Fun Film Trivia from Where The Wild Things Are
Behind the Scenes on the Adventure Fantasy from Classic Kid’s Book
The film, Where The Wild Things Are, stars Max Records and Catherine Keener; plus the voices of James Gandolfini Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker and Paul Dano.
Story Background of Where The Wild Things Are
The film’s screenplay is based the classic children’s picture book “Where The Wild Things Are”, written by its illustrator, Maurice Sendak. The book was published by HarperCollins in 1963. Where The Wild Things Are was awarded the Caldecott Medal (the highest honor an artist can achieve for children's book illustration) as the "Most Distinguished Picture Book of the Year”.
With the utmost affection and respect for the book, Jonze began the adaptation of the slender tome into a feature-length film with the idea to broaden Max's adventure and fully realize the unknown terrain of his fantasy world. Jonze co-wrote the screenplay with acclaimed novelist and first-time scriptwriter, Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, You Shall Know Our Velocity!).
With the intention to keep the film true to the author's values, Jonze and Eggers met with Sendak at his Connecticut home to consult him with their plans for the movie. Sendak, who is also a producer on the film, was fully involved throughout production. He immediately trusted Jonze’s point of view; and loved how the film enhanced his book.
Main Characters of Where The Wild Things Are
- Max, the child who wishes for a world where he's in charge, is played by twelve year old Max Records, who made his film debut in Where the Wild Things Are. At the age of eight, Records appeared in music videos for Cake and Death Cab for Cutie. Recently, Records appeared as a young Stephen Bloom in The Brothers Bloom.
- Casting for the lead role of Max involved a search of over a year and spanned many continents. Jonze wanted a real kid, who could give a real, emotional performance. As opposed to the polished performance that a professional child actor who would produce.
- Max's mom, the frazzled single mother, is played by Catherine Keener (Into the Wild, An American Crime, Capote, The 40 Year Old Virgin). After finishing her earlier scenes with Records, Keener remained on the film set through a portion of the location shoot in Australia to work with the fledgling young actor, and serve as Jonze's acting partner.
- The voices of the beasts were performed by an ensemble cast led by Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara and Forest Whitaker. On location, costumed actors were used to match the beastly characters’ body language to the dialogue. Later, their facial expressions were digitally enhanced to add nuance to their thoughts and actions.
- Carol, the powerful, yet sensitive, leader of the “Wild Things”, is portrayed by James Gandolfini (The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, In the Loop, TV’s "The Sopranos").
- KW, the free-spirit who enjoys her alone time away from the group, is portrayed by Lauren Ambrose (Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, A Dog Year, Starting Out in the Evening, TV’s "Six Feet Under").
- Douglas, the high-energized and feathery, rooster-like creature, is portrayed by Chris Cooper (New York, I Love You, Capote, Jarhead, Seabiscuit).
- Judith, the sarcastic and domineering she beast, is portrayed by Catherine O'Hara (For Your Consideration, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman).
- Ira, Judith's meek and tolerant companion, is portrayed by Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, American Gun, The Way of the Samurai, Panic Room).
- Alexander, the goat-horned, who often feels slighted because of his smaller size, is portrayed by Paul Dano (Taking Woodstock, There Will Be Blood, Little Miss Sunshine, L.I.E., The Ballad of Jack and Rose).
Behind the Scenes of Where The Wild Things Are
The film merges live action, state-of-the-art puppetry and computer animation to place Max directly into the company of nine-foot-tall monsters. After staging the vocal performances, the Australian actors on location watched footage from the voice recording. Then, they donned the gigantic costumes to mirror what the voice actors did to physically animate the “Wild Things” on location.
The Jim Henson Company and its Creature Shop in Los Angeles built and refined the enormous costumes over a six-month period before shipping them to Australia. The costumes were made to be puppeteered from inside, so when the actors flex their limbs the suit’s muscles also flex.
On Location with Where The Wild Things Are
After shooting the movie on a soundstage over two weeks, the filmmakers found the location setting for the Wild Things in the hills, quarries and shoreline areas outside of Melbourne, Australia.
The production designer K.K. Barrett, wanted a gritty and realistic environment, with natural elements; a place that looked like no one has visited before. After considering places as diverse as Argentina, Hawaii, New Zealand and California, the filmmakers selected the southern tip of Australia.
In the scene in which Max pilots his boat alone toward the unknown shore, the cinematographer was shooting with a hand-held in the back of the boat. Suddenly, a set of rogue, ten foot waves came through. They crashed over the boat and knocked the camera into the water. It started dragging along the ocean floor and, unfortunately, it was tied around the weight belt of the cameraman. He was dragged down with the camera, and nearly drowned until he finally got the belt off.
[Source material courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.]
Carol and Max from Where The Wild Things Are
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