Where the Wild Things Are (film) Berger ("The Chronicles of Narnia") turned down offers to work on the film four times. Although the book inspired him as a child to work in special effects, he felt filming it was a "horrible idea." Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the animatronic suits for the Wild Things. Filming began in April 2006 at Docklands Studios Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia. Jonze kept in close consultation with Sendak throughout the process, and the author approved creature designs created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. To make the set a more comfortable environment for Max Records, Jonze encouraged the crew members to bring
Where the Wild Things Are (film) Yorker" saying, "I have a vision of eight-year-olds leaving the movie in bewilderment. Why are the creatures so unhappy?" Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com criticized the film's visual aspect, "Even the look of the picture becomes tiresome after a while — it starts to seem depressive and shaggy and tired." She also stated that "The movie is so loaded with adult ideas about childhood — as opposed to things that might delight or engage an actual child." "The Globe and Mail"s Liam Lacey branded the production a "self-consciously sad film." Critic A.O. Scott named the film the best of 2009 and