write this review of Where the Wild Things Are, my sister texted me and asked if she should take her two-year-old son to see the movie. I said, “I don’t know – he won’t comprehend the moral.” Then I thought, “Wait a second – I didn’t even comprehend the moral when this book was read to me as a child. I only had a wide-eyed curiosity for the pictures.”
In fact, the majority of the people I have talked to can’t even remember the moral or the story for that matter. They remember Max’s wolfie pajamas, his triumphant crown and his joyous adventures with Wild Things. Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book honors that with a fantastical serenity that is balanced with maturity and child-like wonder.
With 10 sentences and 338 words, it isn’t surprising why people don’t remember this story about a delinquent boy that escapes to a wonderland of make-believe cuddly, mutated creatures after being sent to his room. Jonze, along with novelist, Dave Eggers created a script that stretches that text (with some alterations) into a full-out moral narrative filled with dirt fights, humorous monster dialogue, friendship and dismemberment. Yes, I said it: dis-mem-ber-ment.
From the very beginning of the film, we are waiting to see these wild things – because that’s the sumptuous spectacle of the film. There’s an even-handed pace that Jonze uses that eases them in rather than shoves them in your face. When Max (Max Records) bellows the words, “Feed me woman!” to his mother (Catherine Keener) and then bites her – we know he is about to enter an alternate (and a tad bit grim) desert/forest universe as he runs out of the house in a huff.
When he gets there, he meets Carol (James Gandolfini) and his entire crew of fun-loving, albeit funky-looking Wild Things: the overly sensitive and needy goat Alexander (Paul Dano); the aggressive Judith (Catherine O’Hara); her partner, Ira (Forest Whitaker); the bird with a voice of reason Douglas (Chris Cooper); the emo Bull (Michael Berry Jr.); and the kind rebel KW (Lauren Ambrose). Although they are huge on a scale of Muppet Monster proportions (and they try to eat Max in the beginning), their voices are gentle and they talk as if they are on a playground during recess.
The scant amount of text was a good and bad thing. Good because it gave them an opportunity to build it into a story that could make it robust and enriching. Bad because – well – it was a short story. They took the limited amount of text and dipped it in water and it grew like a sponge.
Visually stimulating and carrying the tone of a librarian at story time, Jonze and Eggers did quite a number with the iconic children’s book. Their loyalty to the book was apparent in each playful and dramatic scene. We see Max’s loneliness from the very beginning and the poignant connection with his mother makes us appreciate Keener’s ability to make the most of her limited screen time. When he frolics with the Wild Things, there’s a hesitant and confused feeling of emancipation, but there’s also a solace that he shares with the audience. Even though those juvenile fun times can dig out the childhood nostalgia in your soul, you’ll be ready to bury it when they start acting like whiny babies.
The “take care of those who take care of you” moral may be a good one, but it’s the “Wild Rumpus” that will give you a bunch of warm fuzzies.
Overall critique: This is a perfect example of why books with lots of pictures isn’t necessarily a bad thing. B
Okay, I just saw the movie and WOW. Please someone tell me they cried so I don’t feel alone! :\
Hahaha – I didn’t cry..sorry Cha-ime…hahaha!