Thursday, October 1, 2009

Where The Wild Things Are

"Where the Wild Things Are" was published in 1963, written by Maurice Sendak, the third child of a Jewish couple from the Warsaw shtetls. The book originally focused on horses, but his publisher said he couldn't draw horses and he instead drew "things" of caricatures of his aunts and uncles from his childhood in Brooklyn. The book was well received, but criticized for being too scary for kids.

Spike Jonze has been working on a film version of the movie since about 2002. Sendak, a fan of "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation," had been asking Jonze for years prior to that, but Jonze declined, saying he did not know what he could add. He finally agreed to make the film after realizing that he could make a movie where the "wild things" are the big and scary emotions kids face growing up. The movie is about what it's like to be 9 years old.

The film took five years to make, stalling when Universal balked at initial audience reactions and fears that children would find it too scary. Ironically, these are the same fears that critics erroneously felt about Sendak's book.



P.S. - Spike Jonze's real name is Adam Spiegel. People started calling him "Spike" when he was 13 because of the haircut he had and would give to others, and the "Jonze" referred to an old bandleader named Spike Jonze.

3 comments:

Boywonderesq said...

I don't know why the video is cut off. I'm open to any suggestions.

DorothyMantooth said...

People are INSANELY excited about this movie.
Mebbe it's just 'cause I'm a Pinko Commie, but... meh.

Meh, I said!

your wife said...

OK now, something new please.