The original Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, was more pictures than words. It told a simple story: a boy named Max gets sent to his room for misbehaving, imagines himself romping around with monsters in a magical world, becomes bored and lonely, and mentally returns to his home where his family is.
Jonze's film goes beyond the book's story of a boy who ultimately misses what he ran away from. In the film, Max does not miss his family because he is bored; he misses his family because he learns the responsibility that his desired role of "king" over the wild things actually requires. It is an opposite psychological conflict - his imagination does not leave anything to be desired; it is, in fact, too real.
Max's Lessons of Leadership
Max learns two lessons that send him home: one involving leadership, the other involving relationship. In both cases, he experiences a role reversal in which he is the maternal character, receiving all the monsters' demands and simultaneously trying to keep them emotionally united. This role allows him to finally empathize with his mother, realizing both the difficulty of her position and his need for her.
As a leader, Max learns quickly that his power comes from his subordinates, meaning that they have the power to remove him at any time if they desire, if he does not do the job properly. This puts stress on Max, especially because the monsters make selfish, shortsighted demands (much like children do). For example, Carol wants Max to "keep the sadness out" and solve relational issues among the monsters.
Max Dealing with Carol
But Max also learns what it is like to be his mother because of all the problems Carol causes from just being selfish.
Carol is childish in a more adult way than Max. He still throws a wild monster tantrum every once in a while, but it's over a relational problem instead of refusal to eat vegetables or go to bed. Carol's difficulties arise in failure to empathize (like Max's in the real world), which leads to his demands for Max to bring him the selfish desires of his heart. For example, he becomes jealous when a female monster that he likes (named "K.W.") begins enjoying the company of other animals besides him and his friends. His jealousy leads to tension, which results in K.W. spending less and less time with that group of monsters. Carol then asks Max to "bring K.W. back," among other requests to patch up fissures caused by him.
One of the most impressive aspects of the film is that the problems are not solved when Max decides to leave. He leaves them all in the distress he entered in, but they're changed because they loved him and because he tried to bring them together. Max is also changed, and the audience sees that when he comes back to his mother.
Jonze's adaption of Where The Wild Things Are is highly artistic, creative, profound, and universal. Both children and adults can enjoy it and be challenged by its messages.
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