Supposedly Spike Jonze’s faithful adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are struck fear into the hearts of children; ironically enough tales of impending reshoots and reconstruction are doing the same thing for adult fans of the book.
But Forest Whitaker tells MTV that his kids weren’t scared by Jonze’s preview cut. Whitaker voices Ira, the film’s main wild thing, and took his family to one of the early screenings. Not only does Whitaker say that his kids liked it, he sounds pretty passionate about Jonze’s version of the film as a whole.
“[The dark scenes] are the point of the movie,” Whitaker says, “and I hope that they maintain that point, because I think children can identify with a character who is upset.”
He goes on to say that “These are real issues that the character deals with, and I hope that [the filmmakers] continue to explore them, because kids need to see that; they need to see that other kids are dealing with it.”
I’m no parent, but I do know that kids are far more resilient and (generally) smarter than they’re given credit for. I can’t imagine that Jonze has crafted some children’s movie version of Saw, and if there’s a recognizable basis for the scary stuff in the movie, most young audiences will be able to handle it. Is ‘most’ enough for a kids movie that costs this much? I hope so.
7 comments
I think I'll go with forest on this one. Always bet on black
People tend to forget that in Pinocchio, the title character is enslaved, beaten, turned unto a pig and eaten by a big ass whale. That movie, as a kid, scared the shit out of me, but it was still my favorite because it made me feel very strong emotions.
C'mon, kids are tough. At least my generation was. Secret of Nihm is a screwed up kid's movie, but damn if I don't remember it as one of the classics.
I never liked most kids targeted material when I was young because it was mostly so patronizing. Why do kids have to be given a diet of one kid of thing? If a kid frightens easily, they should not watch it, just like an adult would avoid a scary movie. But there are kids would are entirely ready for it. Never Ending Story was one of my favorite movies because it didn't feel like a kids movie even though it totally was.
I never liked most kids targeted material when I was young because it was mostly so patronizing. Why do kids have to be given a diet of one kid of thing? If a kid frightens easily, they should not watch it, just like an adult would avoid a scary movie. But there are kids would are entirely ready for it. Never Ending Story was one of my favorite movies because it didn't feel like a kids movie even though it totally was.
The Dark Crystal was pretty dark when I was a kid but nowadays I cant even really remember what it was about except it involved ugly puppets. I'm guessing Spike is not making 'Meet the Feebles'. I am really looking forward to his vision of this story.
You know what would really scare kids? The Old Testament audio book as narrated by Boris Karloff.
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