Blu-ray Review: Where the Wild Things Are

Release Date: March 2nd, 2010
Running Time: 101 minutes

The Film

Though I couldn’t explicitly remember the story of Where the Wild Things Are, the striking illustrations of Maurice Sendak’s classic story always stuck with me. From the very first images released I knew that director Spike Jonze had nailed the visual style, but how would the film fare as a whole? The divisive end result is a journey that personifies the emotional complexities of childhood and refuses to edit out the darker feelings that every child experiences. Few films can capture the strange world that is a child’s mind, and in that respect Where the Wild Things Are is an absolute success.

The film stars Max Records as 9-year-old Max, a boy struggling with life whose only respite comes in the form of his imagination. His older sister (Pepita Emmerichs) isn’t giving him the sibling love he yearns for, he misses his father who is gone since the divorce, and an unsettling lesson in school about the eventual death of the sun doesn’t help matters. When his mother (Catherine Keener) has her new boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) over, Max acts out in his white wolf outfit before running away from home and his problems.

Max enters a boat and sets sails to new lands. After a lengthy travel he spots a fire on an island and sails to the shore. He soon comes upon a group of gigantic, hairy monsters bickering and destroying things. The group includes: surly Judith (Catherine O’Hara) and her kind companion Ira (Forest Whitaker); a shy goat-like creature named Alexander (Paul Dano); the peaceful bird-like creature Douglas (Chris Cooper); and many more. Max arrives and endears himself to one of the most volatile monsters, Carol (James Gandolfini), and soon convinces them that he has powers and can solve their problems. The monsters crown Max their king and Max declares a “wild rumpus” where they all smash things and have fun. Max repairs many of the friendships among the monsters, but they soon begin to question his decisions. With the monsters representing his own issues he has fled from, Max begins to work through his emotions and realize the value of his life at home.

Where the Wild Things Are is an interesting, very mature look at childhood and how kids deal with complex emotions. The entire film is presented from Max’s point of view, meaning his reality is our reality and the line where fantasy comes in is purposely muddied. The “darkness” people have complained about represents the gamut of emotions children have to deal with: fear, excitement, loneliness, happiness—a child experiences all of these, and more purely than adults. A child’s imagination is often how they are able to process such complexities, and the monsters in the film are Max’s way of sorting through his own life issues. This is a bold take on a children’s film as many people simply expect sugarplums and fairies, but I think this shows far more respect to the target audience.

Not only is the story and themes well thought out, but the film is a technical achievement as well. The monsters, a hybrid of CGI and practical effects, are exactly how I imagined Sendak’s creations would look like if they were brought to life. Throw in solid performances around the board, particularly from newcomer Max Records, and the result is a very believable adaptation that does justice to the source material but also expands upon underlying themes that the novel didn’t have time to further flesh out.

Where the Wild Things Are is a layered, uncompromised vision of childhood, one your children will connect with if you allow them the opportunity. This film is a perfect example of a story that can spark a dialogue between parents and their children. Use the darker moments as a catalyst to speak to your children about their own fears and insecurities. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something new about each other in the process, the ultimate mark of a successful story.

The Disc

The video is presented in a 2.40:1, 1080p High Definition transfer. Jonze’s style for the film doesn’t make for the most crisp, polished image out there, but it is solid and fitting nonetheless. The color palette is a bit barren but still natural and warm at times. Despite some intermittent softer shots, the fine detail is generally notable. The textures and fur of the creatures is awesome, as is the less fantastical but equally impressive set design for the real world. Thankfully the CGI effects remain believable despite the scrutiny of Blu-ray. Video noise and compression artifacts are not issues. Jonze has created a world faithful to Sendak’s novel, and the transfer is an excellent window into that vision.

The audio is offered in an English DTS HD 5.1 master lossless audio track and English/French/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with English/French/Spanish subtitles. Surrounds are used to enhance the environment not through in-your-face effects, but through subtle atmosphere and ambience. The film does have its fair share of bombastic moments that bring heavy weight and power to the mix through LFE use and smooth pans, but it was the serenity of the quieter moments that most impressed me. Dialogue is always clear, and the score is both beautiful and imaginative.

The Extras

The special features are presented in shorter, more easily digestible segments that provide quality insight through candid, thoughtful comments and footage.

“HBO First Look” (13 minute) is a standard behind-the-scenes featurette with cast and crew interviews but is a bit meatier than similar “First Look” featurettes I have seen.

“Maurice and Spike” (3 minutes) has the legendary author discussing his role in the film and praising the final product. If the author himself is giving the film props then it must have done something right!

“Max and Spike” (7 minutes) is a wonderful little piece where Jonze discusses working with the young actor, making it very clear that this was an exceptional experience for both. Supplementing this is “The Records Family” (7 minutes), a featurette on what the rest of Max’s family was doing on set during the production to keep things fun. Likewise, “The Kids Take Over the Picture” (5 minutes) reinforces how Jonze felt it was paramount to have plenty of children on set to maintain the right tone and spirit.

“Carter Burwell” is a 5-minute featurette on the composer’s efforts to create music and sound fitting of the fantastical story.

“The Absurd Difficulty of Filming a Dog Running and Barking at the Same Time” (6 minutes) is exactly what the title suggests and a hilarious unique segment.

“The Prank” (3 minutes) documents a prank the crew played on Jonze while “Vampire Attack” (1 minute) shows some more behind-the-scenes goofiness.

“Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life” (24 minutes) is a short film combination of animation and live action based on another Sendak book. The extremely odd piece has voice over work by Meryl Street and Forest Whitaker but may ultimately prove too bizarre for most people.

Lastly a second disc is offered housing the Digital Copy and a SD version of the film.

Final Thoughts

Where the Wild Things Are is an uncompromised look at childhood told through one of the most celebrated children’s stories of all time. Presented on a gorgeous Blu-ray disc peppered with content for its target audience, the entire package is a resounding success.