I used to have a copy of Where the Wild Things Are when I was a kid. Maurice Sendak’s artwork had me transfixed on more than one occasion. The suits in Hollywood have been cashing in on films based on characters from my childhood books for several years now and it’s not surprising that they wanted to mess with this one as well. What is surprising is that the film has been shelved. This isn’t the first aborted work by writer Dave Eggers. He tried to impress us several years ago by writing a politically charged novel and releasing it to the public in draft form as he wrote. I was reading it and I was more let down by the direction it was taking than by the fact that it came to a screeching halt.

Being part of a $115 million film project that may never see the light of day is a bigger deal than that novel. I do not know if his contribution contributed to the decision by Warner. Spike Jonze is the director of this non-starter. He filmed a documentary on Al Gore that was slated to play at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. It was not shown and Al Gore didn’t win the election handily enough to become President. Dave Eggers has connected those dots ( I think that’s a bit of a stretch).

I couldn’t think of anything really funny to write to tie this film to the WildThings erotic thrillers. The first WildThings movie features a cameo performance by Kevin Bacon’s Penis.