'Where the Wild Things Are'

This very special film is the rare children’s offering that isn’t coded for adults or made corny and flip for kids.

What an impossible task Spike Jonze has set for himself, adapting one of the few works that can be confidently called “perfect.” Maurice Sendak’s illustrated children’s book Where the Wild Things Are is the tale of a little boy’s tantrum and hi [...]

“Where the Wild Things Are” and “An Education.”

The 2009 film is a perfect encapsulation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s story.

Spike Jonze has recently said in interviews that his chief goal in adapting Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are was to try to capture the feeling of being 9. By that measure—by just about any measure, really—he succeeded wildly. The big hurdle was spinning a beloved, essentially plot-free 300-word children’s…

These ungainly bundles of fur take on an endearing whimsicalitywhich is refreshingly free of schmaltz.

Time Out New York Project: Issue #733, October 15-21, 2009

At its best, Spike Jonze’s version of Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are, which he co-wrote with the novelist Dave Eggers, captures its roaring mania perfectly.