Do You Know Where the Wild Things Are?
No? Well, we do.
If you grew up in the late 60s or early 70s, chances are someone read you the original Where the Wild Things Are, the 1963 children’s picture book by American writer Maurice Sendak. The book has lived on through the decades and now has been adapted into a live-action movie, directed by Spike Jonze, produced by Tom Hanks and starring, among other actors, James Gandolfini (aka monster, er mobster, Tony Soprano). The film opened Friday to generally positive critical review.
The picture book itself contains only ten sentences. It tells the story of Max, a mischievous boy who is sent to bed without supper. Banished to his room, Max sails to the land of the Wild Things, a mysterious place conceived in his imagination and inhabited by the Wild Things, over-sized, fearsome-looking monsters. Max manages to conquer them “by staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once.” As a result, Max is crowned “King of all Wild Things.” Soon, though, Max grows homesick and returns home to his bedroom, where his supper is waiting for him, still hot.
It’s hard to believe, but in the 60s the book was released to a flurry of controversy. There was a significant crowd that was appalled to find a children’s book that featured a disobedient, back-talking child and monstrous images. Although society has chilled out in the succeeding 40 years since the release of the book, the movie also opens to controversy. This time, however, the controversy is over what honor or disservice, if any, Jonze’s adaptation will do to a beloved book. To answer that question, you’ll have to view the movie yourself, assuming of course, that you read the book.
Read on:
(image taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_the_Wild_Things_Are)
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