Rhetorical Analysis of Where the Wild Things Are trailer

I am pretty fascinated/obsessed with Where the Wild Things Are. Like so many kiddos, my mom read me this book, and it's become sort of a representative symbol in my family. We all still own copies of it, and we often quote it to one another. I have a twin brother, and this book will always remind me of him; we grew up together with this book. (Of course, in reality, he was the true Wild Thing, and I was his shy and quiet follower, which probably made me even more interested in this imaginary land of the Wild Things.) As soon as I heard there was a movie coming out, I got pretty excited. (It doesn't hurt that a favorite author of mine did the screen play. Love me some Dave Eggers!) When I saw the first trailer they released for the film, I just knew the movie would be everything I hoped for. Oh yes, the trailer is that good--hopefully you watched it above! And I bet the movie itself will be out to rent soon; you should check it out, especially if you are a devotee of the book.

But whenever I love anything as much as I love this trailer, I have to ask myself "why?" What's going on in this trailer that makes me so excited and emotional each time I see it? What is perhaps most fascinating here is the way the trailer appeals to two different audiences--the makers of this film hope to attract both young children and adults like me, who read this book as children. So, rhetorically, everything going on in this trailer makes gestures toward each of those audiences. For instance, the wild things themselves have a friendly, muppet-like appearance. They could very easily have been scary monsters, but these wild things are approachable and kid-friendly. At the same time, the music playing is by the great band The Arcade Fire, and there I see a gesture toward twenty-somethings like myself, who likely know and identify with this band's music. I suppose pathos works in two different ways there, appealing to two entirely different groups. And, perhaps, that is a very logical rhetorical move on the part of the creators of this trailer--more people will see it now.


The use of sound in general is interesting here. In fact, there's actually only one spoken line in the entire preview, and it's at the very beginning. The wild thing, in his deep and kind voice, tells Max, "I didn't want to wake you, but I really wanted to show you something." The only other audio (besides the music) is the wild things howling at the end. These audio decisions highlight the visual nature of the trailer, putting the emphasis on the detailed faces of the wild things, their imaginary world, and the juxtaposition between Max's "real" life and his life with the wild things. The filmmakers obviously want viewers to first take in this fabulous visual scenery, which makes sense in connection with the book, which is largely a picture book. (I think it only has a total of about 33 words in it.) All this visual imagery could also be another way to capture the attention of the children who might want to see this film--kids like pictures, right?! But adults who know the Wild Things book will also be taken with it, as the trailer captures iconic images and scenes from book itself. The dedication to the visual story establishes ethos for the film in general. It demonstrates they've done their research. They know this book, and they bring it to life here.


I could go on about this....I really could. But I'll wrap it up now. Overall, I find this trailer to be an incredibly smart piece of rhetoric. It manages to capture the hearts and minds of two very diverse audiences. And, every time I watch it, I get a little teary....but that's for a different post! :)(Oh, pathos...I think it's always my fave!)