Talkie Zoo: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Where The Wild Things Are (2009; PG-13) is a fairy tale, of course. It centers around a little boy, Max, who is very bad behaved. He behaves as though his family and the world owe him something. He acts out in terrible ways, even to the point of biting his struggling mother. She sends him to bed without his supper, where he falls asleep and enters a dream world of large, talking beasts. In the dream he runs away, then sails away on the ocean, landing on the island where these creatures live.

He says he is a king with special powers, and they all believe it. He leads them on activities that wind up causing hurt feelings and friendship rifts. Along the way, he learns some things about himself and his own bad behavior.

This film is based on the book by Maurice Sendak. If you know some folks who sell used books, you may be able to read the story yourself. A couple of things were left out of the film, but by and large, it stuck to the story in the book, not taking too many liberties or changing the original story line and outcome.