Join Max with these retro Where the Wild Things Are t-shirts

Nostalgia's never looked so cool.

Cast your mind back to Transformers, neon sunglasses and Rubik’s Cubes, because that’s when the Where the Wild Things Are movie was first being discussed. Way back in the eighties Maurice Sendak, author of the 1963 children’s book, was in talks with Disney to create an animated version of the Wild Things. And although we’re sure a Disney version would have been interesting, we’re glad they waited 20 years for Spike Jonze to direct.

Although started in 2005, Jonze’s adaptation of the awesome tale wasn’t released until late last year where it found its audience with adults, not the children it was initially aimed at. It was the adults who’d read it when they were kids who it’d really stuck with and Jonze managed to capture that in his adaptation, even Sendak noted that he was: “young, interesting and had a spark that none of the others had.”

And he would need that spark to adapt a children’s book with only 10 sentences from start to finish into a successful film. However when finally completed in 2008 Warner Bros. were not happy with Jonze’s film, worried that it was not as family friendly as they had expected. At first they intended to re-shoot the entire film, but eventually agreed to give Jonze more time and money to change it to meet both of their needs.

With the puppets created by the talented people at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop (responsible for masterpieces like Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal) and CGI only used for their faces, the wild things have real character and personality to them. Although Sendak and Jonze worked together on much of the film, the author wasn’t strict on the adaptation, as Jonze explains: “His attitude is so counter to that, to protecting anything,” Jonze said. “His assignment to us was, ‘Take this, make it your own. Make it something personal. This book was something I made when I was your guys’ age.’ It was almost like he handed it to us.”

The soundtrack to the movie is also pretty amazing; created by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs front woman Karen O, joined by many others under the collective name Karen O and the Kids; it’s clever, emotional and fun all at the same time. She makes use of her rock roots while bringing in a whimsical and nostalgic feel that really takes you back to first reading about Max’s adventures, particularly in ‘All is Love’.

And what an adventure it is. Nine-year-old Max (Max Records) is a lonely child, but he has an impressive imagination. When both his sister and mother begin to ignore him (and his forts) he puts on his wolf costume and eventually runs away. Scared and alone, Max gets into a boat and sets sail, eventually reaching an island inhabited by strange creatures. After stopping Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini) from smashing up their ‘homes’ Max declares that he is a powerful king, and the Wild Things put him in charge of bringing them harmony and happiness.

But all good things must come to an end and after building an impressive new empire Max’s true identity is revealed. Re-live the magic and nostalgia of this fantastic tale with our selection of Where the Wild Things Are tees, featuring all your favourite characters. There’s the tradition book cover image, a cool silhouette of the Wild Things or some brilliant one’s with Max in his wolf suit (we wouldn’t mind one of them!) And of course there’s plenty featuring the gentle giant Carol in all scary splendour.