Spike Jonze Cites Arcade Fire As Central Influence on Where the Wild Things Are
10/15/2009 By Josiah Hughes

For those of us who have been dying to see Spike Jonze's hip adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are, the wait is nearly over, as the film is opening in theatres tomorrow (October 16). And now there's yet another reason to see it: Jonze has revealed that Canada's own Arcade Fire were a major influence on the film.


 His Win Butler fandom was already evident when an alternate version of Arcade Fire's “Wake Up” appeared in the film's teaser trailer, but Jonze has explained that the band were on his mind through the whole process.

In an interview with Aint It Cool News [via The Playlist], he made the following statement:

The initial trailer… that Arcade Fire song [“Wake Up”] was something I’d used along the way in cutting stuff. Before we shot the movie, I cut together this mood piece; I used footage from E.T., Ratcatcher and The Black Stallion, and cut together this mood piece to the song. I showed it to the crew to give them a sense of the tone and the feeling of the film before we shot. It was a way to get everyone to the same place. I wrote the whole script to Arcade Fire’s Funeral, and I listened to that song a lot. That record is thematically very connected to the film. So it seems so perfect that we got to put that in the trailer.

We might have to wait for the DVD to find out if the record and the film perhaps sync up, but this bit of news should serve some context when we feverishly line-up for the film tomorrow.

To read Exclaim!’s Mark of Excellence-sporting review of Where The Wild Things Are, click here.

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