>> HI.

I AM RING WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.

THE WOLF SUIT NAMED MISCHIEF AND ANOTHER MISS MOTHER CALLED HIM WILD THING AND THAT IS WILL EAT UP SO HE WAS SENT TO BED WITHOUT EATING ANYTHING.

>> WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE WAS PUBLISHED IN 1963, ONE YEAR LATER, IT WAS HERALDED THE CALDEC TO T MEDAL WIN AROUND CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION OF MILLIONS MUCH CHILDREN ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

HOW DID THE AUTHOR COMMUNICATE WITH THINS BEST-SELLING BOOKS WHY THE WILD THINGS ARE" WE EXAMINE THE INFLUENCES, HIS FAMILY IMPRESSION, CHILDHOOD, A PREOCCUPATION WITH DEATH AND HIS ARTISTIC INSPIRATION SPARKED FROM THE LOVE FOR WALT DISNIL'S M MCCAN I MOUSE.

NOW, LET IT BEGIN ON NEWSMAKERS.

♪ ♪ >> THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WILD PART OF A CHILD THAT SENSE OF FEAR AND FRUSTRATION AND ANGER THAT CHILDREN DEFINITELY EXPERIENCED BUT MAYBE ADULTS DON'T WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND I REALLY LOVE THAT IN THE WILD THINGS IN PARTICULAR, MASK, HIS CHARACTER, IS ABLE TO JUST LET GO OF EMOTION AND THE ANGER, THE FEAR, THE ANGER TOWARD THE MOTHER TAKE OVER, BUT THEN AT IN THE IS ABLE TO REALIZE THAT MY MOTHER IS HOME, CARE, LOVE, COME BLACK TO HER.

SO IT IS REALLY A BROAD SPECK TRUCK IN THAT ONE VERY SHORT BACK TO THE DID WHERE HE WAS ABLE TO CONNECT THAT WHOLE SPECK TRUCK OF CHILDHOOD EMOTION.

>> SORT OF CREATED THIS PERFECT STORM, I MEAN, THE CHARACTERS ARE KINDS OF AMAZING HYBRIDS OF ALL OF THESE CREATURES AND MONSTERS THAT WE ALL THINK ABOUT AND ARE FASCINATED BAY AND TERRIFIED OF WHEN WE ARE KIDS THEN THIS SORT OF CLASSIC JOURNEY.

THE EXCITEMENT OF SEEING SOMEONE CREATE AND SEEMS SO VIF SIDLY ALIVE FROM THEIR IMAGINATION.

>> THAT VERY NIGHT IN MASK'S ROOM, A FOREST GREW.

AND GREW.

AND GRAU UNTIL A CEILING HUNG WITH VINE AND THE WALLS BAM THE WORLD ALL AROUND, AN OCEAN TUMBLE BY WITH A PRIVATE BOAT AND SAILED OFF.

ALMOST OVER A YEAR TO WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.

>> I THINK THE IDEA THAT THESE DRAWINGS COULD LIVE BEYOND THE PAGE OF A BOOK AND THAT IN EFFECT THEY COULD BE FRAMED INDIVIDUALLY AND UNDERSTAND AND AS AN IL TRAITOR AS WELL AS ARTIST SAN AUTHOR.

I THINK BECAUSE OF THE POPULARITY OF THE BOOK, THAT IS HOW PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS REALIZED AND THOUGHT ABOUT THESE WILD THINGS.

AND TO SEE THE AMOUNT OF TIME HE SPENT WITH THEM ON THE PAGE AND HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BOOK'S SCENARIO I THINK IS IN STRICK TOUGH ABOUT HOW HE THOUGHT AS AN ARTISTS.

WHAT IS THE STYLE THAT WELL SEE HERE?

>> WELL, HE HAD THE OWN STYLE.

THAT IS ONE OF THE REASONS WE WERE SO INTERESTED IN PRESENTING THIS WORK.

