Where the Wild Things Are

Story

Based on the picture book by Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are is about a young boy named Max (Max Records) with a vivid imagination. He travels to an island by boat and befriends the wild monsters who live there. The movie differs from the book in that Max runs away from home and actually goes to the island after an argument with his mum (Catherine Keener).

Max travels across the ocean. He is washed up in a storm onto an island where monstrous Wild Things live. They look very much like savage children themselves. An aggressive male Wild Thing named Carol (voice of James Gandolfini) decides not to eat Max and becomes his friend. A depressed Judith (voice of Catherine O’Hara) is not so sure and is more suspicious of Max. To save his life, Max tells them that he has special powers that can fix their problems. So they decide to make him King of all Wild Things, believing that they will be happy and everything will be exactly as they have always dreamed it could be.

At first Max does a great job. His wild rumpus brings them all together. His plans for a huge fortress where they can all sleep in a big pile go well. Everyone helps and works together. But disagreements come up, loyalties are questioned, and Carol starts to show a darker and more dangerous side. After Max barely escapes with his life, he begins to appreciate what he had before. He also realises that what the Wild Things need is not king, but a mum.

Themes

Loneliness; family relationships and breakdown; depression; elements of domestic violence

Violence

This movie contains some violence. For example:

Max aggressively kicks and yells at a fence.
Max starts a snowball fight with some of his sister’s friends. They fight back and end up collapsing his igloo while Max is inside it. Although Max is crying, his sister doesn’t do anything to help him.
Angry at his sister, Max runs into her room and destroys something he’d made for her. He makes a huge mess and gets snow and water all over her bed and carpet.
Max stands on the bench and shouts at his mother, ‘Feed me woman!’ He refuses to get down. When she pulls him off the bench, he bites her. She drops him to the ground, and Max runs away into the woods.
In a rage, Carol smashes the homes of the Wild Things. He throws another Wild Thing through the air, and he crashes through the house.
Max joins in and tries to destroy other houses as well.
The Wild Things repeatedly threaten to eat Max.
Max’s crown is taken from a pile of bones. The bones belong to previous kings who have all been eaten by the Wild Things.
During the wild rumpus, Wild Things jump, crash, knock into each other, hit each other with sticks, and head butt each other. Max is nearly bumped off a cliff and crushed by a falling tree.
KW pushes Max down a sand dune.
KW hits two birds with stones, knocking both of them out of the air. Then she picks them up and carries them like footballs under her arms, insisting that they like it.
Max orders that there will be a war. The Wild Things divide into a good side and a bad side and throw dirt clods at each other. Max is hit in the head. Alexander is knocked off his feet. Although Alexander is down and says that he is hurt, Max orders someone to hit Alexander again. The next clod hits Alexander in the head. We later see a dirty, matted gash on the side of his face.
KW steps on Carol’s head. This puts Carol into a nasty mood.
When Max asks for a small secret compartment in the fort, Carol gets angry. He punches a hole in the wall and wanders off in a rage.
In a fury, Carol rips Douglas’s arm off his body. Douglas is later seen with a false arm.
Carol lunges at Max and chases him through the woods. Carol screams, ‘I’ll eat you up!’ in a terrifying and ferocious tone.

Sexual references

None of concern

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

This movie contains some use of substances. For example, Max’s mother has a glass of wine with a male friend.

Nudity and sexual activity

None of concern

Product placement

None of concern

Coarse language

None of concern

Ideas to discuss with your children

Where the Wild Things Are is a dark fantasy adventure being promoted as a children’s movie. This movie is, however, entirely unsuitable for young audiences. Fans of the book might well want to see it. They should be aware, though, that the only things the book and the movie share are costumes and characters. The plot of the movie heads in a far more sinister direction. There is also a lot of handheld camera footage.

The main messages from this movie are that sometimes you don’t realise what you have until it’s gone. Be grateful for family and for people who love you for who or what you are.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include independence, resourcefulness, responsibility and forgiveness.

This movie could give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life attitudes and behaviours such as:

running away from your problems instead of facing them or talking about them
using violence as a way to solve problems
taking out your anger on other people
taking unnecessary or dangerous risks
destroying other people’s things
not talking with your parents
making other people believe that you’re something you’re not.

You could also talk about role reversals and the fact that Max took on the role of leader or grown-up for the Wild Things, even though he is just a child himself.