Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Directed by

Spike Jonze

Genre

drama film, fantasy film, adventure film, children's film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 41m

Rated

PG

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 2,034 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A lonely young boy named Max runs away from home and sails to an island where he meets large furry creatures called the Wild Things. The creatures make him their king, and he tries to lead them while dealing with their big emotions.

dreamlikemelancholicplayfullonelywhimsicalrawgentledarkly tender

What happens

Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 American fantasy adventure film directed by Spike Jonze, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dave Eggers. Based on Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book, it combines live-action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery (CGI). The film stars Max Records, Catherine Keener, and Mark Ruffalo, and the voices of Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, and Forest Whitaker. The film centres on a young boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the "Wild Things", who declare Max to be a king. In the early 1980s, The Walt Disney Company considered adapting the book with a blend of traditionally animated characters and computer-generated environments, but development did not go past a test film to see how the animation hybridisation would result. In 1999, 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, Goldberg was dropped for Jonze, and work on the film was transferred to Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was produced by Jeph Loeb, Gary Goetzman, Sendak, John B. Carls, and Vincent Landay, 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. Where the Wild Things Are held its premiere in New York City on October 13, 2009, before it was theatrically released in the United States on October 16 by Warner Bros. Pictures. Despite concerns from within Warner Bros. and news outlets leading up to release over whether or not Jonze's approach to the film was suitable for children, the film was met with positive reviews and appeared on many year-end top ten lists. However, the film was a financial failure, grossing just $100 million against an equal production budget. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 2, 2010. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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