I MEAN, GRAHAM PRESENT ART AND DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION IS A MAJOR COMPONENT OF DESIGN AND WHEN CHILDREN'S BOOKS REALLY BECAME POPULAR IN THIS COUNTRY IN THE '50 SEA, I MEAN, HE REALLY WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ALONG WITH DR. SEUSS TO JUST MAKE ENORMOUS NAME FOR HIMSELF AND TO HAVE THE SORT OF INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE STYLE.

>> WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE COLORS IN THE ARTWORK, WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THAT?

>> WELL, I GUESS, I WOULD SAY COMPARED TO MORE NATURALISTIC AND I MEAN, SEUSS IS STILL OFTEN COMING OUT OF THE WHITE GROUNDS WHERE IT WAS A VERY SORT OF EDITED KIND OF WHAT HE DETERMINED, A HE WOULD ILLUSTRATE, YOU KNOW, IT MAY BE LIKE THE FISH BULL ON THE COUNTER, AND NOTHING ELSE WHERE ARE JUST LIKE A SHOCK OF GRASS WITH A TREE.

AND I WOULD SAY THAT SENDAK CREATED THIS WHOLE WORLD, DEANED SIDED THAT, GUESS, IN ORDER TO SORT OF ANCHOR THE FANTASY FOR KIDS, WAY MAKE IT LOOK AS REAL AS POSSIBLE.

>> DO YOU CONSIDER HIM MORE AUTHOR, OR ARTIST?

>> WHERE DO YOU SEE HIS TRUE STRENGTH?

>> I THINK THAT THE REASON HE IS SO ESTEEMED AND SON AMAZING IS THAT HE WAS ABLE TO BALANCE BOTH AND FOR THE WRITING TO INFORM THE ILLUSTRATION AND VICE VERSA.

>> AS HE IS GROWING, AS A TEAM, AND AT WHAT POINT DOES HE BECOME OR TRANSITION AS AN AUTHOR AND SOMEBODY WHO IS INTERESTED IN ILLUSTRATION?

>> WELL, THIS BOOK WAS CREATED IN '63, SOB HE WAS, HE WAS QUATE A YOUNG ADULT.

I THINK THAT EVEN IN HIS TEENS, WAY WAS DEMONSTRATING HE HAD A REMARKABLE CAPACITY TO DRAW AND TO MAKE THINGS LOOK THE WAY WANTED THEM TO LOOK.

I KNOW THAT WHEN HE FIRST PROPOSE ARED A BOOK BECAUSE THINK OH VERY MUCH IMAGINED HIMSELF AN AUTHOR SLASH ILLUSTRATOR.

THAT HE, HE PRESSED A BOOK ABOUT HORSES, BUT HE NO BACKGROUND IN DRAWING HORSES.

>> I AM FITTING LITTLE DRAWINGS TO WORDORS POETRY.

THIS IS A DUMMY OF WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, WHICH IN THE OLD DAYS WAS CALLED WHERE THE WILD HORSES ARE, AND IT WAS STARTED IN 1955 AND IS A SERIES OF TINY LITTLE EPISODES OF THE BOYS INVENTION.

IT WAS NOT PLANNED AS A BOOK.

HAPPENED TO HAVE A DM MY WHICH WAS TOO FAT AND I CUT OFF AISLE'S AND GOT THIS BEAUTIFUL LITTLE SLICE AND PERFECT FOR A BOOK.

ARE NO WORDS IN THE FIRST DUMMY AND WAS DONE TO MUSIC AT THE TIME.

I WANTED TO GET EFFECT OF A SERIES OF ANIMATED DRAWINGS JUST DANCING ACROSS THE PAGE.

DY NOT PICK THE BACK AGAIN UNTIL SOME YEARS LATER.

