Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Yearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.

Director:

Spike Jonze

Writers:

Spike Jonze (screenplay), Dave Eggers (screenplay)

Stars:

Max Records, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 7 wins & 53 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Max Records	...	Max
Pepita Emmerichs	...	Claire
Max Pfeifer	...	Claire's Friend
Madeleine Greaves	...	Claire's Friend
Joshua Jay	...	Claire's Friend
Ryan Corr	...	Claire's Friend
Catherine Keener	...	Mom
Steve Mouzakis	...	Teacher
Mark Ruffalo	...	The Boyfriend
James Gandolfini	...	Carol (voice)
Vincent Crowley	...	Carol Suit Performer
Paul Dano	...	Alexander (voice)
Sonny Gerasimowicz	...	Alexander Suit Performer
Catherine O'Hara	...	Judith (voice)
Nick Farnell	...	Judith Suit Performer

Storyline

A young boy named Max has an active imagination, and he will throw fits if others don't go along with what he wants. Max - following an incident with Claire (his sister) and her friends, and following a tantrum which he throws as a result of his Mother paying more attention to her boyfriend than to him - runs away from home. Wearing his wolf costume at the time, Max not only runs away physically, but runs toward a world in his imagination. This world, an ocean away, is inhabited by large wild beasts, including one named Carol who is much like Max himself in temperament. Instead of eating Max like they normally would with creatures of his type, the wild things befriend Max after he proclaims himself a king who can magically solve all their problems.

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Plot Keywords:

based on children's book | creature | imagination | fantasy world | friendship | 

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Taglines:

Inside all of us is... hope. Inside all of us is... fear. Inside all of us is... adventure. Inside all of us is a wild thing.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros. [France]

Country:

Germany Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Where the Wild Things Are: The IMAX Experience

Filming Locations:

Docklands Studios, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$32,695,407, 18 October 2009, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$77,233,467

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$100,086,793

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally, the film had a May 2008 release, which was pushed back to October 2008, after that, it was pushed back to a 2009 release.

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Goofs

When Max is falling head over heels down the sand dune, his crown comes flying off twice.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Max: Hey, Claire. Wanna see something great?
Claire: [on the phone] Who else was there?
Max: It's an igloo! I made it.
Claire: Yeah, my brother.
Max: Hey, Claire!
Claire: I can't. We're supposed to go to my dad's that weekend.
Max: The snowplows left some snow across the street, and I dug a hole into it.
Claire: Go and play with your friends.

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Crazy Credits

The logos for Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, and Village Roadshow Pictures are covered with Max's scribblings.

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Connections

Edited into The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Duplicity/Knowing/I Love You, Man (2009)

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Soundtracks

All Is Love
Written by Karen O and Nick Zinner
Produced by Karen O and Tom Biller (as tbiller)
Performed by Karen O and the Kids
Courtesy of DGC/Interscope Records

User Reviews

Where the Wild Things Are - Extraordinary

A beautiful, audacious, roughly-hewn motion picture (adjectives that are no doubt overused in describing the picture's modus operandi), Spike Jonze's adaptation Maurice Sendak's adored children's book "Where the Wild Things Are" taps into the innocent, volatile world of a 9 year old boy the way few mainstream feature films have. It is original, unique, melancholy, and because of this several mainstream critics (and even lucid critics like Salon's Stephanie Zacharek) have derided the film. "There's no story"; "kids won't like it"; "it's an adult film about children, not a children's film"; "it's boring"; "the pacing is slow"...

What? Why did it become such a crime to make an abstract art film within the spineless confines of the Hollywood system? Doesn't Spike Jonze get credit for personalizing, therefore, retaining a substantial amount of voracity while delving into one of the most revered children's books of the last fifty years? What the hell is wrong with that? I understand that some people just don't respond to the abstract, pseudo-verisimilitude of pretentious art films, but there's a stripped-down purity to this picture that cannot be denied. It's not pretentious, but emotional and honest.

It's bold, it takes chances...why is it being chastised in the media? How often do we get movies like "Where the Wild Things Are"? It should be celebrated, not snidely dismissed (Ex. Lou Lumenick, NY Post).