ROTTEN TOMATOES: Spike Jonze Reveals Origins of Where the Wild Things Are Clip

Spike Jonze Reveals Origins of Where the Wild Things Are Clip

Yeah Yeah Yeahs fans knew it all along.

by Jeff Giles | February 20, 2008

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A supposedly leaked clip of Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are was the talk of the Internet over the weekend. Was it real? Was it fake? Jonze knows, and he's laying the rumors to rest.

In a statement released by Warner Bros., Jonze revealed the origins of the clip, saying:

"That was a very early test with the sole purpose of just getting some footage to Ben our VFX (visual effects) supervisor to see if our VFX plan for the faces would work. The clip doesn't look or feel anything like the movie, the Wild Thing suit is a very early cringy prototype, and the boy is a friend of ours, Griffin, who we had used in a Yeah Yeah Yeahs video we shot a few weeks before. We love him, but he is not in the actual film...Oh, and that is not a wolf suit, it's a lamb suit we bought on the Internet. Talk to you later..."

Over at Slashfilm, Peter Sciretta discusses some early negative feedback for Wild Things, saying audiences at early test screenings have "complained that the film is too adult and even too scary for children." For more, click on the link below!

Source: Slashfilm

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(1-19 of 19 posts) | Reply

TheGreatOne13 writes:
on Feb 20 2008 07:58 AM

audiences at early test screenings have "complained that the film is too adult and even too scary for children."

Sounds like good news to me!

(Reply to this)

AquaFina writes:
on Feb 20 2008 08:09 AM

Agreed, GreatOne. Where the Wild Things Are scared the crap out of me as a kid.

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jokerboy1991 writes:
on Feb 20 2008 08:45 AM

Thats good its creepy. I read the book when I was little and I thought it was creepy while so great. I'm really actually looking foward to this, SPIKE JONZE is a great Director!

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dahluzz writes:
on Feb 20 2008 09:36 AM

first lemme say they could not have picked a better director for this project.

it's amazing how ubiquitous the imagery from 'wild things' has become over the years. i often see people with tattoos of the creatures or notice them stenciled on buildings. it really is one of the great children's books.

someone like michel gondry would have made this visually appealing, but probably would have hammed it up a bit, making the story more playful than it really was. the undercurrents of distress in jonze's films should work well in telling this story and parents, don't pee your pants yet. this isn't going to be ultraviolence like 'pan's labrynth.'

i envision a pg-13 rating for a film that most kids will still be allowed to see and which adults will appreciate as much more than a bedtime story.

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Alexcar writes:
on Feb 20 2008 10:23 AM

I reeeeeeally hope they keep it creepy. That's the kind of book it was! It would ruin the source material to make it childish.

Please don't let the ****ing studios ruin this one...

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jpotter writes:
on Feb 20 2008 11:33 AM

i have pretty high hopes for this. couldn't ask for better than jonze and dave eggers for the script. good to know that they've made a lot of improvements since then, but i actually thought this clip was pretty cool...

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Ruckas356 writes:
on Feb 20 2008 12:16 PM

wow i was impressed with that video.

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POPCORNLUMPY writes:
on Feb 20 2008 12:18 PM

This should be creepy, This was my mom's favorite book as a kid and i cant wait to see this and the smurf movie.

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dreamworks21 writes:
on Feb 20 2008 12:40 PM

yeah i liked the video too, loved the cinematography

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dillingerescapeartist writes:
on Feb 20 2008 01:01 PM

I hope that video was a good indication of what's to come, because I loved it.

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harrismonkey writes:
on Feb 20 2008 01:03 PM

For a screen test they aren't entirely happy with, that was pretty cool!

I've heard the rumblings of the negative test screenings, but this test is very encouraging!

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Scarborough Fair writes:
on Feb 20 2008 01:28 PM

That was a magical clip. Hurray for puppetry.

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danielfrohlich writes:
on Feb 20 2008 02:29 PM

He has me excited.

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cardow writes:
on Feb 20 2008 07:13 PM

those are just test shots?? That simple sequence captures the feeling of the book perfectly. I'm hoping they don't change much between that and the final look of the film. I'm anticipating this much more now.

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SPR writes:
on Feb 20 2008 09:06 PM

they are reshooting the whole thing now apparently. RT is so behind

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John Z. Delorean writes:
on Feb 21 2008 07:24 AM

Just get it made already. This was my book as a kid.

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marktime writes:
on Feb 21 2008 07:54 AM

I'm really excited now. More than I was ealier.

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joescannura writes:
on Feb 26 2008 09:26 AM

i really hope hes telling the truth, that had to be some joke clip or something. theres no way it would be real thing, cause a studio wouldn't let that go out.

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Bob Barfing writes:
on Aug 28 2008 11:10 AM

In reply to this comment (#1604166)
I talked to Max (the star)and he says it was just a lighting clip that Spike made with his next door nehibor. I HAVE A NEVER BEFORE SEEN PIC OF MAX! EMAIL AT be1withrufus@hotmail.com

(Reply to this)