AND I HAD TO PUT IT ASIDE OVER A PERIOD OF TIME AS THE IDEA DEVELOPED, IT WAS NOT UNTIL MAY OF 1963 THAT I DID A DUMMY WHICH IS WAS SATISFACTORY AND QUITE CLOSE TO FINISHED BACK BUT I TRIED TO KEEP IT, ALTHOUGH, THIS HAS TEXT AND THE PICTURES ARE NOW ILLUSTRATIONS FOLLOWING TEXTS BUT WHAT I WANTED WAS EFFECT THAT I GOTTEN THOUGH ORIGINAL DUMB MIFF 55 WHICH WAS OF A DANCE, OF A MUSICAL EPISODE.

FROM THIS DUMMY, I THEN MOVED ON TO THE FINISHED BOOK AND WHERE THE WILD THINGS FOON LAPEERED IN '36 RATHER LAUNCHED DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE SIZE OF THE INITIAL DUMB MAIN THE FINISHED BOOK.

I HOPE THAT'S THE ONLY DISCREPANCY AND WHAT I DID IN THAT WHICH IS A SENSE OF MUSIC AND DANCE AND SOMETHING NOT CLUED TO THE PAGE IN THE DADE SENSE.

>> SO NO NORMAL CORES WORK IN PSYCHOLOGY?

RIGHT.

>> OR IN ILLUSTRATION?

ALL OF THIS IS SELF GENERATED?

IT REALLY IS.

YEAH.

HE STARTED WORKING RIGHT OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL.

HE TOOK SOME NIGHT COURSES AND PAINTING AND YOU KNOW STUDIES TO UNDERSTAND BASIC DRAWING AND TECHNIQUES BUT NEVER CARED FOR EDUCATION.

HE PREFERRED BEING OBSERVER OF THE WORLD AND OBSERVING OTHER ARTISTS, OB OBSERVING PEOPLE AROUND HIM AND CAPTURING THAT IN HIS DRAWINGS AND ILLUSTRATION.

THE WILD THINGS THEMSELVES ARE ACTUALLY BASED ON SENDAK'S EXTENDED IMMIGRANT JEWISH FALLENLY.

THEY WOULD GO TO ETCH OR'S HOME ON SUNDAYS.

WHEN WAS SMALL, THEY WERE INTIMIDATING TO HIM.

WITH THEIR YOU KNOW SWEATY FOREHEADS, LARGE NOSES, AND SHARP TEETH AS HE DESCRIBES IT.

AS A CHILD, THEY WERE NOT, THEY WERE NOT PARTICULARLY GOOD AT SPEAKING TO CHILDREN OR SMALL TALK WITH CHILDREN, SO THEY MAY SAY THINGS LIKE YOU ARE SO CUTE.

I COULD EAT UP.

HE, YOU KNOW, AS 5-YEAR-OLD, REALLY TOOK THOSE THINGS LITERALLY AND REMEMBER THINGS TO HIMSELF.

GOSH, IF MOM DON'T GET DOESN'TER ON THE TAB, I BELIEVE THEY WILL.

THEY WILL EAT ME UP.

>> SIM!

SEEMS LIKE HE UNDERSTANDS THE MIND OF A CHILD PERHAPS BETTER THAN MOST CHILDREN'S AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS.

THAT IS A GREAT POINT.

THAT IS REALLY GOOD POINT.

I THINK HE NEVER REALLY TALKED DOWN TO CAN IS.

I THINK HE UNDERSTOOD THAT THEY WERE PEOPLE WITH COMPLEX EMOTIONS AND WITH THEIR OWN LIFE EXPERIENCES AND THAT THEY WERE PRETTY SMART AND SORT OF OUT SITUATION AND HAVING RESPONSES OTHER THAN JUST LIKE, YOU KNOW, KILLING OR CRYING.

>> THIS PASSAGE BY SENDAK CAPTURED THE ATTENTION OF AUTHOR JOSEPH CAMPBELL KNOWN ANOTHER STUDY OF COMPARE ARE ATIVE MYTHOLOGY IN RELEDGE GOG.

>> THIS IS NOR IS WHERE CENTER READINGS WHY THE WILD THINGS ARE."

