Book vs. Movie 2 - Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are was written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak in 1963. This is a story about a little boy who, after getting into some trouble, imagines another world in which he is the king of the wild things. He has a great time romping with the wild things until he realizes it is time to go home. He returns to find his mom waiting for him with dinner. This book was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1964.

The movie for this book was released in 2009 and the Max in the movie runs around in the same wolf suit, after getting in trouble he takes off on a boat, and the wild things completely resemble the illustrations in the book. In my opinion, the similarities end there. I know that movie makers are faced with the problem of taking a children’s book and stretching it out into a film but I feel this one could have been handled better. This movie is very hard to follow. The wild things have some kind of relationship going on between them that the viewer is never really given access to. I find it hard to believe that many children would enjoy this movie because of the way it drags on.

The book has been a favorite of mine for a long time and I highly recommend it. The movie on the other hand was a total let down. Don’t waste your bucks renting it.