Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are

Max

Claire

Claire's Friend

Claire's Friend

Claire's Friend

Claire's Friend

Mom

Teacher

The Boyfriend

Carol

Carol Suit Performer

Alexander

Alexander Suit Performer

Judith

Judith Suit Performer

Ira

Ira Suit Performer

The Bull

The Bull Suit Performer

The Bull Additional Suit Performer

Douglas

Douglas Suit Performer

KW Suit Performer

KW Additional Suit Performer

Additional Max Performer

Additional Max Performer

Additional Max Performer

Additional Max Performer

Additional Max Performer

Bob

Douglas

The creatures are being portrayed by actors in 6-8 foot tall costumes, with some additional animatronics, and computer-generated faces. The costumes were created by The Jim Henson Company, who were responsible for the Muppets and the Labyrinth (1986) creatures.

In July 2006, less than six weeks before the start of shooting, the Henson-built monster suits arrived at the Melbourne soundstage where Spike Jonze and his crew had set up their offices. The actors climbed inside and began moving around. Right away, Jonze could see that the heads were absurdly heavy. Only one of the actors appeared able to walk in a straight line. A few of them called out from within their costumes that they felt like they were going to tip over. Jonze and the production crew had no choice but to tell the Henson people to tear apart the 50-pound heads and remove the remote-controlled mechanical eyeballs. This meant that all the facial expressions would have to be generated in post-production, using computers.

Other actors auditioning for the role of Max included Griffin Armstorff, Jackson Pace and Bobby Coleman.

In the early scenes in which Max is outside playing in the snow, there are leaves on the trees and roses in bloom. You can't see his breath in the air and it doesn't fog the window. If you look closely in some shots, you can see a light fog in the air created by the cold manufactured snow on a warm day.

When Max says, "Wow!" when he sees Carol's world built from sticks, an earpiece is visible in Max Records' ear.

During the "Rumpus", when Carol jumps straight up into a tree trunk, he falls back on his front. However, when the camera cuts to Max, then back to Carol, he is now on his back.

Max: Hey, Claire. Wanna see something great?

Alexander: I hate this tree!

KW: [laughs]