Where the wild things are show
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
- Cast & crew
- User reviews
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IMDbPro
- 20092009
- PGPG
- 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
106K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
Play trailer2
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13 Videos
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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
106K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
- Spike Jonze
- Spike Jonze(screenplay)
- Dave Eggers(screenplay)
- Maurice Sendak(book)
- Stars
- Max Records
- Catherine O'Hara(voice)
- Forest Whitaker(voice)
- Spike Jonze
- Spike Jonze(screenplay)
- Dave Eggers(screenplay)
- Maurice Sendak(book)
-
Stars
- Max Records
- Catherine O'Hara(voice)
- Forest Whitaker(voice)
- 460User reviews
- 346Critic reviews
- 71Metascore
- Awards
- 7 wins & 54 nominations
Videos13
Trailer 2:33
Watch Where the Wild Things Are -- Trailer #2
Trailer 2:07
Watch Where the Wild Things Are: Trailer #1
Clip 1:21
Watch Where The Wild Things Are
Clip 1:33
Watch Where The Wild Things Are
Clip 1:34
Watch Where The Wild Things Are
Clip 1:32
Watch Where The Wild Things Are
Clip 1:25
Watch Where The Wild Things Are
Featurette 2:26
Watch Where the Wild Things Are -- International Featurette
Featurette 3:17
Watch Where the Wild Things Are -- Maurice Sendak and Spike Jones Featurette
Interview 0:33
Watch Where The Wild Things Are
Interview 0:36
Watch Where The Wild Things Are
Interview 0:28
Watch Where The Wild Things Are
Photos112
Top cast
Max Records
Catherine O'Hara
- Judith
- (voice)
Forest Whitaker
- Ira
- (voice)
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
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
Nick Farnell
- Judith Suit Performer
Sam Longley
- Ira Suit Performer
Michael Berry Jr.
- The Bull
- (voice)
- Spike Jonze
- Spike Jonze(screenplay)
- Dave Eggers(screenplay)
- Maurice Sendak(book)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
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Storyline
Did you know
- 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.
User reviews460
Review
Featured 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•17
11
- tedg
- Nov 1, 2009
Is "Where the Wild Things Are" based on a book?
Is this movie animated?
How closely does the movie follow the book?
Details
- Release date
- October 16, 2009 (United States)
- Germany
- United States
- Australia
- Official sites
- Official Facebook
- Warner Bros.
(France)
- 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
- $100,000,000 (estimated)
- $77,233,467
- $32,695,407
- Oct 18, 2009
- $100,140,916
Technical specs
1 hour 41 minutes
- Dolby Digital
- SDDS
- DTS
- 2.
39 : 1
- 2.
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Where the Wild Things Are Movie Review
A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that director Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are isn't appropriate for younger kids, even those who adore the book (there's a big difference between looking at a beautifully illustrated children's story and watching a live-action movie full of sights and sounds that will probably scare the average 4-year-old). The movie explores mature themes of loneliness, insecurity, and fear of change, both within Max's human family and the one he finds on his adventure.
The island that Max lands on can be a scary and dark place, and the Wild Things themselves aren't above threatening (repeatedly) to eat Max, as well as becoming hot-headed and destructive (and when a Wild Thing gets destructive, it can be quite intense). The movie also has a slower, dreamier feel than many other kids' movies, and relationships and storylines aren't always neatly resolved. There's some mild language ("damn," "stupid") and a quick glimpse of Max's mom and her boyfriend drinking wine and kissing, but otherwise the PG rating is due mostly to Max's occasionally frightful time with the mysterious Wild Things.
Community Reviews
JoshE Adult
August 5, 2022
age 13+
A movie for more mature audiences.
I haven’t watched this movie in a very long time but I remember being absolutely horrified of the wild things. I was probably 9 when I watched the film and I can still remember certain scenes of the wild things doing awfully strange things that made me feel uneasy and also terrified.
To me this movie had a very dark energy to it. It’s also not a movie MOST kids would understand. It’s definitely for a more mature viewer.
Mason S Adult
October 27, 2021
age 6+
My whole childhood in one awesome movie!
