The book that made Maurice Sendak a household name (in every house with kids) is now a movie

[thatcrazycajun]

A live-action movie, yet...and this is the trailer for it.

Wow. Just...holy—freaking—WOW.

I don't know about you folks, but come October 16th, I am SO there.

Comments

[katrinb.livejournal.com]

I think I have just found Robbie's first in-the-theater movie. Matinee, of course, and one specially designed for kids so that he doesn't disturb adults going for a night out, but he HAS to see this in the theater.
So do I. OhboyohboyohBOY!

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

YouTube Version for those who don't want to bother with QuickTime:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVzV3yhqwac

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

dunkelpig & I just watched the trailer. Looks very good, but her remark halfway through, I think, pins down an intrinsic problem with the enterprise: "Needs too much plot." The book has maybe <100 words. Making that into a movie takes a whole lot more plot, and it seems to have it.

It's obviously taking a great deal from the book. It may turn out to be a very good movie, and if Sendak actually wrote it even a great movie, but it's NOT going to be a movie of Where the Wild Things Are.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

By that logic, the movie called "Watchmen" is not a movie of "Watchmen" the comic book. I think you're picking nits here; how much can you really tell about how much more or less plot the film has than the book from a three-minute trailer?

And if not, what would you call it? A movie based on the book? "Inspired by" the book? "Adapted from"? If the author himself puts his name on it and says it's a movie of his book, I'm inclined to give him the final word.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

The graphic novel of Watchmen contains many thousands of words, not unlike a movie script.

Where the Wild Things Are is comprised of less than 100 words, exactly 1 of which (IIRC) is dialog. At the very least, there's going to be an awful lot of padding.

Still, if Sendak's happy with the end result, that will probably be good enough for me. But it's way too early for that to be guaranteed.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Well... no. The cases don't compare. WTWTA is a very short book that doesn't have nearly enough content for a full-length movie, whereas Wm is a full-length graphic novel. Have you watched the WTWTA trailer, and are you familiar with the book? The trailer reveals a great deal of plot material that simply is nowhere in the book and is of a very different tenor from anything in the book.

I'd like to agree with you about the author's authority, but I'm withholding judgement on this one.

[EDIT: I wrote that as a reply to the gmail notification with your comment, before seeing that starmalachite says much the same thing.]

[mseuphrates.livejournal.com]

Sweet - and it opens on my mate's birthday. :) I can totally do that! LOL

[darrenzieger.livejournal.com]

Hmmm....I like that they're not relying on CGI for the creatures, and I like that Spike Jonze is directing. But I do have serious doubts about the previously mentioned need for padding. I'm curious to know just how involved Sendak was with the production.