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IMDbPro

Where the Wild Things Are

  • 20092009
  • PGPG
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
105K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
5,107
288
James Gandolfini and Max Records in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
The second theatrical trailer for Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's children's book. In it, Max, a disobedient little boy sent to bed without his supper, creates his own world -- a forest inhabited by ferocious wild creatures that crown Max as their ruler.
Play trailer2:33
13 Videos
99+ Photos
AdventureDramaFamily
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.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.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.
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
105K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
5,107
288
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Spike Jonze
    • Writers
      • Spike Jonze(screenplay)
      • Dave Eggers(screenplay)
      • Maurice Sendak(book)
    • Stars
      • Max Records
      • Catherine O'Hara(voice)
      • Forest Whitaker(voice)
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Spike Jonze
    • Writers
      • Spike Jonze(screenplay)
      • Dave Eggers(screenplay)
      • Maurice Sendak(book)
    • Stars
      • Max Records
      • Catherine O'Hara(voice)
      • Forest Whitaker(voice)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 456User reviews
    • 345Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
    • Awards
      • 7 wins & 54 nominations

    Videos13

    Where the Wild Things Are -- Trailer #2
    Trailer 2:33
    Where the Wild Things Are -- Trailer #2
    Where the Wild Things Are: Trailer #1
    Trailer 2:07
    Where the Wild Things Are: Trailer #1
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Clip 1:21
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Clip 1:33
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Clip 1:34
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Clip 1:32
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Clip 1:25
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Where the Wild Things Are -- International Featurette
    Featurette 2:26
    Where the Wild Things Are -- International Featurette
    Where the Wild Things Are -- Maurice Sendak and Spike Jones Featurette
    Featurette 3:17
    Where the Wild Things Are -- Maurice Sendak and Spike Jones Featurette
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Interview 0:33
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Interview 0:36
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Interview 0:28
    Where The Wild Things Are

    Photos112

    Max Records in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    Max Records in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    Max Records in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    Max Records in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Nick Farnell, and Sam Longley in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    James Gandolfini, Max Records, and Vincent Crowley in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    James Gandolfini, Max Records, and Vincent Crowley in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    James Gandolfini, Max Records, and Vincent Crowley in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    Max Records in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
    Catherine O'Hara and Nick Farnell in Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Max Records
    Max Records
    • Max
    Catherine O'Hara
    Catherine O'Hara
    • Judith
    • (voice)
    Forest Whitaker
    Forest Whitaker
    • Ira
    • (voice)
    Pepita Emmerichs
    • Claire
    Max Pfeifer
    • Claire's Friend
    Madeleine Greaves
    • Claire's Friend
    Joshua Jay
    Joshua Jay
    • Claire's Friend
    Ryan Corr
    Ryan Corr
    • Claire's Friend
    Catherine Keener
    Catherine Keener
    • Mom
    Steve Mouzakis
    Steve Mouzakis
    • Teacher
    Mark Ruffalo
    Mark Ruffalo
    • The Boyfriend
    James Gandolfini
    James Gandolfini
    • Carol
    • (voice)
    Vincent Crowley
    Vincent Crowley
    • Carol Suit Performer
    Paul Dano
    Paul Dano
    • Alexander
    • (voice)
    Sonny Gerasimowicz
    Sonny Gerasimowicz
    • Alexander Suit Performer
    Nick Farnell
    Nick Farnell
    • Judith Suit Performer
    Sam Longley
    Sam Longley
    • Ira Suit Performer
    Michael Berry Jr.
    Michael Berry Jr.
    • The Bull
    • (voice)
    • Director
      • Spike Jonze
    • Writers
      • Spike Jonze(screenplay)
      • Dave Eggers(screenplay)
      • Maurice Sendak(book)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Spike Jonze turned down the chance to make the movie fully animated, because he wanted people to feel the Wild Things, and thought it would be more exciting and dangerous if a real kid were running around with the wild things.
    • Goofs
      When Max says, "Wow!" when he sees Carol's world built from sticks, an earpiece is visible in Max Records' ear.
    • Quotes

      Douglas: Will you keep out all the sadness?

      Max: I have a sadness shield that keeps out all the sadness, and it's big enough for all of us.

    • Crazy credits
      The logos for Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, and Village Roadshow Pictures are covered with Max's scribblings.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Duplicity/Knowing/I Love You, Man (2009)
    • Soundtracks
      Worried Shoes
      Written by Daniel Johnston

      Produced by Karen O and Tom Biller (as tbiller)

      Performed by Karen O and the Kids

      Courtesy of DGC/Interscope Records

    User reviews456

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    A Calligraphic Camera Writes the Imagination
    This is a huge success, and I believe that it will reach that status now called "classic," being experienced over and over in whatever ways that classics will in the future.

    I'll let others note the purity in the way that sharp childhood is evoked. It is the emotional center of the thing. I'll be more interested here in noting the cinematic use of space. Jonze is famous for this, and how he can connect it to the folds in the narrative.

    "Folds" in this context have to do with nesting of narrative elements. For instance the "real world" segments feature eating (twice), fort (twice), snowball fight, wild suit, pileon, pulling at toes, lost marriage, broken model of a heart, being king, son/sun dying and so on. The "wild world" features the same things twisted in ways that suggest the real narrative describing the inner character of Max. This "folding" gives us a place to stand and engages us more deeply, as a key narrative device. There is even a smaller inner fold where Carol (the Max surrogate) makes a model of his world, hidden in the desert. And another where Max enters KW.

    I am more interested in the spatial folding. Yup, the way that Jonze has decided to set up and elaborate a vocabulary of movement.

    Here's what we have, I think. I have only seen this once and will have to wait for DVD study to confirm it.

    The scenes I am working with here are the ones with physical motion, where both the camera and the subjects move: the dogchasing, snowball fight, the amazing encounter with the waves when approaching the island, the rumpus and then the dirtball fight. Frozen motionpaths are in the fort's appendage, the "pile," and indicated by the stickweaving in the global fort and houses.

    I believe these all use the same motion template. When someone invents a movie annotation tool where we can find and describe this, it will be easy to check and show. Right now it is an impression, but I got the feeling when watching that wave scene (in IMAX) that I would see the same motion paths in the forthcoming rumpus. Perhaps it was the appearance of the ululating sound that was used every time something got frantic, and by that time twice already. Perhaps it was the obvious reference to the Hokusai woodblock ("The Great Wave off Kanagawa"), where a wild wave becomes an actor, a wild thing dwarfing an iconic mountain, whose shape I thought I also saw on-screen.

    I would not be surprised either if Spike used a sigla to denote this motion (like Joyce does in "Finnegans Wake") and that the sigla was KW, denoting the actual paths, the K in plan and the W in the vertical plane. Thus, KW swallowing/eating Max, apart from the obvious vaginal association also takes on a deeply cinematic one, worthy of "Adaptation." I know the work on this was done in Melbourne. Could it be that this apparent one-man shop "Digital Rein" managed this? In an unconnected area, am I misremembering? I recall the phrase was "Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!" (not "start").

    Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
    helpful•16
    12
    • tedg
    • Nov 1, 2009

    FAQ7

    • Is "Where the Wild Things Are" based on a book?
    • Is this movie animated?
    • How closely does the movie follow the book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 16, 2009 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Germany
      • United States
      • Australia
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Warner Bros. (France)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • More Rice
    • Filming locations
      • Flinders, Victoria, Australia
    • Production companies
      • Warner Bros.
      • Legendary Entertainment
      • Village Roadshow Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $100,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $77,233,467
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $32,695,407
      • Oct 18, 2009
    • Gross worldwide
      • $100,140,916
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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