>> AND HE CAME THOUGH PLACE WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.

THEY NASHED THEIR TERRIBLE TEETH.

ROLLED THEIR TERRIBLE EYE AND THOUGHS SHARE TERRIBLE CLAWS.

MASK SAID BE STILL.

BLINKING ONCE.

AND THEY WERE FRIGHTENED AND CALLED HIM THE MOST WILD THING OF ALL.

AND MADE HIM KING OF ALL WILD THINGS.

[HORN BLOWING] >> IN LITERARY TERMS, CAMPBELL COMMENTED "THAT IS A GREAT MOMENT BECAUSE IT IS ONLY WHEN A MAN TAMES HIS OWN DEMONS THAT HE BECOMES THE KING OF HIMSELF IF NOT THE WORLD."

>> WHERE ANIMALS WERE VIOLENT, CRIMINAL, WERE NOT SO FAR WAY FROM THE GORILLAS AND THE APES OF THOSE BEAUTIFUL CREATURES MUCH THEN OF COURSE.

THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO GO TO WORK EVERY DAY AND NATION OUR FRIENDS AND SEND CHRISTMAS CARDS TO OUR PARENTS ALL THESE THINGS WHICH TROUBLE US DEEPLY BECAUSE IT IS SO AGAINST WHAT WE NATURALLY WOULD WANT TO DO.

FAND I HAVE DONE ANYTHING.

I HAD KIDS CAN EXPRESS SEM THEYS AS THEY ARE.

IM POE LIGHTLY, LOVINGLY, THEY DON'T MEAN ANY ARM.

THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT WAY IS.

AND AS IT TURNS OUT SOMETIMES THE SO-CALLED RIGHT WAY IS THE WRONG WAY.

WHAT CONFUSION.

>> CONTROVERSIAL AT THE TIME.

>> IT WAS.

AFTER FIRST YEAR OF PUBLICATION IT WAS BANNED FROM A LOT OF SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES BECAUSE ADULTS THOUGHT IT WAS TOO SCARY FOR CHILDREN THE CHARACTERS WERE TOO SCARY, THE FACT THAT MASK WAS ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH THIS SO TO SPEAK WAS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN.

BUT IT WAS INCREDIBLY POPULAR AMONG CHILDREN WHO DID GET THEIR HANDS ON IT, SO LIE YEAR INS AND TEACHERS STARTED REALIZING THIS DID HAVE POWERFUL EFFECT ON CHILDREN.

AND A LOT OF ADULTS AT LEAST.

MAURICE SENDAK WAS BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, KID BORN JUNE 10th, 1928.

HIS PAR PRENS WERE A BIT ANOTHER VUS AND OVERBEARING, BELIEVE, ESPECIALLY SUNS HE WAS OFTEN SICK AS A CHILD, I KNOW HE EXPERIENCED REALLY SEVERE EPISODES OF MEASLES, SCARLETT FEVER, AND OTHER CHILDHOOD DISEASES THAT ARE NOT AS COMMON TODAY.

SO HIS PARENTS WERE REALLY OVERPROTECTIVE.

HE ASKED FAR SLED FOR CHRISTMAS.

HIS FATHER SAID, YOU GO OUT AND CATCH YOUR DEATH OF COLD IMMEDIATELY IF WE GOT YOU A SLED.

THAT ATTITUDE REALLY FRAMED HIM AS CHILD, I THINK.

HIS PARENTS NEVER REALLY SHIELDEED FLIM THE HARSHNESS OF THE WORLD AS MANY PARENTS DO, I THINK.

SO THEY WERE STRAIGHTFORWARD HIM ABOUT THE DEATH OF HIS EXTEND FAMILY DURING THE HOLOCAUST IN POLAND, THEY WERE STRAIGHTFORWARD WITH HIM WITH CURRENT EVENTS AND THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING IN THE NEWS WITH DEATH AND MURDER AND HE WAS VERY AWARE AT AN EARLY AGE OF WHAT DEATH AND MORTALITY WAS.

