Directed by Spike Jonze
Written by Spike Jonze, Dave Eggars, Maurice Sendak
Released in 2009
A young boy named Max (Max Records) runs away from his home, leaving behind his single mother(Catherine Keener), his sister (Pepita Emmerichs), and the memory of his estranged father. Upon finding a hidden boat on the other side of the woods, Max sails away from the world he knows and into an entirely different universe, where large beast-like beings roam. It doesn’t take long for Max to become acquainted with these grizzly, and odd, creatures, and even reigning as their King! However, after promising to “keep the sadness out” and realizing it’s a task beyond his own power, Max begins to weigh the reality of roaming this mystical land, and in doing so, uncovers the apprehension if he doesn’t go back home.
STORY
Our young protagonist sets off on an adventure that I’m sure at least most of us have daydreamed about as children, and honestly even as adults. The entire notion of running away from the troubles, frustration, and misunderstanding that so often comes from our home, family, friends, and environment is something we can all relate to at any stage of our lives. Adding the extra layer of finding a fantasy filled village with enchanted seeming beings, who all resemble massive versions of forest animals, whom immediately welcome him in their own bazaar way and just as fast crown him as their leader, this life changing experience for Max is not only desired by so many of us, but even a bit coveted by our own inner child. Throughout the film, upon meeting all of the Wild Things, I kept finding similarities or possible symbolism between each character and an actual person in Max’s life, or perhaps all of them making up different qualities of Max. I felt Carol could have portrayed Max’s father and the bond he subconsciously desires with him. The other characters could have also been representing specific people, although I feel Carol and KW were the most important two who directly existed in Max’s real/waking life.
It’s interesting to note how Max is often perceived in this film as a “bratty” or uncontrollable kid (even being called multiple times within the film as “out of control”), but I honestly see him more as a child who has not been able to digest or fully comprehend the emotional trauma that comes from losing a parent. The sudden outburst that he portrays in the beginning are always met with passive attention from his sister and mother. It isn’t until Max runs away and encounters beings that are foreign to him and all he knows, who are all just as outlandish and turbulent as he is, if not more so, where he had to step up in a manner that pushed him to be the “adult”; reasonable, responsible, fair and analytical. It’s in that arch where he seemed to discover a certain understanding of the people that surround him, and come to terms with his real life, enough to want to go back home because he knew it was the best thing to do. KW taught him it was okay not to be a King, to just be a kid. She also showed him how certain relationships are more complicated to be part of, and just because two people love and care about each other doesn’t mean they should or are able to be together always. Carol taught him to be brave in his own uniqueness, and trusted him to build up their camp in the most magical way, but also demonstrated what it’s like to be the one who lets someone down, someone you care about, as how Max unintentionally did to Carol. We leave the Wild Things on the shore of the ocean Max sailed in from, and even after all the mania, everyone still showed up to say goodbye; they still cared about him, sincerely.
IMAGRY & PRODUCTION
Production Design was by K.K. Barrett (Her, Marie Antoinette, Birds of Prey). Him and his team pulled off a tremendous design of surrealism and imaginary environs. The structures and sets were mostly all practical, hand made, down to the costumes (design by Casey Storm). The biggest achievement, in my opinion, and such a flex to have apart of anyones film, was having those large puppet suits fabricated by none other than the Jim Henson Creature Shop, founded by the infamous Jim Henson (The Muppets, Dark Crystal, The Labyrinth). Instead of creating CGI characters, they alternatively decided to actually make the Wild Things as large puppet body suits and had puppeteers inside the entire time filming. I believe they used CGI for some of their facial expressions, movement, etc., but very slightly and it was never distracting, besides the very large dog they keyed in.
That has always been one of the main reasons I favored this film in such a special way because of the true craftsmanship that went into every detail. The color theme was also best-loved, along with the music (Carter Burwell, Karen O), all immersed the audience into the imagination of the book we remembered as children. Director of Photography was Lance Acord (Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, Robot & Frank). The imagery he captured was remarkable, very emotional driven. When there were peaceful moments we were flat with our subjects, when there were chaotic moments were were disoriented with them. Every angle and composition truly pushed the story forward in such a captivating way; it was all absolutely stunning.
