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Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS
Newly Released Film "Where The Wild Things Are": Classic Storyline Focuses on the Basic Needs of Children
By Staff
posted Oct 16, 2009, 11:27 |
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"Where the Wild Things Are" is a classic because it centers on children's
basic needs and desires while also pushing the boundaries of the picture book.
(Manhattan, Kansas) While tales of monsters might typically frighten children,
the story of a boy in a wolf suit among yellow-eyed creatures continues to be
a classic children's book, now adapted into a movie.
Kansas State University's Philip Nel, children's literature expert and professor
of English, said Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" is a classic because
it centers on children's basic needs and desires while also pushing the boundaries
of the picture book.
Spike Jonze's adaptation of "Where the Wild Things Are" is being released in
theaters in October. Nel said that although some film adaptations of children's
stories have been dumbed down, he thinks the movie looks promising, judging
by the trailers.
"From what I've seen, the new movie seems to have a rawness and emotional edge
that's absent from many children's movies," he said. "It looks like a movie
about childhood rather than a movie that panders to children."
"Where the Wild Things Are" begins with a boy named Max who, dressed in a wolf
suit, is sent to bed without eating anything after acting rebellious. He sails
to the land of the wild things but then later decides to return home, where
he finds supper waiting. Nel said the story addresses children's basic needs
and desires - the need to be independent and the need to be loved.
"To be a child is to be at the mercy of others, and that can be very frustrating,"
Nel said. "Max needs to express his independence and his anger, but he also
needs to be loved. The book allows him to do both."
Nel said there were issues when the book first came out because some worried
that the wild things would upset small children, give them nightmares or that
children might emulate Max's rebellious behavior.
"However, the book did not frighten most children and went on to win a Caldecott
Medal," Nel said. "It's no longer as controversial as it once was."
"Where the Wild Things Are" changed picture books because it was the first to
carry part of its story with three wordless two-page spreads, which is where
the wild rumpus scenes are depicted solely through illustrations, Nel said.
As Max moves closer to the land of the wild things, the illustrations take up
more space, and at the book's climax - the wild rumpus scene - words have disappeared.
As Max returns home, illustrations take up less space, and text returns.
"Sendak's use of illustrations to convey this experience -- a journey to a land
of wild things, imagination and free expression -- is very clever," Nel said.
"The imagination and wildness gets associated with the visual, with an experience
beyond words."
Not having seen the film, Nel doesn't know exactly how the filmmakers will translate
this intense visual and emotional experience into a movie. But Nel said he's
looking forward to meeting the wild things on the big screen.
Resources:
Kansas State University
www.k-state.edu
"Where the Wild Things Are" (The Movie)
www.wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com
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