Celebrating "Where the Wild Things Are" with cupcakes! Is there any other way?

The film Where the Wild Things Are debuted last night. I saw a late showing. I'm sure most of us know that the film was adapted from the original children's book by Maurice Sendak.



What a better way to celebrate than with cupcakes?
Heck, I think cupcakes are a good way to celebrate almost anything!

The below cupcakes have been created by Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle.







Aren't they grand? I wish I could bite into one right now!

Because I'm lazy and a bit tired at the moment I'm going to copy and paste a movie review from the NY Times that I think reviews the movie quite well..

First published in 1963, the book follows the adventures of Max, who looks to be about 6 (he’s closer to 9 in the movie) and enters making mischief “of one kind and another” while dressed in a wolf suit with a long, bushy tail and a hood with ears and whiskers. After his unseen mother calls him “wild thing!” and he threatens to eat her up, he is sent to his room without dinner. But his room magically transforms into a forest and, finding a boat, he sails to a place populated by giant, hairy, scary beasts that make him their king. Eventually the tug of home pulls him back to his room, where supper (“still hot”) sits waiting.

There are different ways to read the wild things, through a Freudian or colonialist prism, and probably as many ways to ruin this delicate story of a solitary child liberated by his imagination. Happily, Mr. Jonze (spike jonze), who wrote the screenplay with Dave Eggers, has not attempted to enlarge or improve the story by interpreting it. Rather, he has expanded it, very gently.

There are many questions left unanswered in the film, however I imagine that there is purpose in that. I can only assume that Dave Eggers (author of You Shall Know Our Velocity, A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius) wanted to maintain the simplicity of the children's book in the film.



So for those of you who had never read Where the Wild Things Are in their childhood, I have some homework for you. Read it! It's only 40 pages and some of those 40 pages don't even have words on them. You can handle that can't you?



Read the book and THEN see the movie. Decide for yourself what you think of the adaptation.



Do you feel something different when you watch the film? When I watched the film it actually allowed me to understand something much more profound that occurs in the book. The film I will say, seemed to be much more than a fantasy that occurs within the mind of young "Max". It addressed the complexities of community and camaraderie.



So, let's review....
Step 1: Read the book
Step 2: See the movie
Got it?

Oh and by the way...
The soundtrack has songs by the Yeah Yeah Yeah's and Arcade Fire. How great is that?


Where the Wild Things Are - Trailer

P.S. I'm going to add a step 3. Once you see the film....eat a cupcake!