Last week at Comic-con, audiences got their first glimpse of footage from director Spike Jonze’s big screen adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Read the full post.
Aug 2
2009
04:31 PM ET
Wes Anderson, Tim Burton, and Spike Jonze: What happens when Hollywood's dark and edgy auteurs mine childhood for its tragi-comic absurdity?
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Watership Down- could a children’s movie like that get released today?
This is not a new phenomenon. Disingenuous characters have long been staples of children’s fairy tales and family films. From the wicked witch of The Wizard of Oz to the headless horseman of sleepy Hollow, books and films based upon books have flourished with wild, imaginative, and scary characters. I’ve read all the Harry Potter books and seen the movies with the kids and often times the book is darker and scarier and leaves more of an imprint on a child than the movies. Of the films mentioned in the article, we’ve only seen the trailer to Where the Wild Things Are. And it didn’t have a sinister appearance at all. It just looked weird and I’m not sure this film version is going to connect with children and families like the book.
“I think people have started throwing around the word “dark” a little to readily when it comes to children’s films. A death in the movie does not necessarily make it “dark”. A movie having serious issues does not necessarily make it “dark”.”
I agree. Just because a movie tackles some serious themes or isn’t 100% happy fluff does not mean it is a dark movie.