I recently listened to an archived interview by Terry Gross with author Maurice Sendak. It brought back memories of the strange emotions I felt as a child whenever I read Where the Wild Things Are. That I feel those same feelings watching this trailer is very promising indeed. If I feel them as I watch the film itself, it will be something truly wonderful. And Spike Jonze might be just the man to make that happen.
I also think this is my all-time favorite match of a song and a trailer. Tears. We’re talking tears. That song has become one of my favorites anyway. Such beautiful, heartbreaking lyrics. I’ve been at the front of an Arcade Fire crowd and sung along with them, and it has the same kind of power over me that only a few songs ever have. To pair it with this trailer sets off an atomic bomb of emotion.
What is it about wild things? And Totoros?
Are you fond of the book? Why? What is it that you love about Max and his Wild Things?
[The link above has been revised with Apple’s HD trailer.]
I feel the same exact way! I couldn’t stop smiling for 10 minutes after watching that trailer twice, and then as soon as the HD link was available I watched it twice more.
I think I love most that they start with the acoustic version of Wake Up, and then transition into the raucous original version. The film better be worth this trailer, because I am now an unabashed evangelist of it.
Love the trailer and the music… It made me feel like a kid again!
What you guys said. Perfect trailer. I love the book and this trailer sure seems to capture the imagination and style better than anyone could have hoped.
Sorry, have to ask: Who performs that song? It’s great, as is the trailer, and I wouldn’t mind looking it up!
It’s the Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up.” It’s from the album Funeral, which is a brilliant record. Both Funeral and Neon Bible are excellent albums. U2 played “Wake Up” in the arenas during the Vertigo tour to pump up the crowd before they came out on the stage.
Everyone needs to become acquainted with Arcade Fire – like, right now. Go, find their albums immediately.
HUge !!! ty Mr. Overstreet!!!!! My heart is cleaved!
Nice! I’ll look into them. Thanks!
Jeff,
What I loved about the book, and what this trailer captures perfectly, is the classic motif – innocence. Children have that remarkable capacity to believe wholeheartedly that there are monsters beyond the corners of our known world, that it is indeed possible to sail “in and out of days to where the wild things are.” Of course, we also want a place where there’s no bedtime either 🙂 Spike Jonze, if this trailer is to be taken to stand for the movie, has tapped into one of the most deeply-felt emotions in all men, in my opinion – to be wild and free. Combine that with the loss of innocence which this movie seems to have tacked on, and of course the almighty Arcade Fire groove, and it’s not hyperbole to say I had chills when watching that trailer.
I’m so excited! I saw it and immediately thought, “I wonder if Overstreet’s seen it.” Glad to know you enjoyed as much, if not more, than I did.
I don’t know if it’s so much about innocence as it is about wildness and how we handle the wildness that dwells in each of us as human beings, women and men. We ARE wild things; it is not a wildness that is external or alien to us. I think that’s why this story resonates so deeply within me. max is able to locate his wild things, tame them, party with them and then return home where someone loves him best of all to his still hot supper.