Where the Wild Things Are (film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Where the Wild Things Are |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Spike Jonze |
| Produced by | Tom Hanks Gary Goetzman Maurice Sendak John Carls Vincent Landay |
| Screenplay by | Spike Jonze Dave Eggers |
| Starring | Max Records Catherine Keener Mark Ruffalo Lauren Ambrose Chris Cooper James Gandolfini Catherine O'Hara Forest Whitaker |
| Music by | Karen O Carter Burwell |
| Cinematography | Lance Acord |
| Editing by | Eric Zumbrunnen James Haygood |
| Studio | Legendary Pictures Village Roadshow Pictures Wild Things Productions Playtone |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 13 October 2009 (New York City) 16 October 2009 (United States) 3 December 2009 (Australia) 17 December 2009 (Germany) |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | Australia Germany United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million |
| Money made | $100.1 million |
Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy film directed by Spike Jonze. Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers, it is based on Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book of the same name. It combines live-action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery (CGI). The film stars Max Records and features the voices of James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Lauren Ambrose, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O'Hara, and Chris Cooper. The film centers on a lonely boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the "Wild Things", who declare Max their king.
In the early 1980s, Disney considered adapting the film as a blend of traditionally animated characters and computer-generated environments, but development did not go past a test film to see how the animation hybridizing would result. In 2001, Universal Studios acquired rights to the book's adaptation and initially attempted to develop a computer-animated adaptation with Disney animator Eric Goldberg, but the CGI concept was replaced with a live-action one in 2003, and Goldberg was dropped for Spike Jonze. The film was co-produced by actor Tom Hanks through his production company Playtone and made with an estimated budget of $100 million. Where the Wild Things Are was a joint production between Australia, Germany, and the United States, and was filmed principally in Melbourne.
The film was released on October 16, 2009, in the United States, on December 3 in Australia, and on December 17 in Germany. The film was met with mostly positive reviews and appeared on many year-end top ten lists. However, the film was a box office bomb, making $100.1 million from a budget of $100 million. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 2, 2010.
Contents
Plot
Max, a lonely pre-teen boy with an active imagination whose parents are divorced, is wearing a wolf costume and chasing his dog. His older sister, Claire, does nothing when her friends crush Max's snow fort with him inside during a snowball fight. Out of frustration, Max messes up her bedroom and destroys a frame he made for her. At school, Max's teacher teaches him and his classmates about the eventual death of the sun. Later his mother, Connie, invites her boyfriend Adrian to dinner. Max becomes upset with his mother for not coming to the fort he made in his room. He wears his wolf costume, acts like an animal, and demands to be fed. When his mother gets upset, he throws a tantrum and bites her on the shoulder. She yells at him and he runs away, scared by what transpired. At the edge of a pond, Max finds a small boat that he boards.
The pond soon becomes an ocean. Max, still in his wolf suit, reaches an island. He stumbles upon a group of seven large, monstrous creatures. One of them, Carol, is in the middle of a destructive tantrum caused by the departure of a female Wild Thing named KW. As Carol wreaks havoc, Max tries joining in on the mayhem but finds himself facing the suspicious anger of the Wild Things. When they contemplate eating him, Max convinces them that he is a king with magical powers capable of bringing harmony to the group. They crown him as their new king. Shortly after, KW returns, and Max declares a wild rumpus in which the Wild Things smash trees and tackle each other.
The Wild Things introduce themselves as Carol, Ira, Judith, Alexander, Douglas, the Bull, and KW. Soon, they pile on one another before going to sleep with Max at the center. Carol takes Max on a tour of the island, showing him a model he built depicting what he wishes the island looked like. Inspired by this, Max orders the construction of an enormous fort with Carol in charge of construction. When KW brings her two owl friends, Bob and Terry, to the fort, a disagreement ensues as Carol feels they are outsiders. To release their frustrations, Max divides the tribe into "good guys" and "bad guys" for a dirt clod fight. However, Alexander is injured during the game, and Carol berates KW for jokingly stepping on his head, prompting the latter to leave once again.
Max finds Alexander alone in the fort. Alexander reveals that he suspected that Max is not a king with magical powers, but warns him to never let Carol know. Max’s secret, however, is soon revealed by Douglas when Carol throws another tantrum in the middle of the night - this time over the state of the fort and Max’s failure to fulfill his duties as a king. Carol becomes enraged and rips off Douglas's right arm - though only sand pours from the wound - before chasing Max into the forest and attempting to eat him. Max is saved by KW, who hides him in her stomach. After Carol leaves, KW explains to Max how difficult everyone’s lives are, with Carol’s tantrums only making matters worse. Max realizes what his mother is going through, and decides to leave the island.
Max finds the crushed remains of Carol's model island and leaves a token of affection for him to find. Max finds Carol and tells him he is going home because he is not a king. The other Wild Things escort Max to his boat. Carol runs to join them after finding Max's token and arrives in time to see him off. He starts to howl and Max howls back; then all the other Wild Things join in. Carol looks at KW, and she smiles kindly at him. Returning home, Max is embraced by his mother, who gives him a bowl of soup, a piece of cake, and a glass of milk and sits with him as he eats. He watches as she falls asleep.
Cast
Live action
- Max Records as Max, a lonely child with a wild imagination.
- Catherine Keener as Connie, Max's mother.
- Mark Ruffalo as Adrian, Connie's boyfriend.
- Pepita Emmerichs as Claire, Max's sister.
- Steve Mouzakis as Max's teacher.
- Max Pfeifer, Madeleine Greaves, Joshua Jay, and Ryan Corr as Claire's friends.
Voice cast
- James Gandolfini as Carol, an impulsive Wild Thing.
- Lauren Ambrose as KW, the loner of the group.
- Chris Cooper as Douglas, a cockatoo-like peace-keeper Wild Thing, who is Carol's best friend.
- Forest Whitaker as Ira, a gentle, soft-spoken Wild Thing.
- Catherine O'Hara as Judith, a three-horned Wild Thing, who is Ira's loud, aggressive girlfriend.
- Paul Dano as Alexander, a goat-like Wild Thing who is constantly ignored, belittled and mistreated.
- Michael Berry Jr. as The Bull, a quiet, intimidating bull-like Wild Thing who keeps to himself and rarely speaks.
- Spike Jonze as Bob and Terry, two owls that are KW's friends.
Suit performers
- Vincent Crowley as Carol
- Alice Parkinson as KW
- John Leary as Douglas
- Sam Longley as Ira
- Nick Farnell as Judith
- Sonny Gerasimowicz as Alexander
- Angus Sampson as The Bull
Merchandise
Video game
A video game based on the film was released on 13 October 2009, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS. The former three were developed by Griptonite Games, and the latter by WayForward. All were published by Warner Bros. Games.
Skateboards and limited edition shoes
To coincide with the film's release, Girl Skateboards (which Jonze co-owns) came out with seven pro-model skateboards with the Wild Things as the board graphics. Lakai shoes also re-designed most of their pro-model and stock shoes and added in different colors, adding in pictures of the Wild Things on the side and on others with Where the Wild Things Are printed on the side. UGG Australia also designed limited-edition Where the Wild Things Are boots.
Toys
A series of collectible vinyl dolls of the Wild Things and Max was released from the Japanese company MediCom Toys. Other releases include an eight-inch articulated figure of Max in wolf costume and smaller scale sets of the characters released under their Kubrick figure banner.
Novelization
McSweeney's published The Wild Things by Dave Eggers, a full-length novel based on the film adaptation.
See also
In Spanish: Donde viven los monstruos (película) para niños