I think this movie is fantastic representation of what goes through a lonely child's mind. I've seen a lot of negative comments on here saying the movie isn't well represented of the book, and while that's true, that shouldn't justify the reason it's getting judged so harshly. The way I see it: the book and movie are two separate entities. Yes the book is a sweet childhood tale. I would probably say the the book is so short and has a happy ending probably for three year olds (at least that's how old I was when I read it). The movie on the other hand is for the older kids and is most likely to represent the deeper meaning being the loneliness Max feels and all the things that go on in his head.
When I watch this movie, I feel a childhood warmth that nothing else can give me the euphoria that this movie does. The soundtrack, the visuals, the editing, and the story telling are nothing like what we see today. This is a one of a kind movie that not a lot of people got to experience and I'm lucky to have known it at all.
This title has:
Great messages
Great role models
What's the Story?
Director Spike Jonze and co-writer Dave Eggers' adaptation of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE fleshes out Maurice Sendak's picture book protagonist Max (Max Records) to provide a reason behind his wolf suit-wearing mischief. He's an imaginative kid with boundless energy. But when his mom (Catherine Keener) doesn't seem to have time for him, he snaps, tries to bite her, and runs away. Suburban woods lead him to a sailboat that heads straight to a mysterious island inhabited by Wild Things. Unlike in the book, each movie Wild Thing has a distinct name and personality: There's insecure Carol (James Gandolfini), sarcastic Judith (Catherine O'Hara), sweet Ira (Forest Whitaker), misunderstood Alexander (Paul Dano), wise Douglas (Chris Cooper), and loving KW (Lauren Ambrose).
Max persuades the Wild Things not to eat him by claiming he's a king with special powers. At first ruling the island a joy -- "let the wild rumpus start!" -- but as time passes, Max begins to disappoint the dysfunctional monsters, and he eventually grows fearful that they'll realize he's just a boy pretending to be a wolf pretending to be a king.
Is It Any Good?
Usually, beloved children's books are adapted with a kiddie audience in mind, but this movie isn't for young kids. It's a leisurely paced, literary film that makes you reflect on the exuberance and sadness of being a child. The Wild Things are indeed a wild bunch -- they smash things and claim to have eaten all of their other kings -- but they're also a broody, sarcastic, touchy clan wrestling with jealousy (Carol hates that KW is friends with two owls, Terry and Bob), isolation (Alex feels ignored), and misunderstandings (KW wants everyone to get along). It's not all rumpus-making, sleeping in a pile, and dirt-clot fights for King Max.
Visually, Where the Wild Things Are is beautifully simple, whether it's a heartbreaking close-up of a teary-eyed Max or an expansive shot of the Wild Things' island. It's amazing how perfectly Sendak's monsters come to life and how perfectly newcomer Records plays the spirited and vulnerable Max. He truly shines, especially acting opposite Keener, Gandolfini, and Ambrose. And the excellent voice cast, who actually rehearsed together, makes you forget you're watching CGI-enhanced 9-foot puppets. The movie's evocative soundtrack, composed by Carter Burrell and Karen O. (frontwoman of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) switches from playful to eerie to jubilant to frightening, and it's a spot-on accompaniment to Max's journey. This isn't a movie you cuddle with the kids over, the way you do with the book. It is, however, an artful, touching text on the magical but at times lonely nature of childhood.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what makes Max scared and angry in Where the Wild Things Are.
Why does he get mad at his sister and his mom? What does he want from them? What does he learn about families from his time among the Wild Things?Each of the Wild Things has a personality, opinions, and concerns. Are the Wild Things symbolic of different character traits? Kids: Which Wild Thing was the most relatable?
How does the movie compare to the book? How did the filmmakers change the story? Does an adaptation have to to translate exactly what's in a book to be faithful? How do you think the movie might be different if it were meant for younger kids?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 16, 2009
- On DVD or streaming: March 2, 2010
- Cast: Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Max Records
- Director: Spike Jonze
- Studio: Warner Bros.
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Adventures, Book Characters
- Run time: 100 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG
- MPAA explanation: mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language
- Last updated: January 2, 2023
Brigade. Heir. / Articles / Newslab.Ru
11/30/2012
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Film and TV
11/30/2012
Director - Denis Alekseev
Cast: Ivan Makarevich, Ekaterina Guseva, Kirill Nagiev, Alexander Inshakov, Igor Zhizhikin, Yuri Chursin, Anna Popova
Duration - 102 minutes
10 years after Sasha Bely was blown up in a Lincoln, his son Ivan (Makarevich) is loafing in New York, doesn't really know anything about his father, dreams of getting rich quick and showing his independence mother (Gusev) twitching at the sounds of Russian speech.