>> SE NDAK'S OBSESSION WITH DEATH IS REPHONESSED WITH ME WHEN THE BABIES ABDUCTED AND KILLED IN 1932 AND ADMITS THE PREOCCUPATION IF THE 20-MONTH-OLD BLONDE HAIRED BLUE EYED BABY BOY OF COLONEL CHARLES LINDBURG COULD BE NASHED FROM THE CHILD'S FAMILY NURSERY IN HOPEWELL, NEW JERSEY WHAT CHANCES DID A KID LIKE SENDAK HAVE OF SURVIVAL.

>> YEAH.

I THINK DID HE HAVE SOME REALLY INTENSE FEELINGS ABOUT DEATH BUT I THINK HE HAD REALLY INTENSE FEELINGS ABOUT JOY AND PLAY AS WELL AND THAT THEY ARE ALSO ON DISPLAY HERE.

>> AND NOW, CRIED MASK, RECEIPT THE WILD RUMBA START ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> IF YOU NOTICE THEIR EYES ARE ON HIM, SO HE IS VERY MUCH AT THE CENTER OF THIS AND AS THE SORT OF PROTAG GONIST OF THE STORY IF YOU WILL, THE PERSON THAT IS IMAGINING THE WHOLE THING.

IT FEELS PRETTY GOOD TO BE AT THE CENTER AND TO BE LIKE SORT OF THE LEADER OF THIS CRAZY GANG.

>> NOW STOP, MASK SAID AND SENT THE WILD THINGS OFF TO BED WITHOUT THEIR SUPPER.

MASK, THE KING OF ALL WILD THINGS, WAS LONELY AND WANTED TO BE WHERE SOMEONE LOVED HIM BEST OF ALL.

>> THERE WERE THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN HIS OWN NEIGHBORHOOD, AS A CHILE, THAT IMPACTED HIM.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

HE HAD VERY CLOSE FRIEND WHEN WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD.

THE BALL ROLLED INTO THE TRAFFIC AND HIS FRIEND WAS ACTUALLY HIT BY A CAR AND KILLED IN FRONT OF HIM.

AND I CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE HOW TRAUMATIZING THAT WOULD BE FOR SEVEN-YEAR-OLD.

AND IT REMEMBERS VIVIDLY AS ADULT TO EVEN SPEAK ABOUT IT AND REMEMBERS VIVIDLY HIS FRIEND'S MOTHER VISITING HIM LATER AND TELLING HIM YOU KNOW, I DON'T, I DON'T BLAME YOU, I FORGIVE WHERE YOU SHALL IT IS OK, AND YEAH.

CANNOT IMAGINE THU WOULD HAVE AFFECTED HIM LATER ON IN LIFE AS WELL.

RIGHT.

WALT DISNEY, MICKEY MOUSE HAS GREET INFLUENCE.

>> YEAH.

BEESLUTELY.

SO GROWING UP IN THE 30'S.

DISNEY AND MUCKY WERE JUST GETTING THEIR START AS WELL.

AND HE, YOU KNOW, HAD A MCCAN I TOOTHBRUSH, TWO MUCKY GUMS AND SAW MUCKY CARTOONS IN THE THEATER THAN WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THE BOLDNESS OF THAT CARTOON, THAT CHARACTER, THE COLORS, THAT REALLY CAPTURED HIM AND ONE OF THE AS A CHILD SOME OF THE FIRST DRAWINGS WERE OF MICKEY MOUSE AND YOU HE, AT THE AGE OF 5 AND 6 AND IT DEFINITELY INFLUENCED HIS DESIRE TO BE AN ARTISTS.

AND AN STATOR.

>> DO YOU SEE ANY OF WALT DISZ IN'S ART INOSE NDAK'S WORK.

>> AGESLY YES.

