Maurice Sendak's Adaptation Of Where The Wild Things Are

Talented writers can take another’s work and expand it further into new potential. By adding details or introspection, a director or writer of an adaptation can achieve in pushing the boundaries of the original piece. In the case of Where the Wild Things Are, a children’s picture book written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, was expanded into a far more complex and emotionally developed work. The novel’s world flourishes into an intricate story through both the film adaptation and its novelization counterpart. Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers offer a darker, yet vivid variation of Sendak’s classic book by crafting a more dynamic version and cultivating the story with rich character depth and development. Through their choices in writing and direction,

they produce a refreshing alteration of the original children’s book that can appeal to an adult audience.
Premiering in 2009, Jonze’s film adaptation met mixed reviews generally for its darker storytelling. The film centers on a lonely boy named Max who escapes from his fractured lifestyle to an island inhabited by creatures called the “Wild Things”. Although Jonze deviates from the original tale, he successfully creates a captivating dynamic version through his direction of the film’s setting and soundtrack. It combines live-action and CGI, bringing life to the boy’s imaginative world while still staying faithful to Sendak’s aesthetic illustrations.