Where the Wild Things Are

[Teleku]

1.)  I've never heard of anybody not reading this book until I read this thread.  I thought it was pretty much mandatory along with Hungary Caterpillar.

2.)  Why the fuck are some of you trying to compare this book to real actual literature (like Brother's Grimm or fucking Animal Farm.  You fuckers weren't reading those books when you were 5, no matter what you say)?  This is a picture book for 4-5 year olds just learning to read, and a great one at that.  Hell, its my 2 year old nephew's favorite book to be read to him, and he still can't string out a coherent sentence yet.  It is a children's book classic, not a literary classic.

Fuck.

[jason]

1.)  I've never heard of anybody not reading this book until I read this thread.  I thought it was pretty much mandatory along with Hungary Caterpillar.

This thread marks the first I've heard of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Not everyone's childhood was identical.  There are many thousands of children's books, and there isn't a single one you can say everyone has read.

[Broughden]

1.)  I've never heard of anybody not reading this book until I read this thread.  I thought it was pretty much mandatory along with Hungary Caterpillar.

2.)  Why the fuck are some of you trying to compare this book to real actual literature (like Brother's Grimm or fucking Animal Farm.  You fuckers weren't reading those books when you were 5, no matter what you say)?  This is a picture book for 4-5 year olds just learning to read, and a great one at that.  Hell, its my 2 year old nephew's favorite book to be read to him, and he still can't string out a coherent sentence yet.  It is a children's book classic, not a literary classic.

Fuck.

Did you read any Richard Scary picture books? No? Then shut the fuck up about what is and is not central to a good childhood.
And why the fuck would anyone read a book to their child about a Hungarian caterpillar?
 

[Slyfeind]

Who did the one with the Edge of Nowhere and the Trollusk and Typhoonigator? That was some good shit. Someone should do a movie about that.

Edit: But make it real and gritty and dark.

[Samwise]

Did you read any Richard Scary picture books? No? Then shut the fuck up about what is and is not central to a good childhood.

I read a lot of Richard Scarry in my youth, and I find it somewhat preposterous that you prefer Scarry's Korean-sweatshop-style artwork over Sendak's stuff.  As a kid I liked them both, but Sendak definitely stands the test of time better.  I have a hard time even remembering now what I liked about Scarry's work, other than that there was a lot of it.

[Merusk]

Lowly the worm rocked, yo.

I liked that ever damn thing was labeled, and you could make up tons of stories for the background events of the pictures.  Tons and tons of art.   I never read Where the Wild Things Are until my parents bought it for my four-years-younger brother and by that time I was 11 and disinterested.

[Teleku]

Did you read any Richard Scary picture books? No? Then shut the fuck up about what is and is not central to a good childhood.

Where the fuck did I describe what makes a good child hood?  I'm just laughing at the people who seem to be claiming they were reading War and Peace when they were 5.  Richard Scarry books are fine (and I had many).  Though I agree with Sam, Wild Things artwork blows them out of the water.

1.)  I've never heard of anybody not reading this book until I read this thread.  I thought it was pretty much mandatory along with Hungary Caterpillar.

This thread marks the first I've heard of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Not everyone's childhood was identical.  There are many thousands of children's books, and there isn't a single one you can say everyone has read.

True, just saying I was shocked because I literally don't know a single person in real life who hasn't read these books as children.  Some people asked earlier about how popular this book was, and this was a response to that.

[Sheepherder]

Where the fuck did I describe what makes a good child hood?  I'm just laughing at the people who seem to be claiming they were reading War and Peace when they were 5.  Richard Scarry books are fine (and I had many).  Though I agree with Sam, Wild Things artwork blows them out of the water.

True, just saying I was shocked because I literally don't know a single person in real life who hasn't read these books as children.  Some people asked earlier about how popular this book was, and this was a response to that.

You're missing the point, slightly, though I didn't exactly expand on it too much, because it started as snark.

Where the Wild Things Are doesn't need a movie.

[KallDrexx]

Where the Wild Things Are doesn't need a movie.

How many film adaptations really needed (or warranted) a movie?

