Where the Wild Things Are is my favoritechildren's book by Maurice Sendak!
This project has had a tumultuous history. Many studios over the years have tried to envision the creatures for the big screen. In 1983, John Lasseter submitted a screen test for a proposed adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's novel Where the Wild Things Are. At that time, Disney owned the movie rights to the book, and Lasseter proposed a combined cel-and-CGI movie that would keep the quality of "squash and stretch" that had made Disney animation the benchmark of the genre.
Even though former Disney animator Don Bluth had dumped the Mouse House and scored a hit with 1982's The Secret of NIMH, Disney executives still didn't see it fit to greenlight what could've been a pretty awesome concept. Granted, they were wincing after sinking umpteen dollars into 1982's Tron (a movie that tanked in theatres but has a sizable cult audience today). Disney executives didn't think this computer thing was going to last, and nixed the project.
Lasseter, soon left Disney and spent the next several years buidling Pixar. Check out this amazing test, which combined traditional hand-drawn, 2D animation with "then-state-of-the-art" 3D computer animation. The animation for the main character Max is so much fun to watch. The previz step that all CG animators are familiar with is called a vector test at Disney, back in 1983.
As best as I can piece together, the crazy history after Disney did not move forward on Lasseter's test went like this...
(1984) When Michael Eisner came on board as CEO of the Walt Disney Company one of the first decisions he made about the future of Animation at the company was to send John Lasseter and his Computer Generated Animation experiment packing.
(2002) Eric Goldberg spent a year at Universal Studios developing Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are as a CG animated feature film until the project became bogged down in classic "development hell.".
(2003) Back when this was planned as a CGI animated movie, producer Tom Hanks was expected to provide one of the voices of the "wild things" but now that it is a live-action project, it's unclear if Hanks will still be involved in that capacity. Playtone Productions (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Polar Express, That Thing You Do! - Tom Hanks' company), Wild Things Productions (Maurice Sendak's company, founded in 1992, specifically hope to someday help make this movie a reality, though they've also produced several HBO animated series.
(2003) Universal has decided to go with acclaimed director Spike Jonze, who has an idea of how to adapt this book as a live-action feature rather than as CGI animation as long planned.
(2004) Universal is aiming for either Thanksgiving, 2004 or the summer of 2005.
(2005) A year later, there's been no word about animation production actually starting on this project, suggesting that the 2004/2005 target may no longer be realistic.
(2006) Variety has announced that Warner Bros. Pictures have snapped up the adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, after the project entered turnaround from Universal Pictures who, ultimately, decided not to re-sign the rights. This is no longer a CGI animated project.
I am so excited to finally see this movie hit the big screen. The film is directed by Spike Jonze and written by Dave Eggers. It was originally set for release from Universal, and a teaser of the film was attached to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, a vehicle from the same studio. However, disagreements with Jonze led him to take the film to Warner Bros. The movie is expected to combine live action, suitmation and CGI. I am kind of bummed the monsters will not be CG. I think after Monsters, Inc. CG animation has proven to be a great vehicle for this type of character, but now that I have seen the cast for this movie, I can't wait to see what Jonze has done.
Image below thank to the MTV Movies Blog
Even though former Disney animator Don Bluth had dumped the Mouse House and scored a hit with 1982's The Secret of NIMH, Disney executives still didn't see it fit to greenlight what could've been a pretty awesome concept. Granted, they were wincing after sinking umpteen dollars into 1982's Tron (a movie that tanked in theatres but has a sizable cult audience today). Disney executives didn't think this computer thing was going to last, and nixed the project.
Lasseter, soon left Disney and spent the next several years buidling Pixar. Check out this amazing test, which combined traditional hand-drawn, 2D animation with "then-state-of-the-art" 3D computer animation. The animation for the main character Max is so much fun to watch. The previz step that all CG animators are familiar with is called a vector test at Disney, back in 1983.
Here is the limited traditional animated version of the story...
As best as I can piece together, the crazy history after Disney did not move forward on Lasseter's test went like this...
(1984) When Michael Eisner came on board as CEO of the Walt Disney Company one of the first decisions he made about the future of Animation at the company was to send John Lasseter and his Computer Generated Animation experiment packing.
(2002) Eric Goldberg spent a year at Universal Studios developing Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are as a CG animated feature film until the project became bogged down in classic "development hell.".
(2003) Back when this was planned as a CGI animated movie, producer Tom Hanks was expected to provide one of the voices of the "wild things" but now that it is a live-action project, it's unclear if Hanks will still be involved in that capacity. Playtone Productions (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Polar Express, That Thing You Do! - Tom Hanks' company), Wild Things Productions (Maurice Sendak's company, founded in 1992, specifically hope to someday help make this movie a reality, though they've also produced several HBO animated series.
(2003) Universal has decided to go with acclaimed director Spike Jonze, who has an idea of how to adapt this book as a live-action feature rather than as CGI animation as long planned.
(2004) Universal is aiming for either Thanksgiving, 2004 or the summer of 2005.
(2005) A year later, there's been no word about animation production actually starting on this project, suggesting that the 2004/2005 target may no longer be realistic.
(2006) Variety has announced that Warner Bros. Pictures have snapped up the adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, after the project entered turnaround from Universal Pictures who, ultimately, decided not to re-sign the rights. This is no longer a CGI animated project.
I am so excited to finally see this movie hit the big screen. The film is directed by Spike Jonze and written by Dave Eggers. It was originally set for release from Universal, and a teaser of the film was attached to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, a vehicle from the same studio. However, disagreements with Jonze led him to take the film to Warner Bros. The movie is expected to combine live action, suitmation and CGI. I am kind of bummed the monsters will not be CG. I think after Monsters, Inc. CG animation has proven to be a great vehicle for this type of character, but now that I have seen the cast for this movie, I can't wait to see what Jonze has done.
Image below thank to the MTV Movies Blog
Cast
- Catherine Keener
- James Gandolfini
- Benicio Del Toro
- Rachel Rivera
- Forest Whitaker
- Melissa Davis
- Michelle Williams
- Catherine O'Hara
- Tom Noonan
- Paul Dano
- Angus Sampson
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