Ok, so we just finished reviewing the script of Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze’s “Where The Wild Things Are” adaptation and also just re-read the original children’s book by Maurice Sendak (it takes about one minute).
We got to thinking who was voicing who and what monster they would looke like, so we compared script, book, toys and everything else ‘Wild Things’ we could find and came up with these final answers.
We’re about 95% sure we’ve got it all correct, but we could be off of what monster they look like (the monster Aaron, see below). Though note, we even went to the source and tracked down the guy who wrote the original ‘Wild Things’ preview piece on AICN and he said, we’re correct as far as he can remember and that we nailed our review.
This is a bit complicated. Released pictures of “Where The Wild Things Are” movie have revealed five monsters, but there are actually seven creatures in the script. And in the original story there are nine monsters (though two of them seem lesser and are only featured in two panels).
Here’s the other thing about ‘The Wild Things.’ In the original story none of the monsters have names. When Todd MacFarlane worked with Maurice Sendak to make toys from the bizarre animals he only made six of them and all of a sudden they had names and, well according to Wikipedia anyhow (yeah, yeah, we know), those names were nicknames of Sendak’s family members (hey, he did make the toys with Sendak, so surely those names didn’t come out of thin air). In the script, all the monsters names are new inventions and totally different from the toys. So some of the monsters have two names, and some – that weren’t ever made into toys – only have one (you’ll see in a sec).
As we mentioned in our review of the script, the ‘Wild Thing’ creatures are essentially children. Here’s a look at who voices them and a bit about their fragile psyches. There’s no spoilers here per se, but we do explain what the character emotions and motivations are like, so if you want to go in blind, turn the channel.
Who The Wild Things Are: The Monsters, The Voices, The Actors
James Gandolfini – Carol – Moishie
The leader of the group until King Max comes along, Carol is big-hearted, joyfully tender, but prone to melancholy and bellicose outbursts when his sensitive feelings are hurt. He doesn’t know his own strength and the other Wild Things are always tentative and hesitant around him. They know what he’s capable of and they keep their distance when he gets too excited and or aggressive.
Forest Whitaker – Ira – N/A
Ira is known as the “huge nosed wild thing” in the script which leads us to believe he’s this lesser-known monster in the book (he’s maybe in only two page frames), but he’s the only creature with a protruding nose unless you count Aaron, who has more of a dog face with a rhino-like tusk. He could be either or and of course, what’s written in the script doesn’t always have to match (they could have changed the monsters they were going to use). In the screenplay, Ira is said to be the husband of Judith (voiced by Catherine O’Hara), but that relationship might have changed since it was written. The story also notes that Ira has bad posture and a “sad aura.”
Paul Dano – Alexander – Goat Boy
It’s already been confirmed, but it’s easy to figure out who Paul Dano’s character is. He’s supposed to play the goat character and there’s only one Goat Boy. In the script, the littlest of the monsters is named Alex and despite his diminutive height he seems to be slightly more sophisticated than the rest. He speaks in sarcastic and haughty teenage tones, is rather snotty and is the only creature extremely reluctant to embrace Max (maybe because they’re of the same stature and he’s got short-monster issues).
Catherine O’Hara – Judith – N/A
“I’m one of the Wild Things. My name is Judith,” O’Hara told Sci-Fi Wire. In the script she is described as Ira’s wife, and “severe, ugly.” And note like any screenplay, the actors went off-book when it came to voicing/playing-out their parts. “We were working from a script, but we were also improvising a lot,” Ohara said.
Lauren Ambrose – K.W. – Tzippy
“It’s the one that looks just like me with the long red hair,” Ambrose told Vulture in June. “It’s uncanny.” The “Six Feet Under” stars plays K.W., the Wild Thing that tenderly takes to Max, but has outstanding and unresolved issues with Carol and they’re constantly bickering. “I’ve been having screaming matches with [co-star] James Gandolfini,” she said alluding to their dynamic. That twosome act as a loose metaphor for the problems Max and his sister have says our insider. In the script, K.W. isn’t as big as the monsters, but she still towers over Max and she also has skeptical teenage overtones. She has “sweet, gentle eyes and fangs – cute fangs.”
Tom Noonan – Douglas – Emil
Noonan told Cinematical at Cannes that he voices the “big chicken” which can be none other than Douglas the rooster-looking monster. Noonan is a great actor and he’ll also be featured in another Spike Jonze-related project later this year, Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York” (which Jonze executive produced). Evidently they both have a fondness for this actor.
Michael Berry Jr. – Daniel – The Bull
Though he doesn’t have any dialogue in the script, our source says the in the movie version the Bull does have a couple lines of dialogue near the end with Max, but they’re “very minimal.” According to the somewhat unreliable IMDB, Michael Berry Jr. voices the beast. The Bull doesn’t talk in the screenplay, but instead stares out ominously at the camera/audience several times in the story and the way its written is actually quite unnerving. The role could also be voiced by Australian actor Angus Sampson, it seems a bit unclear. At the least it appears one of them is in the suit and one does the voice, either way, both are fairly unknown.
Max Records – Max
We all know Max, the boy sent to bed without supper for his mischievous behavior. As mentioned in our script review, Max is extremely imaginative, yet fragile, sensitive and anxious – especially around the Wild Things whose unpredictable behavior and emotions can sometimes leave him wondering whether they are friend or foe. Like any young boy of eight years old, he’s given to tantrums and excitable outbursts, but he bonds quite deeply with both K.W. and Carol which also fuels the latter’s jealousy fits.
The Music
Also of note, we had heard these rumors, but we checked in with our source and he confirmed: the original test screenings had temp music that featured tons of the Arcade Fire and also acoustic Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs songs. He writes to us, “95% of the songs were from the Arcade Fire, the rest were acoustic Yeah Yeah Yeah’s songs. The only placement I remember is that they played “Rebellion (Lies)” over the ‘wild rumpus scene.’ I’m not a fan of this band, but that scene turned that song into one of my new favorites. “
Do you think Spike will go there again and use these bands or will it all be Karen O and Carter Burwell? Too bad it’s waay too early to tell (and seems unlikely), but “Rebellion (Lies)” in a ‘Wild Things’/ Spike Jonze film does sounds like it would be a pretty momentous cinematic occasion.
[ed. Note for the people reading, but not discerning (and there seems to be a few out there), The Arcade Fire and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, did NOT write the score or soundtrack for this film. Their music was used in the temp soundtrack of a test screening. Big, big distinction to be made.