The gangster offspring are accompanied by the son of an American senator and a Russian mother, Phil (Nagiev) and the daughter of a KGB general from Rublyovka, Lera (Popova), whom Ivan accidentally meets in a nightclub. One day, friends intervene for money - and a descendant of Belov decides to take advantage of his father's inheritance, the papers for which are lying in his mother's safe along with a Brigade poster stylized as a family photo. To do this, Vanya Bely flies to Russia, where he is met by the old enemies of his father and the merciless Russian cinema. nine0003
Despite the fact that in the first 30 minutes of "The Heir" the hero of Ivan Makarevich tells the viewer about his American life with the intonations of an eighth grader writing a diary and walks around New York with a girl to Russian r'n'b, this golden time is the last opportunity escape from the cinema in a normal mood. A curious viewer can even admire the handsome Joe Pesci, in whom many recognize the plump robber from the comedy Home Alone, however, in just a two-minute episode.
In the remaining hour, rather wild things are shown on the screen, having little to do with both the Brigade itself and cinema in general. nine0003
Some of the main character's antagonists - evil old bandits - spend most of the film on the hippodrome, eating pancakes and gossiping about Sasha Bely; At the same time, their leader is played by 70-year-old Valery Zolotukhin, whom you want to carefully put on a shelf and never see again in scenes with gunfights. The main villain with the idiotic nickname Besso, performed by the star of the First Channel series, Yuri Chursin, cheerfully runs around Moscow, destroys American tourists and expresses emotions with an exclusively demonic grin. The daughter of the FSB general smiles dazzlingly at the bandit's son and babbles something about Shakespeare. The FSB general himself (Zhizhikin) drives this son away from her with a filthy broom and commands badly drawn tridash helicopters, pathetically flying over poorly drawn tridash Moscow. nine0003
Andrey Makarevich's son diligently plays an ardent heroic bum and cheerfully runs after the main villain along the again badly painted tridash roof of Luzhniki.
The son of Dmitry Nagiyev unconvincingly portrays a talking mattress, enthusiastically buying up Russian nesting dolls, and touchingly worries about a friend in trouble. Sasha Bely, about whom all the characters talk tirelessly, never appears in the frame, and all the time remains either a god from the car, or a piano in the bushes, sending text messages to the characters and scaring them with a stern voice on the phone. The good guys are covered by the stuntman Alexander Inshakov, again playing himself, Phil's friend from the original series and part-time general producer of The Heir. nine0003
The film was directed by another stuntman - Denis Alekseev, who has nothing to do with the original series. Taking risks, apparently, is in the blood of stuntmen - so the rudeness with which these two went to gut the pockets of Brigade fans should be attributed to professional habits. It is difficult to call this attempt to make money on a fake under a well-known brand something other than “rudeness”; it seems that only Russian directors can appropriate someone else's inheritance better than Russian bandits.
Alexandra Vorobieva
View in the flyer
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Wild Europeans Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk • Interior+Design
Dutch designers Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk don't just design objects. They try out new strategies. The British press writes about this couple. No wonder: the charming baby elephant from the Scratch collection (“Scratch”), which was created by Joost van Blaiswick, is a new friend of young Prince George. It was bought by George's grandfather Prince Charles and installed in the garden of the luxurious Highgrove estate.
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Kiki van Eyck became the newsmaker for Design Miami/Basel 2016. Milan gallery owner Nina Yashar (Nilufar Gallery) exhibited her installation Civilized Primitives at Design At Large, and her luminous sculptures from the Physical Interaction collection at the gallery's booth. “I am inspired by nature, the art of improvisation - vocal, dance - it doesn’t matter. But I also like the ingenuity of people who find themselves in unusual conditions, says Kiki van Eyck in an exclusive interview with interior.ru. “Survival fuels the imagination. I'm interested in turning some very personal feeling into a serial product. I like it when something incredibly high-tech suddenly seems to be something completely archaic, simple, when high-tech looks like low-tech. Well, for example, the miracle of the appearance of light in a lit match. Everything that we present is made in our workshop, almost everything is handmade, in any case, all the decoration is handmade. In this project, I used brass, nickel and 24 carat gold. The idea of a new item or collection always dictates the choice of materials. But there is, of course, what I always like to work with - wood, glass, ceramics, fabrics and metal. All electronics at in the Physical Interaction and Civilized Primitives collections is state-of-the-art and custom-made by Serge Offermans."
