Where The Wild Things Are – Art Director

This sketch is from Sonny Gerasimowicz, chosen as the Art Director for Where The Wild Things Are Movie – I love this fact especially as he is not a professional creature creator or artist. In fact he is a former graffiti writer turned ad agency creative. I am sure Sonny would have been super scared showing Sendak his initial sketches for the first time but according to this article in the Los Angeles Times it all went very well indeed;

Then the two traveled to Connecticut to show Sendak the renderings and get his blessing. The then-76-year-old writer-illustrator made some tweaks — suggestions about the muzzle on a bull-like Wild Thing and the feathers on the rooster Thing not being “flamboyant” enough — but remained markedly nonproprietary. “His attitude is so contrary to protecting anything,” Jonze said. “His assignment to us was, ‘Take this, make it your own. Make it something personal.’ “