PARTICULARLY I WOULD SANE THE NIGHT KITCHEN WHICH IS A BOOK THAT HE WROTE AND ILLUSTRATED AFTER WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.

THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THAT BOOK IS ACTUALLY NAMED MCCAN I.

THE CHARACTERS HAVE THAT ROUNDED CARTOONISH EFFECT, THE STORY IS LAID OUT AS IF IT IS A CARTOON STRIP IN A WAY WITH THE PANEL, YOU KNOW, LEADING LEFT TO RIGHT, AND YEAH.

ABSOLUTELY.

THAT ONE.

IN PARTICULAR.

WELL I WOULD LIKE TO TURN TO SOMEBODY ELSE NOW WHO HAS BEEN A GREAT FAVOR OF MINE ILLUSTRATOR THIS IS THE BUSH BUILD AND IN TURNING INTO ANY PAGE AND ALSO THE BACK TO THE ADVANCING AGAIN, PRACTICALLY BLAST OFF THE PAGE, THEY ARE SO ANIMATED, WILDLY FUNNY, BRILL EBTLY COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS.

I HAS PLAYED A GREAT PART IN MY DEVELOPMENT.

I THINK IN ALL MY BOOKS THERE HAS BEEN A CONSCIOUS SENSE OF ANIMATION UNTRYING TO GET THIS EFFECT.

I KNOW CHILDREN HAVE LOOKED THROUGH SOME OF THE WORK AND THEY HAVE NOT SO MUCH READ THE TEXT AS FLIPPED THROUGH THE BOOK AND WHICH PLEASES ME NO END BECAUSE WE AUTOED TO HAVE FLIP BOOK WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN WHICH WE WERE JUST GOING TO DO ONE OF THESE AND JUST FLIPPED THROUGH LIKE THAT AND THE CHARACTER SCURRY ACROSS THE PAPER.

AND IT HAS MARVELOUS EFFECT.

IT IS NEVER ENDING FASCINATION OF A MOVIE, CERTAINLY.

>> IT IS A LITTLE BEAR WAS A PROJECT THAT SE NDAK WORKED ON PURELY AS ILLUSTRATOR.

HE DIDN'T WRITE ANY OF THOSE STORIES, BUT HE HAD VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WRITER AND HIS ILLUSTRATIONS ABSOLUTELY MAKE THAT BOOK WHAT IT IS.

AND YOU ALSO START TO SEE BEGINNINGS OF HIS OWN STYLE IN THAT.

THERE IS DEF LNT YOU ALL THE CROSSHATCHING THAT HE LATER USES IN THE WILD THINGS AND THEY ARE REALLY BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS TO GO ALONG WITH THOSE TORRES.

>> IN NAUM BEFORE HE CHILDREN'S BOOKS YOU WILL NOTICE A WHITE TERRIER SITTING OR SCAMPERING ALONG THE PAGES THE LITTLE DOG IS YET ANOTHER MEM FRIDAY SENDAK'S CHILDHOOD, IN LIFE, JENNY WAS THE BOYHOOD COMPANION, AND I IS JENNY FAMOUSLY CHASED BY FORK-WIELDING MASK ON THE EARLY PAGES OF WILD THINGS.

>> IN ALL AROUND FROM FAR AWAY AND GAVE UP BEING KING OF WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.

>> THE INFLUENCES IN THE HOME AND HOW DID THEY TRY TO PLAY IN THE START WE SEE HERE.

WELL, I THINK HE WAS IN COURAGED TO BE CREATE AS A KID.

I BET HIS PARENTS WERE RELIEVED PROBABLY TO SOME EXTEND THEY WOULD HAVE AND WHO ACTUALLY FOUND WAYS TO CONTENT HIMSELF AND HIS DAD WAS CREATIVE.

I MEAN, HE WAS TAILOR, AND DESIGNER AND SOME REGARDS.

