From Newsweek's "exclusive" interview with Maurice Sendak, Spike Jonze, and Dave Eggers--who was on speaker:
What do you say to parents who think the Wild Things film may be too scary?haha, naw, they didn't ask that last one.
Sendak: I would tell them to go to hell. That's a question I will not tolerate.Because kids can handle it?
Sendak: If they can't handle it, go home. Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it's not a question that can be answered.Jonze: Dave, you want to field that one?
Eggers: The part about kids wetting their pants? Should kids wear diapers when they go to the movies? I think adults should wear diapers going to it, too. I think everyone should be prepared for any eventuality.
What do you say to parents who think the Wild Things film and the collectible statuettes and the video games and the barrage of merchandise and the Halloween costumes and the pajamas and the hipster jumpsuits and bomber hoodies and the breakfast cereal may be too much of a #(*%$ing exploitation of people's childhood memories and their desire to share them with their own kids?
Did anybody even really like this book growing up? Neither my wife nor I were ever fans of the story or the drawings.
yeah. I liked it well enough. And the kid does, too. Though I think she likes In The Night Kitchen more.
I loved it. I can easily say it was one of my favorites as a very small child. The drawings were some of my favorites. It's art, along with Mercer Mayer's "One Monster After Another" and Jack Prelutsky's "It's Halloween" http://www.amazon.com/Its-Halloween-Jack-Prelutsky/dp/0590032755
was just mesmerizing to me.
I know it's very Hollywood to make a movie out of everything that's ever been in print (I'm personally waiting for the screen adaptation of the Chicago Phone Book) but I just don't see the point.
And I thought the only reason to make this movie was to have a really cool transformation scene where the bedroom becomes the wild things' world. So much for that.
My son is 4 and enjoys the book. When he sees the commercials for the movie, he asks if we can see that. I tell him no, it's for older boys like the one in the movie.
Unfortunately, I think a lot of parents will take their children to see it when they're too young.
Maybe I'm just too over-protective considering the number of young kids I saw in the audience of The Dark Knight last year.
My personal favorite is "The Nutshell Library". Each one of those books is perfect. I loved them when I was a kid and love reading them to my kids.
I agree with Mr. Sendak -- complaining about a film to the author is pretty rude.
The film may be crap, but it's the author's work and presumably s/he feels good about it.
My kids wouldn't be scared, I think, but I'm not taking them to it. Most of the "short books made into long movies" genre is a complete waste of film, money, and effort. The previews for "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" seem to bear this out.
I don't think it's rudeness, so much, or even crappiness. I figured Sendak has just lost patience after 40+ years of complaints by paranoid, overprotective parents