Where the Wild Things Are (film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Where the Wild Things Are |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Spike Jonze |
| Produced by | Tom Hanks Gary Goetzman Maurice Sendak John Carls Vincent Landay |
| Screenplay by | Spike Jonze Dave Eggers |
| Starring | Max Records Catherine Keener Mark Ruffalo Lauren Ambrose Chris Cooper James Gandolfini Catherine O'Hara Forest Whitaker |
| Music by | Karen O Carter Burwell |
| Cinematography | Lance Acord |
| Editing by | Eric Zumbrunnen James Haygood |
| Studio | Legendary Pictures Village Roadshow Pictures Wild Things Productions Playtone |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 13 October 2009 (New York City) 16 October 2009 (United States) 3 December 2009 (Australia) 17 December 2009 (Germany) |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | Australia Germany United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million |
| Money made | $100.1 million |
Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy film that brings a classic children's book to life. Directed by Spike Jonze, this movie is based on Maurice Sendak's famous 1963 book of the same name. The film mixes real actors, people in amazing costumes, special moving puppets (animatronics), and computer-generated imagery (CGI).
The story follows a lonely boy named Max. He sails away to a mysterious island. On this island, he meets large, furry creatures called the "Wild Things." They soon make Max their king.
The movie was made with a budget of about $100 million. It was a joint project between Australia, Germany, and the United States. Most of the filming happened in Melbourne, Australia. Where the Wild Things Are was released in the United States on October 16, 2009. It received mostly good reviews from critics.
Contents
Story of the Wild Things
Max is a young boy with a big imagination. He feels a bit lonely. One day, while wearing his wolf costume, he plays with his dog. His older sister, Claire, and her friends accidentally ruin his snow fort. Feeling frustrated, Max messes up Claire's room and breaks a picture frame he made for her.
At school, Max learns about the sun eventually dying, which makes him think. Later, his mom, Connie, has her boyfriend, Adrian, over for dinner. Max gets upset because his mom didn't come to the fort he built in his room. He acts like a wild animal in his wolf costume and demands food. When his mom gets upset, he has a tantrum and accidentally hurts her shoulder. Scared by what he did, Max runs away. He finds a small boat by a pond and gets in.
The pond quickly turns into a vast ocean. Max, still in his wolf suit, reaches a strange island. There, he finds seven huge, monster-like creatures. One of them, Carol, is having a big tantrum because another Wild Thing, KW, has left. Max tries to join in the chaos. But the Wild Things become suspicious and angry, even thinking about eating him! Max quickly convinces them that he is a king with special powers. He tells them he can bring peace to their group. They believe him and crown him their new king.
Soon after, KW returns. Max then declares a "wild rumpus!" During this, the Wild Things smash trees and playfully tackle each other. The Wild Things introduce themselves: Carol, Ira, Judith, Alexander, Douglas, the Bull, and KW. They all pile together and fall asleep with Max in the middle.
Carol takes Max on a tour of the island. He shows Max a model he built of how he wishes the island looked. Max is inspired and orders the Wild Things to build a giant fort. Carol is put in charge of the building. When KW brings her two owl friends, Bob and Terry, to the fort, Carol gets upset. He feels they are outsiders. To let out their anger, Max divides the group into "good guys" and "bad guys" for a dirt clod fight. However, Alexander gets hurt during the game. Carol then scolds KW for jokingly stepping on Alexander's head, causing KW to leave again.
Max finds Alexander alone in the fort. Alexander tells Max that he suspects Max isn't a real king with magical powers. He warns Max not to let Carol know this secret. But Max's secret is soon revealed by Douglas. Carol throws another tantrum in the middle of the night. This time, he's upset about the fort and Max not doing his job as king. Carol gets very angry and rips off Douglas's arm, but only sand pours out. He then chases Max into the forest, trying to eat him. KW saves Max by hiding him in her stomach.
After Carol leaves, KW explains how difficult everyone's lives are, and Carol's tantrums only make things worse. Max starts to understand what his own mother goes through. He decides it's time to leave the island.
Max finds Carol's broken model island. He leaves a special token for Carol to find. Max finds Carol and tells him he is going home because he isn't a king. The other Wild Things walk Max to his boat. Carol runs to join them after finding Max's token. He arrives just in time to say goodbye. Carol starts to howl, and Max howls back. Then all the other Wild Things join in. Carol looks at KW, and she smiles kindly at him. Max returns home and is hugged by his mother. She gives him a bowl of soup, a piece of cake, and a glass of milk. She sits with him as he eats, and Max watches her fall asleep.
Meet the Cast
Live action actors
- Max Records plays Max, the lonely boy with a big imagination.
- Catherine Keener plays Connie, Max's mother.
- Mark Ruffalo plays Adrian, Connie's boyfriend.
- Pepita Emmerichs plays Claire, Max's sister.
- Steve Mouzakis plays Max's teacher.
- Max Pfeifer, Madeleine Greaves, Joshua Jay, and Ryan Corr play Claire's friends.
Voice actors for the Wild Things
- James Gandolfini voices Carol, a Wild Thing who is very impulsive.
- Lauren Ambrose voices KW, the Wild Thing who often keeps to herself.
- Chris Cooper voices Douglas, a peace-keeping Wild Thing who looks like a cockatoo. He is Carol's best friend.
- Forest Whitaker voices Ira, a gentle and soft-spoken Wild Thing.
- Catherine O'Hara voices Judith, a three-horned Wild Thing. She is Ira's loud and strong-willed girlfriend.
- Paul Dano voices Alexander, a goat-like Wild Thing who feels ignored and mistreated.
- Michael Berry Jr. voices The Bull, a quiet and intimidating bull-like Wild Thing who rarely speaks.
- Spike Jonze voices Bob and Terry, two owls who are KW's friends.
Suit performers
- Vincent Crowley as Carol
- Alice Parkinson as KW
- John Leary as Douglas
- Sam Longley as Ira
- Nick Farnell as Judith
- Sonny Gerasimowicz as Alexander
- Angus Sampson as The Bull
Cool Merchandise
Video game fun
A video game based on the film came out on October 13, 2009. You could play it on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS. Griptonite Games developed the games for PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii. WayForward made the Nintendo DS version. All were published by Warner Bros. Games.
Skateboards and special shoes
To celebrate the movie's release, Girl Skateboards (which Spike Jonze partly owns) created seven special skateboards. Each board featured one of the Wild Things as its graphic. Lakai shoes also redesigned many of their shoes. They added different colors and pictures of the Wild Things. Some shoes even had Where the Wild Things Are printed on the side. UGG Australia also designed limited-edition Where the Wild Things Are boots.
Wild Things toys
A series of cool collectible vinyl dolls of the Wild Things and Max were released. These came from the Japanese company MediCom Toys. Other toys included an eight-inch action figure of Max in his wolf costume. Smaller sets of the characters were also released under their Kubrick figure banner.
The Wild Things novel
McSweeney's published a full-length novel called The Wild Things. This book was written by Dave Eggers and was based on the movie version of the story.
See also
In Spanish: Donde viven los monstruos (película) para niños
