So I got a chance to see Where the wild things are for the second time yesterday and this time I got to see it in theaters! My roommate came with me to see it and we got to discussing the movie afterwards. We came to some pretty interesting conclusions so I thought I'd share for anyone who's interested.

Oh and let's get this out of the way real quick: SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!

First off, I heard some ideas about all the wild things being different parts of Max, such as parts of his personality and emotions. I respect that idea, but I don't see it working all that well. Don't get me wrong, I took a lot from that perspective and that's how I originally saw it, but there's just more to it than that. I'm also not saying that that interpretation is wrong. It could be right, that's just not how I see it. In order to describe how I see it, I'll name each Wild thing and name what I thought they represent:

Carol: He's the most obvious example of Max, and max seems to connect with him the most throughout the movie. He's only one part of Max, though. He's the Id. He wants things to be the way he want them to be and that's it. When things don't go his way he get's frustrated and throws a fit. He also has a hard time seeing that his tantrums are detrimental to others. He's that largest part of Max.

At this point let me elaborate more on what I think Were The Wild Things Are is, as a movie. I felt it was a look at child's development. Max is a child that's in the middle of making a transition. He's going from being very egocentric and becoming more allocentric, but he's not quite there yet. He's having some trouble. He recognizes that everything doesn't revolve around him, but he has a hard time accepting this due to how his life has been going. Two things that are probably playing a key part in this were his mother getting a divorce (not sure when this happened, so I can't be too sure) and his lack of friends. Another part of his transition is that he's developing a more powerful ego/superego (I'm not sure which cause I don't feel like looking at old notes at the moment). Anyway, on to the next character.

Douglas: Another part of Max. I thought he represented that rational side of Max (the ego). Douglas is very capable and shows what Max has the capacity to be, and will be after he makes this transition. Douglas seems to be well liked by everyone and is respected by all (stranded on island with one thing = Douglas). One last example of how Douglas is the 'rational Max' is by how calm he is. He never gets angry and is very patient and understand with others. Like I said, though, Max is still in a transitional stage. Douglas should be the main part of max but he's not as developed yet. Carol is still in control, which is easy to see by him bossing around Douglas and giving him orders. This can also be seen when Carol rips off Douglas' arm. That's just another display of Carol's dominance and showing that the Id is still the primary player in Max.

KW: This one didn't come to me until near the end of my second viewing, which is sad as I found it to be very obvious this time around. KW represents Max's mother. KW is seen as distant but once was very close to everyone. She likes Carol and but has a hard time being with him due to his temper. She also has an interest in getting her own needs met and goes to meet new people. Max's mom get's a boyfriend in the movie and it's clear that Max has some issues with that. Him being around means that his mother will pay less attention to him (Id) and he has a hard time accepting that. While I'm on this subject Bob and Terry are representative of the boyfriend. Take note of how hostile Carol is of them when KW brings them back to meet everyone. There's also a very motherly relationship between Max and KW. Max wants her attention and likes her a lot as he sees his mother in her. KW is also protective of Max which can be seen when she hides him from himself (Carol).

Judith and Ira: My roommate helped me come up with this one. Judith is supposed to be Max's sister. She's in love with Ira. Ira doesn't really play a role at all. He puts the holes in the trees, yet Max is completely oblivious of the holes in the beginning of the movie. Ira is just sort or there throughout the whole movie. He likes Max but doesn't seem to connect with him too much, he'd just rather be with Judith. I'd also like to point out the one boy in the beginning who wrecks Max's igloo. He stops and checks to see if max is okay and looks rather distressed when he sees Max. He only leaves because his friends called to him and even then he checked with his sister to see if they should stay and help out Max. His sister seems to dismiss it though and tell him Max'll be alright. Judith is seen as a downer. That's what Max thinks of his sister Claire. He loves her, but he sees her as a downer because she never seems to have the time, or desire, to hang out with him. One last thing I'd like to mention with Judith is the laughing scene (HAHAHAHA). That struck me as a real brother-sister kind of argument. It showed a kind of brother-sister rivalry that I've seen firsthand between my sister and I. :P

Alexander: The last part of Max is just sort of thrown in there for me. He seems to be representing Max's feeling of desperation and loneliness. He's always trying to show off and get peoples attention. No one ever listens to him, but he still seems to have a general idea of what's going on (you're not really a king are you?). Of the people he's trying to impress it seems he's always trying to get the attention of KW (and maybe Judith, but I can't remember and nothing coming to mind at the moment).

The Bull: Not much to this character. He just sort of watches everything and wants to be a part of things even though he doesn't speak. He's probably Max's shyness or something of the sort. He never talks and stays separate from the group throughout all of the movie. The only time he opens up to anyone is with Max at the end of the movie. That could be a representation of Max becoming more willing to open up to people. Him 'coming out of his shell' so to speak.

That about wraps up my character analysis of the Wild Things. The whole scene on the island is all a part of Max's imagination and through it he get's an outsiders look into his own life. The events that happened on the island are a direct parallel to what Max goes through in the beginning. He's able to accept his own flaws and overcome them (The scene were he runs away/hides from Carol). Speaking of which that scene where Carol freaks out is incredibly beautiful. Not quite as emotional as the beginning (not my fault!) but still showed a great parallel to Max's life. Anyway, after Max is able to accept himself, he returns to himself and is able to run home to his mother.

In the ending scene of the movie his mother is very tired, presumably because it was very late and she stayed up the whole time not being able to sleep until Max returned home. It was just another good scene that showed a mother's love for her son.

Alright, I'm done now. Hopefully I was able to clear up some confusion about the movie, add extra thought to others interpretations, or even just cause some of you to think more about the movie. If you haven't seen the movie yet (which I hope isn't the case because you just read all this!) go check it out. It's one of my favorites of the past year and it's quite ingenious in what it does. Go see it, or check it out when it comes out to dvd/blu ray (I believe it's March 2nd).

Oh and I didn't reread over this (tl;dr) so there's probably grammar mistakes all over the place. Just try and ignore all that. :P