Will the wild things survive?

Librarians often have an uneasy relationship with movie versions of beloved children's books, as well they might because the success of a movie can change the way a book is perceived. Does anyone remember what Cinderella looked like before the Disney version? Now Maurice Sendak's classic Where the Wild Things Are is being filmed and it looks as though the wild things may be even more changed than Snow White was a generation ago. The New York Times reports on the struggles involved in producing a film version of one of the most straightforward and effective children's books of the past fifty years. Will the simple story of Max's journey to the country of the wild things survive the transition to the screen? It's hard to say. What we can assume will happen is that to many children the film will become the "real" Where the Wild Things Are and the printed books on our shelves will seem but pale imitations. Let's hope that at least a few children will encounter Max and his buddies on the page before being subjected to the wild antics of the film.