HE MAY SORT OF THINK ABOUT THAT IN REGARD TO THE COSTUMES THAT SENDAK LATER CREATE FOR THIS WILD THINGS FOR INSTANCE, AND HOW HE REMAIN GIN THE CHARACTERS AGAIN AND AGAIN IN DIFFERENT MATERIALS AND THE BALLET AND THE FILM AND HIS MOM IS MORE OF A SORT OF FIGURE.

SHE WAS, I THINK, A LITTLE DEPRESSIVE, AND HE DIDN'T SPEAK ABOUT IT THAT MUCH.

>> SO THE FIRST JOB OUTSIDE OF WHEN GOT OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL WAS ACTUALLY AS WINDOW DRESSER.

SO HE WOULD DESIGN WINDOW DISPLAYS FOR NEW YORK STORES AND WORKED IN MANHATTAN AND THEN HE ALSO WORKED FOR FAO SCHWARTZ DESIGNING THEIR WINDOW DESIGNS SO I THINK THE IDEA OF THE SET AND THE COSTUME DEFINITELY COMES FROM THAT EARLY EX OF BEING A WINDOW DRESSER.

WHICH IMAGINED ALSO LIKE THAT INTERESTS CAME FROM HIS FATHER'S PROFESSION BEING A TAILOR AND A DRESS MAKER.

>> TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THIS OFFER WHICH IS A BRITISH OPRAH.

>> YEAH.

IT STARTED OUT IN THE UK THEN LATER TOURED THROUGHOUT THE U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE.

HE WORKED ON IT.

AND IN THE LATE '70'S AND, AND, AND, I AM NOT SURE WHERE THE SORT OF GERMINATION OF THAT IDEA CAME FROM AND BUT HE REALLY LOVED THE IDEA OF TRYING TO EXTEND HIS SHORT PICTURE BOOK INTO THE FEE OF FEATURE LENGTH FORMAT ANSWER FOUND THAT HE REALLY LOVED SET DESIGN AND CHARACTER DESIGN AND HE EVEN WROTE THE TEXT IN THE LYRICS FOR ALL OF THE SONGS AND TEXTS AND THE OPRAH.

IN 2009, SPIKE JONES DIRECTED THE FEATURE LENGTH VERSION OF THE WILD THINGS ARE AND SENDAK WAS VERY INVOLVED WITH THE PROJECT AND CREDITED AS A PRODUCE CERTAIN PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN THE CHARACTER DESIGN AGAIN WITH HIS THEATER BACKGROUND AND GAINED THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS REALLY INTERESTING TO HIM.

HE WORKED CLOSELY WITH JIM HENSON SEA STUDIO CREATE THE LOOK OF THE WILD THINGS AND THAT PRODUCTION.

>> BUT THE WILD THINGS CRIED, OH, PLEASE, DON'T GO.

WELL, WE'LL HEAT EAT UP.

WE LOVE YOU, SO AND MASK SAID, NO.

MAX SAID MO.

>> HE WAS BOTH A CHILD AND A ARE REALLY CRANKY OLD MAN.

WHICH I ALWAYS THOUGHT WAS WHAT WAS SO AT ODDS WITH HIS PERSONALITY, AGAIN, I DON'T BLOW THAT COMES FROM.

BUT THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT ALWAYS STRUCK ME AS PECULIAR, I SUPPOSE.

HE ALWAYS SAID THAT HE FELT THAT HE HAD A REALLY STRONG CONNECTION TO HIS INNER CHILD.

INTERESTINGLY HE DIDN'T HAVE A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH CHILDREN AS ADULT AND HE DID MOST OF HIS OBSERVATIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN YOU KNOW, ON THE SUBWAY, AND THE STREETS OF NEW YORK, HE WOULD OBSERVE CHILDREN WHEREVER HE WENT BUT HE DIDN'T HAVE PARTICULARLY CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH HIS NIECES OR NEPHEWS OR LIKE THE CHILDREN OF HIS CLOSE FRIENDS AND SO IT REALLY WAS THIS INNER SENSE OF CHILDHOOD THAT HE WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE.

