tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post7282309629349926784..comments2024-03-09T05:53:59.542-05:00Comments on Oz and Ends: Maurice Sendak on OzUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-7753195798245781132012-05-10T14:15:08.502-05:002012-05-10T14:15:08.502-05:00Growing up, my experience was kids really didn'...Growing up, my experience was kids really didn't like Sendak much (except for WILD THINGS). His work was dark brooding, and he had a tendency to draw incredibly ugly and unappealing children, IMHO. Interesting both WILD THINGS and NIGHT KITCHEN are very cartoony and not in his broody, over-rendered, crosshatchy style.<br /><br />On the whole I rather dislike Sendak's theatre work. It too suffers from his personal vision rather than a desire to please and communicate. Set design needs to serve the piece - not the designer.David Maxinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12672089188117065118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-56517598869584947072012-05-09T15:51:50.013-05:002012-05-09T15:51:50.013-05:00Wild Things and Night Kitchen are definitely Senda...<i>Wild Things</i> and <i>Night Kitchen</i> are definitely Sendak’s masterpieces, but I’m also very fond of the Nutshell Library (especially <i>One Was Johnny</i>) and the Little Bear books.<br /><br />I think the picture books from <i>Outside Over There</i> on are less entertaining, reflecting Sendak's idiosyncratic personal expression rather than the combination of personal expression <i>and</i> desire to please and communicate that produces the best popular art. <br /><br />I imagine you've experienced more of Sendak's work in opera and stage design.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-39520613747680338082012-05-09T00:12:48.500-05:002012-05-09T00:12:48.500-05:00I was sorry to hear of Sendak's passing but wi...I was sorry to hear of Sendak's passing but with the exception of WILD THINGS and NIGHT KITCHEN I kind of dislike most of his work.<br /><br />Interesting comments on that scene from the MGM film though. It has never once occurred to me that it is actually Auntie Em in the crystal ball - it seems to clearly be a trick of the Wicked Witch. The scene where Aunt Em fades into the Witch is to me the only genuinely frightening moment in the film.David Maxinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12672089188117065118noreply@blogger.com