Friday, May 06, 2011

1560 - Where the Wild Things Are

This has been sitting on my shelf for some time now and after reading it to my son tonight as part of his bed time I realized that it was damn time that I gave it a whirl. 
First off, it's hard not to fall for this film.  The choice made to go live-action with the creatures in costumes is an inspired one.  The combination of that with CGI faces is pretty flawless.  The expression matched with the voice work is pretty amazing stuff and I found myself loving every single character.
As a parent I can't wait to show this to my son.  First, I think that there are some good lessons here about what it's like to be part of a group and a family, what's expecting of you, etc... really strong message.  What I also loved that there was an actual sense of danger with all the zaniness that the wild things were up to - you bought into the idea that Max could get injured amongst his new friends.
If you haven't seen this yet and you remember the book, give it a whirl.  The book is pretty simple and this expands it really nicely and gives a really amazing arc that I think kids can identify with.
Solid work once again from the lovely and talented Spike Jonze!
Where the Wild Things Are 

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