Where are the wild things? Right here

Maurice Sendak is one of those names that is synonymous with children’s literature. Along with books that he has written and illustrated, such as “Where the Wild Things Are” (1963) and “In the Night Kitchen” (1970), he has illustrated dozens of others.

“Where the Wild Things Are,” a book that has been credited with changing the rules for contemporary children’s literature, is in the news because of the new movie adaptation directed by Spike Jonze (cowritten with Dave Eggers).

And the first thing you might ask is, how does Jonze make a 48-page, 10-sentence children’s book into a 94-minute feature film?

The answer: He does it by keying on Sendak’s main message, which is that life for most children is tough, full of emotional ups and downs and hard to make sense of, and that escape to an inner landscape can provide a necessary solace – if only a temporary one.

In the case of the movie’s protagonist, a boy named Max (Max Records), lives with his mother (Catherine Keener) and big sister (Pepita Emmerichs). He’s a child of divorce, which means that emotional sustenance is rare for everyone – not for mom, who is having professional problems; not for sis, who resents having to visit dad and who has no time for baby brother; and not for Max, who spends time alone making igloos, chastising imaginary foes and making life hell for his poor mother.

So after throwing a tantrum, and causing mom to react in anger, Max runs off into the night. And the next thing you know he’s sailing away in a boat, to an island filled with wild animals (thanks to the Henson Company puppet makers) who, after debating whether to eat him, make him their king.

And life in the paradise (filmed in a picturesque part of Australia) is good, everything Max wants. His new friends accept him, they give him the attention he craves, they accept him as their leader and his presence makes a difference. At first.

Because the monsters, all being creations of Max’s mind, have the emotional makeup of children. They’re a mixed lot, looking for Max to provide them the direction that children need from adults.

Some of them are negative (especially Judith, voiced by Catherine O’Hara), some are indecisive (especially Douglas, voiced by Chris Cooper), some want to seek out new friends (especially KW, voiced by Lauren Ambrose), and some of them have anger issues (especially Carol, voiced by James Gandolfini).

So, ultimately, it comes as no surprise when things go wrong. And Max ends up being blamed. What then? Where does “Where the Wild Things Are” go next?

Those who have read Sendak’s book won’t be surprised. They might be surprised, though, at how well Jonze handles getting there.

In any event, anyone who can remember what it was like being a child, and can still recognize the same emotions when they come bubbling up, will connect with Jonze’s film. Jonze may not reveal any secrets, nor tell us where to go next.

But like Sendak before him, he knows how to show us where we’ve been.