Where the Wild Things Are

Spyro · Mar 02, 2008 9:47 PM

Where the Wild Things Are was a classic book I grew up with and when I heard they were making a movie version I was extremely excited. However, they chose a very adult director to make the movie - Spike Jonze. He tends to do more artsy films - Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, etc. The film has wrapped and cost around $75 million USD. Now they want to scrap it and start over. Why? It was "too edgy". The film took a somewhat cynical look at childhood. The story is pretty simple - there's a rebellious boy named Max who after fighting with his mother runs away and winds up in a land of monsters. These monsters are nice enough, though, and make him their king. He learns being a leader is tougher than he thought and learns to forgive his mom. The film shows all this - how hard children/parent relations can be, and also how a world of fantasy can be affected when children stop believing (akin to Peter Pan). I can't believe they want to start over! This film had the potential to be classic - like other edgy children's films of the past such as The Dark Crystal and The Neverending Story. In order to make it more marketable (as in McDonald's toys, candy promotions, spin-offs, etc.) they want to make it more like The Cat in the Hat. Silly, a comedy, colorful and bright. Please, if you remember reading this book make your voice heard about why it shouldn't be re-shot. It's not definite that they will do this, yet, so there's still time to sway them not to. They want to do this so we, the movie-goers, will be more inclined to see it. Let them know we will see an edgier version so a re-shoot does not need to happen.

If this doesn't apply to you, you can ignore it. However, if you grew up with Maurice Sendak and this book - do something to stop them from raping it and making it a silly little children's film. We don't need another Cat in the Hat or Grinch - we need our childhood done right!

Share your thoughts.

More info:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35768
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_the_Wild_Things_Are
http://hs.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10434307342

#1 Mar 02, 2008 9:47 PM

Where the Wild Things Are

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