On the flight home from Dallas, I watched the rest of Where the Wild Things Are on my iPod, a 2009 film directed by Spike Jonze, and based on the Shel Silverstein children’s book. I remember reading the book decades ago as a child, but I didn’t remember it to be a regular story with that much dialogue. It seems that the screenwriters did some extrapolating to create a film out of the short piece of work.
I thought the film itself was well done. After rambunctious Max runs away from home after an incident with his mother, he takes a small sailboat to a land where the monsters live. He becomes their king, and they’re initially happy to have him there, as he promises to make everyone happy to be with each other. However, the monsters continue to disagree with each other.
I didn’t find a lot online to help me interpret the film’s meaning or moral. From what it seemed to me, the monsters appeared to be various aspects of Max’s personality. The rambunctious part, the quiet thoughtful one, the downers, etc. I liked the music and the art direction. As a whole, I thought it was a quiet, thoughtful movie about childhood. It made me think that I should spend more time with my own kids, playing and joking around with them, and encouraging their own imagination.