Couch from coll. Civilized Primitives, dit. C. van Eyck. Bronze, anodized aluminium, fabric. Nilufar Gallery.
"I'm interested in turning some very personal experience into a serial product."
In general, the work of Kiki and Just can be considered a real success of modern Dutch design. They effortlessly play all the branded stylistic and aesthetic games patented by the national school. They love "grandmother's" utensils, antique and rustic items. They know how to let go of their imagination, they know how to hook up new technology to a seemingly simple thing.
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In Milan, at Milan Design Week 2016, Kiki and Yust also made a splash. Designers showed 30 new items, united in five collections, at the Phisical exhibition, meaning that the time has come to talk about what is material, bodily, tangible in modern design. “We thought about balance with nature, about movement, warmth, light, electricity and construction,” the designers say. Dark shapes with drawn white chalk lines look especially impressive: whatnots, chairs, tables, reminiscent of chalk sketches or drawings on a black slate board. nine0003
Kiki & Joost
Industrial designers. Graduates of the Eindhoven Design Academy. In the industry since 2001. Worked for Edelkoort Paris, Verardo, Swarovski, Moooi, Ahrend, HAANS, Wooninc, Kock consultancy. Their objects are in the collections of major museums.
Kiki van Eyck and Just Blazewick are always ready to come up with something extraordinary.
Table coll. conversion piece. 2015. Walnut, bronze, aluminium, marbled finish. nine0003
Baby elephant, coll. Scratch. 2013.
Collection of Scratch items. Wood scratched by hand. 2013.
High cabinet and sideboard, coll. Tudor, Moooi. 2013.
Interior with items from the coll. Tudor, Moooi. 2013.
Sideboards from the Tudor collection. Moooi, diz. Yu. van Blaizvik.
Sideboard from coll. Tudor, Moooi. 2013.
Lamp from coll. Protopunkt.
Constraction lamp, diz. Y. van Blazewick, Moooi.
Kiki van Eyck and Just van Blaizwick share a table, bed and workshop. But only sometimes they unite in work on common projects. Each retains its own name, ideas, style and customers.
“I like to use the iconography of old objects, transform it in a modern spirit. And luxury today is objects with exquisite craftwork,” says Kiki. Recently, their workshop has been supplemented by a showroom, a clothing boutique and a designer shop, which has a design that suits their taste. nine0003
Kiki and Just are graduates of the Eindhoven Design Academy and have worked for brands such as Moooi, Swarovski, and have been involved in a variety of projects by the famous trend forecaster and curator Lee Edelkoort. For example, their items were included in the famous Wish List - a collection of contemporary design items that Lee Edelkort collected at the invitation of the auction house Pierre Bergé & Associés. Kiki and Just became famous for their sofas for Bernhard Design. Kiki designed the fabric, Yust made the metal frames. Some time ago, the Zuiderzee Museum invited me to make a collection promoting the history of the museum. Yust designed carts and chests of drawers in tulip wood, while Kiki designed a series of white porcelain vessels, printed and embossed with authentic local embroidery.
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Little Clock, coll. No Screw No Glue, diz. Yu. van Blaizvik. 2011. Polished stainless steel.
Sofa, diz. Kiki & Joost. 2011. Stainless steel, textiles. Workshop project.
Cubic Lathe table, coll. Quality Time, diz. Kiki & Joost. 2011. Painted steel.
Object, coll. Glass Stacks, diz. Yu. van Blaizvik. 2011. Murano glass.
Floating Frame Mantel Clock, coll. One More Time, diz. C. van Eyck. Brass, ceramics. 2011.
Petrol jug, diz. C. van Eyck. 2010. Ceramics, gilding.
A few years ago, Kiki released a collection. including 14 watch models. The wire is woven into a shape imitating a classic mantel clock with a wide base. All models are equipped with a ceramic dial, the wire case is made of different metals with different processing.
