Where the Wild Things Are

I LOVE Maurice Sendak's works: The "Where the Wild Things Are" characters are about as unique as they get. The illustrations in the "Little Bear" series still enchant. "In the Night Kitchen" allowed us a fun game when the kids were little of gently pounding them and stirring them like dough.

Throughout his career, Sendak has been no stranger to controversy: Both with the drawings of "Wild Things" when the book was first released and with showing the full anatomy of a little boy in "Night Kitchen."

But even a favorite author can go too far. And that, in my opinion, is what Sendak has done in a Newsweek interview recently about the Wild Things movie, which opens in theaters on Friday. The movie is rated PG, for any parents contemplating taking their little ones to see the film. A quick look at the trailer will show you that yes, the monsters look real, and yes, the boy truly travels in rough waters alone on the high sea. In case you're wondering whether the movie might be too scary for your little ones, there are some good Web sites that will tell you that sort of thing. Unfortunately, they haven't posted their reviews just yet. As for Sendak himself, he really doesn't care for any of us parents who consider whether a movie is too scary for our children before spending the gobs of money movie theaters charge these days:

Newsweek: What do you say to parents who think the Wild Things film may be too scary?
Sendak: I would tell them to go to hell. That's a question I will not tolerate.
Because kids can handle it?
Sendak: If they can't handle it, go home. Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it's not a question that can be answered.

In other parts of the interview (bonus interview here), Sendak pans movies that cater too much to little child/big parent sensibilities. After all, scary movies molded his childhood 70+ years ago (Sendak is 81) and life as a child is scary. While he may well be right, he needn't have been quite so angry and dismissive of those of us with children who won't sit through movies that scare them. I'd much rather have seen both Sendak and the others intricately involved with making the movie give a clear age range of who they think the movie will appeal to and who it's appropriate for and not. Yes, there are always exceptions to such questions, but general guidelines can apply.

Let's just run through a few choices in which information overload isn't a problem:

Finding Nemo: A movie perfect for the toddler set, EXCEPT the first scene where the mom and all the eggs get eaten by a barracuda. I discussed the never-before-watched scene with my elementary schoolers this morning, revealing in words the part they'd never seen. And even they agreed it wouldn't have been something they wanted to see a few years ago. Now, though, they both want to finally see it; and I'm happy to show it to them. On DVD, it's easy to skip that first scene without the kids ever knowing since the credits start after the shark attack.

The Wizard of Oz: The book was wonderfully imaginative and on our summer reading list a few months ago. We followed it up with the movie. Nipper (age 5) couldn't sit through it because he found it too scary. Instead, we let him put on a movie that wouldn't give him nightmares in another room.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -- the original: Another book/movie charmer that was on our summer list. Neither boy was scared by the boat in the dark tunnel, but hubby recalls vividly that scene scaring him as a kid.

Charlotte's Web: I made the mistake of taking our kids to see this movie in their preschool days. As elementary schoolers, they'd be fine. But back then, the death of Charlotte brought a four-year-old to tears. My mistake: Pumpkin Pie has an intense love of all things living -- ants, spiders, beetles, crickets, cicadas, etc.

The Lion King:  Pumpkin Pie (age 7) hasn't seen the movie by choice. He knows the dad dies and made the call that he didn't want to watch a movie in which that happens. Again, information can be a good thing.

Will you be going to see Wild Things this weekend? If so, come on back and share your thoughts on age-appropriateness.