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Where the Wild Things Are
While this is technically a thread for discussing the movie, it's certainly appropriate to discuss the book as well.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it. It does capitalize on nostalgia a touch (not that I'm opposed to that sort of thing - it just has to be done properly), but it does an excellent job of interpreting an old classic and exploring the themes therein with greater depth and intensity than could be done in a children's book.
Naturally, they had to add a fairly substantial amount of content, since the book itself was so short and contained a very simple plot. The content they added explored many of the themes in the book to a great depth, and did so in a way that is very much aimed at the young to middle-aged adult. In addition to the themes of emotional maturation, exploration, and isolation, the movie explores friendship and relationships in general, particularly addressing changing relationships, drifting apart, and so forth.
Bring tissues. If you're human, you'll likely need them.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it. It does capitalize on nostalgia a touch (not that I'm opposed to that sort of thing - it just has to be done properly), but it does an excellent job of interpreting an old classic and exploring the themes therein with greater depth and intensity than could be done in a children's book.
Naturally, they had to add a fairly substantial amount of content, since the book itself was so short and contained a very simple plot. The content they added explored many of the themes in the book to a great depth, and did so in a way that is very much aimed at the young to middle-aged adult. In addition to the themes of emotional maturation, exploration, and isolation, the movie explores friendship and relationships in general, particularly addressing changing relationships, drifting apart, and so forth.
Bring tissues. If you're human, you'll likely need them.
Comments
It's one of the most acclaimed children's books ever. I have many fond childhood memories around it, and while I don't remember the ten sentences, I remember the story and much of its meaning, as well as most of the illustrations. It's actually quite a profound story that touches on a lot of subjects, and the fact that it does so with so little text is a testament to its quality.
Though, to be honest, there's a line from the WTWTA movie that could anger the religious right too. We'll have to see how that plays out.
Harry Potter was panned by the religious right and it didn't suffer in the least.
1. Write screenplay that totally rips off Judy Blume, but is just different enough to avoid lawsuit.
2. ?
3. Profit.
There were some pretty profound lines in there too. Simple but effective. For example: "Carol, there's no such thing as a king" is pretty profound in the context in which it was presented.
As my friend just so elegantly put it, "The dude(Spike Jonze) had more of a realistic relationship with a 9 foot monster than most characters do in films in general."
We both cried.
It was good.