I have yet to see the movie.
First, I don\'t believe the Spike ever intended this to be a young childrens movie. I remember being scared by this book as a 4 -5 year old.
I think that it\'s only in a older childs/ young adults mind that a 10 sentence book can really start to expand into the alternate reality implied by the book.
For every negative review I\'ve heard (from a lot of people/ print sources) I\'ve also heard a glowing review. Seems like a controversial piece of art and I\'m looking forward to seeing it.
Sendak has praised the final cut which is a good sign.
ps - while in all the ad\'s the Tony Soprano voice has always seemed weird... give this to Spike, he did choose a gigantic, disgusting nose breathing beast of an actor to voice the wild thing. Seems appropriate on paper.