[lamaros]

Where the Wild Things Are doesn't need a movie.

How many film adaptations really needed (or warranted) a movie?

17.

[Broughden]

Where the Wild Things Are doesn't need a movie.

How many film adaptations really needed (or warranted) a movie?

17.

You sure its not 42?

(Teleku, stay calm, the smiley face meant I was being snarky)

[Sheepherder]

How many film adaptations really needed (or warranted) a movie?

The ones where they aren't using name-dropping techniques on par with the worst WoW realm forum to dig up the corpse of and skull fuck your childhood?  But yeah, just because they do it constantly doesn't mean they shouldn't cut that shit out and revive something worth watching.  On the other hand, maybe we're lucky it's this way.

[JWIV]

1.)  I've never heard of anybody not reading this book until I read this thread.  I thought it was pretty much mandatory along with Hungary Caterpillar.

This thread marks the first I've heard of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Not everyone's childhood was identical.  There are many thousands of children's books, and there isn't a single one you can say everyone has read.

My wife was aghast when she discovered that I had never read, let alone heard of, Goodnight Moon.  So yes, this.

[Samwise]

My wife was aghast when she discovered that I had never read, let alone heard of, Goodnight Moon.  So yes, this.

I had the pop-up edition of that one.  It was my favorite book for a while.

[dusematic]

I liked Roald Dahl.  That's the earliest author I remember liking.  George's Marvelous Medicine truly was marvelous, no?

[DraconianOne]

How many film adaptations really needed (or warranted) a movie?

Trivia: of the current top 20 films listed on IMDB, 11* are adaptations of novels/short stories, 2 are adaptations of stage plays and 1 is based on a comic book.

*Strictly speaking there are only 9 as Godfather 1 & 2 and Lord of the Rings 1 & 3 arguably both come from the same book.

[Samwise]

I liked Roald Dahl.  That's the earliest author I remember liking.

I also loved me some Roald Dahl, but not until I was at least 5 or 6 and able to tackle long chunks of text solo.  I suspect at some point you read picture books (or had them read to you) and enjoyed them, much as it may pain you to think of it now. 

[K9]

The Fantastic Mr. Fox movie comes out soon; I'm quite excited about that.

[dusematic]

I liked Roald Dahl.  That's the earliest author I remember liking.

I also loved me some Roald Dahl, but not until I was at least 5 or 6 and able to tackle long chunks of text solo.  I suspect at some point you read picture books (or had them read to you) and enjoyed them, much as it may pain you to think of it now.  

Oh hell yeah.  Don't conflate what I'm saying with what some other people were saying.  I don't remember reading Where The Wild Things Are but I'm sure it was awesome at the time.  I wasn't reading Percy Bysshe Shelley at the age of seven (still ain't).  I just thought it was funny that someone was talking about a director being "right for the material" when the material is a shitty picture book. Then everyone attacked me for 2 pages and claimed I had pooped out my soul.  Just because I liked something when I was five doesn't mean it's awesome.  Children's books suck dick.  It's because children are basically miniature retarded people, but way cuter.

[Khaldun]

Well, aside from whatever you think of the Sendak book, the movie is just not very good. Visually interesting. But very morose, neurotic emotional mood. Not even a deep Freudian kind of neurotic, either...sort of American-suburban domesticated psychoanalytic mode. Seems to me to be missing both the bacchanal feeling of the middle of the book and more primal, elemental childhood feelings.

[VainEldritch]

From the trailer this movie does not look anywhere near dark enough nor scary enough. I was terrified of the Wild Things when I was a wee lad, but the Wild Things in the movie look like giant muppets (they even walk and move like man-in-costume muppets).

Wild Things should be dark and scary as in "big monster dark and scary" - but the genuinely disturbing dark corner of the nursery soul still belongs to Grim's fairytales: dancing in red hot iron shoes until you die, eyes pecked out by crows - this is what kids need to scare the crap out of them, not muppets.

[Samwise]

The movie was actually a fair bit darker and scarier than the book IMO.  Max never seems terrified for his life in the book.

[Khaldun]

I dunno, the monsters aren't exactly happy in the book when Max decides to split.