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Much of the buzz you're hearing now that
"Where the Wild Things Are" has finally opened is about making sense of what the
movie's No. 1 position atop the box office means. By most standards, a
haul of $32.5 million is the mark of a solid performer, but there's a feeling
that the PG-rated movie would have done even better had it lured more of a
family crowd, which, one would think, would be a natural for a movie based on a
beloved children's book.
But the marketing behind the Warner Bros. film had been a highly anticipated
affair since the spring, as the studio and the movie's director, the critical
darling Spike Jonze, seemed at loggerheads as to what type of movie he was
delivering, a family-friendly flick suited for Saturday matinees or an art-house
adult project.
The next couple of weeks will tell us what type of film Warner has on its hands,
but one thing is clear: The marketing did hue to the vision of the movie's
director, who, while not a household name, is enough of a draw to tap into a
large, enthusiastic, ready-made audience, which invariably includes a heaping
dose of aging hipster Gen X-ers, cool kids and people whom brands often call
"influencers" that helped propel the movie to the No. 1 spot.
With involvement and influence on a number of key projects, such as
limited-edition products and partnerships with outlets such as Urban Outfitters
and Vice magazine, Mr. Jonze was able to build a groundswell of enthusiasm for
his film that would later complement and buoy a big-budget studio effort.
Last spring, about the same time some studio executives were calling "Where The
Wild Things Are" "the most interesting marketing problem in town right now," Mr.
Jonze launched a simple blog. With its hand-sewn header and earnest outlook, We
Love You So was quickly embraced by a large swath of culture, art and design
blogs that kept talking about it over the next six months. The stated goal
of the site, featuring posts by Mr. Jonze and a small cast of regulars, was "to
help shed some light on many of the small influences that have converged to make
this massive project a reality." The content featured the usual
behind-the-scenes tidbits from the film, as well as anything else - from artists
and past films to vintage cartoons, music and clothing - the creators felt
shared a similar sensibility with the film. The effort was far from the
tech-heavy, ARG-type movie campaigns that have been in vogue of late, which are
created to appeal to the ComiCon crowd. Mr. Jonze's simple web project felt
downright quaint by comparison, something fans would expect from a low-budget
indie film, not a studio-backed, $80 million-plus production.
"It was really important for Spike to have the [marketing] materials be really
unique and not canned or coming from a generic place," said artist and designer
Geoff McFetridge, who designed the film's titles and teamed with Mr. Jonze more
than a year ago to create a massive stylebook for potential licensees to adhere
to. "He just wanted the marketing to reflect his sensibilities and those
of the film. His mantra was that 'this is a handmade film, make everything
feel handmade.' Things that are handmade are made with love, they're made
with care, they're made by groups of individuals. That simple message, to take
all the pretence out of it, says a lot and points things in a very specific
direction."
Mr. McFetridge, an accomplished fine artist who runs Los Angeles-based Champion
Graphics, said Mr. Jonze was involved in every aspect of the design process when
it came to the movie materials, from the font of the opening titles to the box
for a special edition DVD gift set. "A lot of directors do their job, but
that's what it is," Mr. McFetridge said. "This is his life. I can call him
about any of the marketing stuff, and he lives close to my studio, so he'll jump
on his scooter and come down to check things out and talk about it, even late at
night."
Also back in the spring, Mr. Jonze showed a few of his friends at Girl
Skateboards, a company he co-founded in 1993, some never-before-seen photos of
the onscreen Wild Things. A few found their way onto the Girl website and,
while garnering an outpouring of online hoopla, didn't exactly make the studio
smile. But that sort of under-the-radar buzz added to the early excitement
for the film. Girl Skateboards and sibling brand Lakai Shoes then released
a line of limited-edition "Wild Things" products - shoes, boards, T-shirts -
that got snapped up so quickly the companies needed a second run of products in
production before the film was in theatres.
"Skaters have a lot of respect for Spike, obviously going back to the skate
videos he's been involved with over the years," said Girl Co-founder Megan
Baltimore. "The monsters look so beautiful on the boards, there have been
so many people who've bought them just to hang up on the wall."
Just prior to its release, the film also enjoyed all the usual marketing support
a studio adaptation of a seminal children's book is supposed to get, but those
efforts bore the stamp of Mr. Jonze's influence as well. The director
worked closely with Warner Bros. to ensure even the more time-honoured elements
of the studio campaign kept in spirit with the film.
Traditional fare such as Barnes & Noble book tie-ins, plush toys and other
knick-knacks were complemented by events such as cast readings of the book at
the New York Public Library, art gallery shows of author Maurice Sendak's work
and a film retrospective of Mr. Jonze's work at MoMA.
Alongside the mainstream ad rollout, the indie-style efforts continued. A
"Wild Things" pop-up store appeared in Los Angeles' Space 15 Twenty, an
experimental retail environment owned and operated by Urban Outfitters,
garnering jaw-dropping reactions from design blog commenters. The space
featured artfully made trees, child-like fortresses, books, clothing,
accessories and artwork. Another not-so-obvious tie-in was fashion
specialty brand Opening Ceremony's line of film-inspired products, which run the
gamut from $50 T-shirts to a $290 brass ring to, if you're really in need of
furry nightwear, a $610 one-piece "Max" wolf suit. Not exactly Happy Meal
territory there.
Vice magazine created a special insert featuring art inspired by the film, and
its online video site VBS featured mini-docs on a variety of the film's artists.
"From a creative standpoint, it was one of the very rare big-budget Hollywood
films that we could tell stories about," said VBS's co-founder and creative
director, Eddy Moretti. "It was also a good fit, demographically, because
it's a kids' film that maybe isn't quite a kids' film. The people that
respond to this book were kids decades ago and are now in the middle of our
readership demographic, so we knew it was something that would resonate with our
readers. It's a story that makes sense to the people we know best."
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