An animated short based on the book, which had taken five years to complete, was released in 1973,[2] directed by Gene Deitch and produced at Krátký Film, Prague, for Weston Woods Studios. Two versions were released: the original 1973 version, with narration by Allen Swift and a musique concrète score composed by Deitch himself; and an updated version in 1988 with new music and narration by Peter Schickele.[19]
In the 1980s, Sendak worked with British composer Oliver Knussen on a children’s opera based on the book.[9] The opera received its first (incomplete) performance in Brussels in 1980; the first complete performance of the final version was given by the Glyndebourne Touring Opera in London in 1984. This was followed by its first U.S. performance in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1985 and the New York City premiere by New York City Opera in 1987. A concert performance was given at The Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2002.[citation needed] A concert production was produced by New York City Opera in spring 2011.[20]
In 1983, the Walt Disney Studio conducted a series of tests of computer-generated imagery created by Glen Keane and John Lasseter using as their subject Where the Wild Things Are.[21]
In 1999, Isadar released a solo piano musical composition titled “Where the Wild Things Are” which appeared on his album Active Imagination, inspired by the Sendak book. The composition was revisited and re-recorded in 2012 on Isadar’s album, Reconstructed, with Grammy winner and founder of Windham Hill Records, William Ackerman, producing.[22]
The live-action film version of the book is directed by Spike Jonze. It was released on October 16, 2009.[23] The film stars Max Records as Max and features Catherine Keener as his mother, with Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, Paul Dano, James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara and Forest Whitaker providing the voices of the principal Wild Things. The soundtrack was written and produced by Karen O and Carter Burwell. The screenplay was adapted by Jonze and Dave Eggers. Sendak was one of the producers for the film. The screenplay was novelized by Eggers as The Wild Things, published in 2009. -Wikipedia