>> SENDAK NEVER MARRIED HAVING NO CHILDREN OF HIS OWN.

>> BEING PRIVATE PERSON, HE WAS IN A VERY LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PARTNER EUGENE GLEN OVER 50 YEARS, I THINK, IN A WAY, HE WAS OUT AND NOT OUT AT THE SAME TIME.

HE DIDN'T HIDE IT HE DENT NECESSARILY LIKE TO SPEAK ABOUT IT PUBLICLY.

BUT HE DID, I THINK AROUND 2008, HE FINALLY INTERVIEW AND YOU SAID, YEAH, IF YOU KNOW SHALL IF YOU DIDN'T FIGURE IT OUT YET.

I AM GAY.

AND KNOW, YOU ARE RIGHT.

THINK I THAT SOME PEOPLE DID FIND A PROBLEM WITH THAT.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME, HIS LEGACY WAS SORT OF ARD ALREADY SO ESTABLISHED AT THIS POINT, THAT HE KIND OF DID MANAGE TO FLY UNDER THE RADAR THAT TIME.

>> I DON'T THINK HE WAS NECESSARILY CUT OUT TO BE FAMOUS.

MEAN HE WAS NOT CUT OUT TO BE LIKE MR. ROGERS.

HE HAD AN EDGE TO HIM.

HE HAD VERY PARTICULAR OPINIONS AND HE PROBABLY HAD SOME PRETTY, SENSE FELT SUCH OWNERSHIP, AUTHORSHIP OF THESE ESPECIALLY THESE CREATURES, I THINK, REWAS VERY, HE WAS VERY PROTECTIVE OF THEM.

AT THE SAME TIME, HE HAD PEOPLE WHO WERE COMPLETELY ENAMORED OF HIM AND LOVED HIM.

PEOPLE AT YALE AND OTHER ARTISTS AND AUTHORS AND HE HAS BEEN ENRM OSLY INFLUENTIAL AS TO FILM MAKERS AND SONGWRITERS, TWO PEOPLE IN JUST ALL DIFFERENT ART FORMS.

>> HE REALLY BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE WITH FAITH AND WITH THE DEEPER SPIRITUALITY SORT OF HAD IT EASIER IN THE WORLD AND THEN HIM AND OTHERS WHO DIDN'T.

AND HE FELT LIKE RELUNGE GONE REALLY GAVE A SENSE OF COMFORT TO PEOPLE AND HE NEVER HAD THAT SENSE OF COMFORT, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGHT HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUNG ADULT LIFE, YEAH.

AM NOT SURE WHAT PARTICULARLY PUSHED HIM TOWARD ATHEISM, BUT HE WAS DOVE ENTLY STAUNCHLY ATHEIST TOWARD THE END, EVEN, AS HE WAS APPROACHING HIS OWN DEATH AND CONTEMPLATING, YOU MO, HE MEANING OF LIFE WHEREVER WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THIS.

AND IT ALWAYS MADE HIM SAD TO THINK ABOUT ACTUALLY.

HE WILL DEFINITELY BE REMEMBERED LONG AFTER HIS DEATH SHALL HE PASSED AWAY IN 2012, SADLY, AND I MEAN, I WILL READ HIS STORIES TO MY CHILDREN WHO WILL LIKELY READ THEM TO THEIR CHILDREN, SO IT IS DEFINITELY A LONG LASTING LEGACY THAT HE HAS ESTABLISHED.

>> YEAH.

THE WILD THING ROARED THE TERRIBLE ROAR AND NASHED THEIR TERRIBLE TEETH AND SHOWED THEIR TERRIBLE CLAW.

MAX WAVEDDED ABOUT BYE.

AND SAILED BACK OVER A YEAR.

>> INTO THE NIGHT OF HIS VERY OWN ROOM WHERE HE FOUND HIS SUPPER WAITING FOR HIM AND IT WAS STILL HOT.

THE END.

♪ ♪