PERFORMANCE
Our lead Max (Records) gave a performance that carved out an entirely new lane for actors. It was said that one of the methods Spike Jones used for Max was to allow him to play around on the set, to crack random jokes, and ultimately improv a lot of scenes. Jones also had children come on set and play around with cast and crew to make everyone dwell in that child-like energy. Max gave such a rare and truly one-of-a-kind execution of his role, it was hard to believe that it was even scripted at all; how does one even direct such spirit as his? Max’s mom (Keener) was a great choice for a tired, overworked, single mother who was doing her best to raise two kids and try to maintain her own personal life. We even got a special feature of Mark Ruffalo who plays Moms new potential beau. Mom is not seen very much but the parts she is are still impactful and you felt for her.
After watching the film, all I wanted to know was who voiced which Wild Thing. I attempted at making guesses, but I was entirely wrong. To start, The Bull was voiced by Michael Berry Jr. (Pirates of the Caribbean, Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek, and The Hangover II). His character only spoke once at the very end and his line was so sweet and heartfelt, asking Max to say good things about them back home. Alexander, who I think was portraying a lamb or goat, was voiced by Paul Dano (There will be Blood, Little Miss Sunshine, 12 Years a Slave), playing a shy & quiet creature who nobody really pays attention to, but everyone still very much loves. Douglas, a bird of some sort, was voiced by Chris Cooper (August: Osage County, American Beauty, The Muppets, Me, Myself & Irene) He seemed to be the “rational” one who attempted to keep some reason within the group, even admitting that the whole time he knew Max was not the King, but he went along with it for Carols sake. Ira, perhaps some sort of bear, was voiced by the notorious Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Black Panther, Battlefield Earth) portraying a rather comforting character who tried to keep the peace among everyone and took everything with a grain of salt, whereas his partner Judith, voiced by Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek, Bettlejuice, Monster House, A Series of Unfortunate Events), who I absolutely adore, plays a rather vociferous kind of gal, who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, no matter how cynical it can be. KW and Carol, two very important characters who filled each scene with such significance, was voiced by Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under, The X-Files, Dig) and Mr. Mafia himself James Gandolfini (The Sopranos, The Mexican, Killing Them Softly). I haven’t heard of Ambrose prior to this film, although her performance was also so fitting for her character, however Gandolfini was the biggest surprise for me. Carol had to be big and strong but still carried so much emotion and care, he was no doubt the most sensitive one out of everyone. It was amazing to see Gandolfinis range stepping into such a child-like persona. Yes of course I cried at the end.
What Does it Mean?
These types of stories, though so very much loved, can sometimes make me feel as if the only way I will be fully understood is if I stumble upon a fantasy world where creatures roam that are just as equally complex and through them I will finally fully recognize myself. I’m not entirely sure this film was centered around Max more or less “discovering” himself, it mostly seemed he just needed an extreme and foreign place to escape to so he can have the opportunity to ultimately be heard and seen completely for who he is. Even so, there is a sense that Max would not have had that opportunity if he stumbled into a new place where the people were the same as they were back home. It took such an exaggerated world to really allow Max to be everything he naturally is, so that he can leave having more control within himself. He made the biggest decision he had to make, and that was to know it was time to go home. For a child deciding for themself that it’s time to quit something, it’s no small feat. So, in reality, we don’t get these fantastical chances of immersing ourselves in these enchanted realms, but we still can apply the essence of what Max went through in our own existence.
There may not be these magical beast that can change our lives, but there are definitely other people who also don’t fit in to “normal” society, who long to find community and be understood. I’m also not entirely positive that’s what this film was about either, finding community, but I do believe a theme was trouble child being understood, which I think we can all someway relate to. To look deeper, what causes the trouble within a child? A lost parent, a broken home, a separated family, new people in your sacred space, etc. All things that can translate to an undeveloped mind as danger, or unsafe. I think Max finding the Wild Things was not just about finding a place he could be seen, or finding his type of people, but coming to terms with the dysfunctional dynamics within his personal life, in a way that his conscious can accept. The set up of this environment was created and geared towards children, but the message of it I think was most impactful for adults. For me anyway, it allowed me to visually comprehend the loss I felt as a child not having my father around, my mom getting into other relationships, hardly ever seeing my siblings, constantly moving. I often felt like the black sheep of the family, seen as the trouble child, although in my defense I truly wasn’t as terrible as my family tried to make it seem. Now as an adult, I can look back and understand myself tremendously more and realize why I behaved in certain ways. But I was the only one who took the initiative to do that kind of “soul searching.” None of my loved ones attempted to understand my point of view, it was up to me. That’s the heart of Max’s journey, it was up to him to decide who and how he was going to be.
To everyone who brought this story to life, I love it all so very much, it’s a masterpiece and perfect in every.