# Where the Wild Things Are - Movie Trailer

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893 "2009-03-26T18:36:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/1 "2009-03-26T18:36:33Z")

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[Check it out here.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--N9klJXbjQ)

I have to say - I wasn’t sure how they would adapt that book, but it looks really cool. I’m a big Spike Jonez fan, so I’m definitely going to see this.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/2 "2009-03-26T19:28:58Z")

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They got the look right (though some of the effects need to be cleaned up a bit more), but I’m really wondering what all they added to flesh it out into a full-length movie. That always seems to be the problem with these adaptations of kids’ books-- The parts from the original book are good, but the parts they add usually aren’t.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/3 "2009-03-26T19:51:36Z")

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Seeing as the entire book can be read out loud in under 90 seconds, there’s bound to be a lot of fleshing out.

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**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/4 "2009-03-26T20:05:29Z")

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I am a bit saddened- it looks like there’s a fair amount of pain in it (felt by the kid), and probably not suitable for my kids.

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**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/5 "2009-03-26T20:17:56Z")

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It looks interesting, but I really don’t think they should have done it.

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/6 "2009-03-26T20:23:16Z")

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The parts of the trailer that correspond to the book look intriguing.

But it appears they’re going to turn Max, a wild, naughty kid, into a sensitive soul who’s dealing with major issues in his life. And THAT’S a huge mistake.

In the book, Max isn’t wild because he’s dealing with heartache or coping with his mother’s love life. He’s wild because… well, because he’s a little boy, and little boys are SUPPOSED to have a streak of wild animal in them!

Padding a classic, very short story to make it a Lifetime movie of the week is dumb.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/7 "2009-03-26T20:26:58Z")

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All true, but I think it looks cool. Hope the movie lives up to the trailer.

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**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/8 "2009-03-27T15:03:33Z")

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:eek:😃

[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--N9klJXbjQ)

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/9 "2009-03-27T15:31:21Z")

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Very nice. Love that the monsters aren’t computer animations. Hooray!

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**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/10 "2009-03-27T15:36:16Z")

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Let the wild rumpus start!

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/11 "2009-03-27T15:39:31Z")

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Merged two threads about this trailer.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/12 "2009-03-27T16:15:13Z")

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Whenever our kids are mad at us or in a bad mood, we say they’re “rolling their terrible eyes.” :eek:

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**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/13 "2009-03-27T16:17:20Z")

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I like the indy feel to it. The music in the trailer was spot on. It’s been years, (more like 20 years), but I don’t remember there being any huge explosions and “wild things” spinning around and hurling each other through the woods, as seen in the trailer. I wonder how true it will be to the book.

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**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/14 "2009-03-27T16:32:13Z")

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I thought the trailer looked…maudlin and drippy. I _love_ WTWTA, but I _hate_ maudlin and drippy, at least when it involves little kids.

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**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/15 "2009-03-27T16:37:25Z")

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> [@astorian](#):
>
> But it appears they’re going to turn Max, a wild, naughty kid, into a sensitive soul who’s dealing with major issues in his life. And THAT’S a huge mistake.
> 
> In the book, Max isn’t wild because he’s dealing with heartache or coping with his mother’s love life. He’s wild because… well, because he’s a little boy, and little boys are SUPPOSED to have a streak of wild animal in them!
> 
> Padding a classic, very short story to make it a Lifetime movie of the week is dumb.

Yeah, this is pretty much how I feel. I don’t think this book needs to be a movie. It’s fine as it is. He’s a wild little boy. I feel like they’re trying to make it into the Squid and the Whale meets a generic monster movie and that’s a mistake.

They made this kind of animated little movie version of it that I saw when I was younger. Basically it’s someone reading the book and the illustrations kind of come to life: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSkHA6IjrlY&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSkHA6IjrlY&feature=related)

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**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/16 "2009-03-27T18:16:22Z")

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Wow - I’m almost speechless. How can Jonze turn such a beautiful, simple little book into what seems like the typical Hollywood “heartfelt uplifting story of personal growth”? I was fully expecting to see Kevin Spacey pop up any second, that’s how “heartfelt and uplifting” this looked. :rolleyes:

I must say though - thematically, this reminds me of the mock trailer for _Shining_: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfout\_rgPSA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfout_rgPSA)

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**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/17 "2009-03-27T18:44:38Z")

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> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#):
>
> Wow - I’m almost speechless. How can Jonze turn such a beautiful, simple little book into what seems like the typical Hollywood “heartfelt uplifting story of personal growth”? I was fully expecting to see Kevin Spacey pop up any second, that’s how “heartfelt and uplifting” this looked. :rolleyes:

Does anyone else realize that we’re only seeing the first trialer for the movie? The one where they throw as much at you as possible? And that we’ve only heard one line of dialogue?

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**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/18 "2009-03-27T19:00:03Z")

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So? I can tell right now that-

1. There’s angst for the kid over spying on his mom kissing some guy who clearly isn’t his dad.

2. He’s a sensitive, moody kid who dreams of a better place.

3. He and his big wild thing friend have a challenge or battle to fight and win.  
And that’s just off the top of my head. Have you read the book? The wild things weren’t friends with Max- they wanted to eat him, and were only held off by his mad wild thing skillz! Max was being an ass and was sent to bed without supper and was pissed off- that’s why he took off. Didn’t he poke the family pet with a fork or something?

I’m sure people will think that it’s a fine movie, but it’s not the story of the book I love.

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**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/19 "2009-03-27T19:06:09Z")

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I trust Spike Jones to do a killer job, although, I agree that it looks more ‘heartwarming’ and ‘sentimental’ than the book portrays. But the book is so pithy (yet layered), I think there’s room to fluff it up a bit, just so we can live in the world a little longer than the 2 minutes it takes to read the original story.

So long as they make Max a little mischievous, and give the Wild Things a little edge, I think it’ll work nicely. The visuals look great. Can’t wait to see more.

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**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893/20 "2009-03-27T19:10:06Z")

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In case anyone wants to view the [trailer in HD (Quicktime).](http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/wherethewildthingsare/)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-trailer/490893.md?page=2)
