There was speculation floating around about the delaying of Spike’s MUCH anticipated big screen adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are due to the film not looking too promising. Spike fans new that wasn’t true, and today it’s been proven.

The main problem with the film is that Spike stayed so true to the book, that the dark parts were deemed “too scary for kids” resulting in re-shoots, cuts, and different paths the film should take.

Academy Award winner Forester Whitaker plays the main monster in the film, Ira, the one who “punches holes in the trees.” He is backing the original cut because he took his three young kids to an early screening and said, “It was intense. They liked it, though. They enjoyed it… I’m going to call Spike and find out what’s going on,” he promised. “The thing is, it’s one thing to read [scary stuff] in a book, but when you see an itty-bitty kid running alongside a 10-foot-giant on the side of a cliff, it gets intense. But that’s the point, because we’re representing the things inside of the kid. They represent his struggles, either him being too angry or being confused, or not feeling like he belongs. They’re a gargantuan extension of the way he’s feeling inside.”

RIGHT ON Forest! Read the rest of the interview he shared with MTV HERE.

Cool Fact: Spike Jonze started out directing skateboard films in the mid-90s, and is co-owner of Girl Skateboards. Represent!