Okay, I have to admit when I first heard that they were making a movie version of Maurice Sendak’s picture book Where the Wild Things Are, I winced. I assumed it would be yet another case of a beloved (and short) kid’s classic being turned into a windy, big-budget, embarrassing cringefest (cf. The Cat in the Hat).
Well, Where the Wild Things Are still could be not good. But I perked up a bit when I heard that the director was Spike Jonze, director of a couple of the most interesting (read: totally wigged out, but in a good way) movies I’ve ever seen: Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. Once I saw the trailer, I’m even more hopeful. It’s a wonderful trailer — I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll be a wonderful movie.
Max and his wild things howling in the sunset
Another plus: no slapstick or scatalogical humour dominating the trailer, as was the case with Cat in the Hat, Grinch, and Horton Hears a Who.
Poor Dr. Seuss. Has there ever been an author worse served by the movies? Thank goodness for the Chuck Jones Grinch—now there’s a kid’s lit adaptation for the ages!
And don’t forget Bob Clambett’s short, “Horton Hatches an Egg” (1942). Not as timeless as Chuck Jones’s Grinch, but still much better than anything recent: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14l0p_1942dr-seuss-horton-hatches-the-egg_fun
Well, I like the look and mood of the trailer, and the retro giant muppet body puppet vibe a la Fraggle Rock…