5 Talk

Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak (b. 1928) is an author, illustrator, and cartoonist best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are. He was interviewed in the documentary The World of Jim Henson, and had previously been quoted in the Jim Henson produced TV film Youth '68.

Sendak was an early member of the National Board of Advisors for the Children's Television Workshop during the development stages for Sesame Street. Attending most of the early seminars, Sendak created a series of sketches based on elements of the discussion, from such issues as sex roles and sibling rivalry. Though he played no known active role in the final creative outcome of the series, Sendak's drawings from these seminars were used by Gerald S. Lesser in his book Children and Television: Lessons from Sesame Street, and were featured in Michael Davis' Street Gang.

Sendak later collaborated with Jim Henson on two animated films for the series, writing and designing them. One was "Bumble Ardy", and with Jim Henson as the voice of Bumble Ardy.(EKA: Episode 0305) This segment appears as an easter egg on disc 1 of Old School: Volume 2. In 2011, Sendak published a book, Bumble-Ardy, based on the story.

Sendak and Henson also collaborated on another segment, "Seven Monsters"^[1] upon which his 1977 book Seven Little Monsters was later based (and the 2000s PBS Kids TV series).^[2] The two segments eventually stopped being shown because Sesame Workshop got reports that kids watching were "freaked out" by them.^[3]

Images from Where the Wild Things Are were used in the 1970s version of the sketch "The Organized Mind". Sendak's book also appears in Sarah's room in Labyrinth, and certain general themes, as well as Toby's pajamas, were inspired by the book. Sendak received acknowledgement in the film's end credits. Bob also read the book in the first Sesame Street test show (however this was omitted for the commercial release on Old School: Volume 2).

A feature film version of Where the Wild Things Are was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in October 2009, using effects and puppets from Jim Henson's Creature Shop. In 1980, Henson, Sendak, and Jon Stone were in talk of producing a film called The Varied Adventures of Mischevious Miles.^[4]