Product Description

"Let the wild rumpus start!" Nine-year-old Max runs away from home and sails across the sea to become king of the land Where the Wild Things Are. King Max rules a wondrous realm of gigantic fuzzy monsters--but being king may not be as carefree as it looks! Filmmaker Spike Jonze directs a magical, visually astonishing film version of Maurice Sendak's celebrated children's classic, starring an amazing cast of screen veterans and featuring young Max Records in a fierce and sensitive performance as Max. Explore the joyous, complicated and wildly imaginative wild rumpus of the time and place we call childhood.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8174 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2010-03-02
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Spanish, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 101 minutes

Features

• Condition: New
• Format: Blu-ray
• Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; Subtitled; Widescreen

Amazon.com
Through his handcrafted ode to the trials of childhood, Spike Jonze puts his own unique imprint on Maurice Sendak's enduring classic. In the prologue, 9-year-old Max (Max Records) stomps around the house, feeling neglected. When his mom (Catherine Keener) sends him to bed without supper, Max runs away (something he doesn't do in the book). He finds a boat and sails to a distant land where fuzzy monsters are raising a rumpus in the forest. Since his wolf suit allows him to fit right in, he joins the fray, catching the eye of Carol (James Gandolfini, excellent), who notes, approvingly, "I like the way you destroy stuff. There's a spark to your work that can't be taught." With that, they pronounce the diminutive creature king, hoping he can bring cohesion to their fractured family. After Max comes across Carol's scale-model town, he decides they should build a real one, but the project stalls as Alexander (Paul Dano) and Douglas (Chris Cooper) mope, Judith (Catherine O'Hara) browbeats Ira (Forest Whitaker), and Carol pines for K.W. (Lauren Ambrose), who prefers the company of owls Bob and Terry. Max realizes he has to make a choice: stay with the wild things or return home, where he has to keep his aggressive impulses in check. For readers of Sendak's slim tome, his decision won't come as a surprise, but Jonze ends the story on a lovely grace note. Until that time, the squabbling is a bit much--these monsters never stop talking--but Jonze, cowriter Dave Eggers, the Jim Henson Company, and singer/songwriter Karen O. have gone all-out to re-create the inner world of a child with as much empathy as was mustered for the inner adult world of Jonze's Being John Malkovich. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Video Description
From KIDS FIRST!: Maurice Sendak’s book comes to life with lush cinematography and incredible puppetry. Things aren’t going so well in young Max’s life so he runs away, and his imagination takes him to the land where the wild things are. In this land, Max claims to be a king so he won’t get eaten, and the wild things look to him for leadership. While being king can be lots of fun, Max learns that being responsible for everyone isn’t so great, especially when his subjects get hurt by his own poor choices. It’s an unsettling tale about a boy who deals with the hardships in life by throwing severe tantrums. Some adult jurors who viewed this title felt that it was inappropriate for Max to lash out so much. However, some child viewers watching the film came from dysfunctional families. They immediately connected with Max, and saw how his dealing with the tantrums of Carol, one of the wild things, showed how anger and lashing out wasn’t the way to deal with life’s problems. KIDS FIRST! Child Juror Comments: This movie was okay. It was fun to watch at first, and then it got sort of boring near the end. The storyline was good like the wild things taught Max that it’s okay to not be wild, and that you should love your family. It looked okay. The wild things looked pretty weird. My favorite part was when the wild thing got angry and he punched the chicken’s arm off and sand came out. After that happened the chicken didn’t care. He just said, “Oh, that was my favorite arm!” I loved when the wild thing was playing around with Max, and he was jumping. He hit his face on the branch and did a backflip, and he didn’t care. He just thought it was fun.