Hasta La Ideas

Most everyone I know was looking forward to The Where the Wild Things Are movie with great anticipation. It had taken so long to bring to the screen and when it was announced that Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers were collaborating on the film there was an audible buzz about things like integrity and fidelity. As it turned out, the film was not the expected result. It was not a Pixar or Disney animation, but rather a live action production that was spare and expressionistic. It wasn’t catering to children (but in a way, neither was the book). Dave Eggers also surprised many in his full blown novelization of a children’s picture book. While for me the initial screening and reading were a bit of shock, it didn’t take long to become uncomfortably comfortable with the new interpretations. Prior to the premiere of the film I interviewed Maurice Sendak for NYC & Company. His insights into the book never disappoint. I also read Egger’s novel, The Wild Things, and requested an interview as well. He graciously agreed to talk about his motivations and process.

Steven Heller: I know that Sendak gave you and Spike Jonze total freedom. He told me that his goal was to be as liberal with you as his editor Ursula Nordstrom was with him as a young writer and artist. Nonetheless, did you feel any constraints in adapting and reinterpreting his material?

Dave Eggers: Well, I think art of any kind usually benefits from a constraint or two. When I teach writing to high school kids, they almost always do their best writing when there are some constraints, or a very specific prompt. It makes you work a bit harder, for some reason. With Wild Things, it was good to know how the book would start and end. With that settled, there was a lot of freedom in the pages in between.

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