Where the Wild Things Are is an adaption of the much loved classic children's book by Maurice Sendak. When Spike Jonze (director and co-writer), Dave Eggers (co-writer), and Karen O (soundtrack) became attached, everyone with an interest in film, literature, and music outside the mainstream was paying attention. It took years to make, with rumors of all sorts of trouble. I remember hearing how awful the effects were coming out and how much trouble young Max Records was as Max, but I still had high hopes. Clearly, this was not going to be a typical kids movie cashing in on a famous kids story; it seemed like the people involved really cared about making something important. And while I am not in love with every aspect of the film, it felt like some talented people making exactly what they wanted to make. The effects were truly impressive. The emotions of Max felt exactly like being a young boy struggling to come to terms with how to process all these new feelings that are overwhelming and impossible to describe when you are that age. The pervading sense of danger was impressively managed. The adventures with the wild things didn't blow my mind the whole way through, but I was definitely engaged throughout. Many people seemed to think it was not a movie actual children would appreciate. I was even curious how kids might deal with the heavier elements of the story. I would still very much like to see the film next to a few kids, but I genuinely believe this is a great film for people of all ages.
I saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox last week as well, and it is one of my favorite Wes Anderson films in a long time, and possibly ever. I loved Rushmore when I first saw it. I was also a huge fan of Royal Tenenbaums when it came out. When The Life Aquatic arrived, I enjoyed it as well, but started to realize Anderson was essentially exploring very similar ideas in each film. His formula was apparent, and the law of diminishing returns was making each of his works less relevant simply because his other works already existed. I never even saw The Darjeeling Limited, though I still plan to. When I finally got to watching Bottle Rocket, I enjoyed it as well, but not as much as I probably would have if I had seen it before all his other directorial efforts. The Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on a book by Roald Dahl, is still very much in the same territory as Anderson's previous efforts, but the stop-motion presentation and story trappings made it feel much fresher than anything I thought he would create. The story is basically about Mr. Fox causing all sorts of trouble for his family and community as he struggles to balance his very nature and his responsibilities as a husband, father, and community member. The stop motion animation is so refreshing to see. The story is episodic, but never stops moving, and never stops being completely charming. The characters and voices are strong across the board. Jason Schwartzman is back to voice Ash, Mr. Fox's son, who is not very different than Schwartzman's character in Rushmore, one of the many parallels to be made. Again, people started questioning the story's relevance to an actual child, and again I had a hard time understanding why.
Both of these films are clearly not aimed at children; they are aimed at people. It takes a lot more talent and creativity to make a film that is meant to be enjoyed by people of all ages, but I would count both of these films as a success in that regard. Sure, there are jokes that will go over kids heads, but that is half the fun of watching these kinds of films because they will grow with you. I watched many children's films when I was a kid, and I am still a fan of many, but most of my favorite childhood films were not aimed at children directly.
Look at films like the original Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman, The Goonies, E.T., Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Look Who's Talking, The Sandlot, Stand By Me, the entire John Hughes catalog (including The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Sixteen Candles, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off) until Home Alone, Back to the Future, The Lost Boys, The Wizard, The Secret of N.I.M.H, and even many Disney classics. Depending on your specific childhood, this list may also include films like Alien, Predator, Terminator, Pretty Woman, Dirty Dancing, Grease, Jurassic Park, and more. These films were not designed for kids alone, or even at all in some cases, yet I know many people of my generation grew up on them and, more importantly, with them. These kinds of films are an important part of maturing in our pop culture laden society. They act as milestones. They are safe little doses of the world, often in convenient fantasy trappings. If a young brain is not ready to comprehend all the ideas in a given film, they usually just sail right over said young brain's head without affecting the enjoyment of the movie. Have people forgotten this experience? How exciting is it to have such great films to offer young minds, knowing full well that they will revisit them years later and find whole new layers of meaning to appreciate. Children do not want entertainment to talk down to them. And I hope parents don't either. If you keep talking to a baby in baby speak, how will it ever learn to form real sentences? I am not arguing that there is no place for simple kid stories, but films like Where the Wild Things Are and The Fantastic Mr. Fox are at least equally important forms of entertainment for young minds.
Up and Coraline had some very dark and complex ideas in them as well. Sitting in the theater during Up with my friend's four year old son, I heard him ask his parents, "What happened to the grandma?" within the first 10 minutes of the film and I like that. These moments can help start a dialogue about many complex aspects of life. Feelings of entertaining terror some movies offer to young children can be valuable as well, nightmares and all. There is, of course, some judgment required on the part of the parent to decide when a child is ready for certain ideas, but generally kids are smarter than they get credit for.
We should also be thankful to have such great entry points for young people to experience these important contemporary filmmakers and artists. Sure, Adaptation, Being John Malcovich, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, or Fever to Tell, might not be great entry points for an eight year old, but now you can introduce a child to Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers, and Karen O of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs all with one film. How great is that? And now we have the same opportunity with Wes Anderson and The Fantastic Mr. Fox as well. When John Hughes made Home Alone, sure it was a fun way to introduce children to a great pop culture filmmaker, but it also signaled the end of his relevance, as seems to be the case with many directors who set out to make a film aimed at children. With these recent films, that does not seem to be the case at all. Spike Jonze and Wes Anderson will likely continue to direct the type of indie films they are famous for.
It is a great time to be a film lover of any age. It is often very difficult to find entertainment for all ages, and on that level 2009 has been extremely generous. Maybe it is time to give children a little more credit. We were all kids once, so it should not be that difficult to remember that many of our favorite childhood films, were not children's films at all.
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