As a parent, your perspective of childhood is through the eyes of this person that you care so much about and you just want the world to be great for them. You want their life to be easy and happy.

The fact that Maurice Sendak said, "This is something that I made at your age, this was something that was personal to me, and now you need to take it and make something that's personal to you." I don't know, but we made the Where The Wild Things Are movie that we set out to make, and Maurice loves it. If Maurice was anxious about it, then I would be petrified.

You have to be involved and relate to the characters in order to make a film that is true emotionally.

I feel like everything I make is personal to me.

I think the way kids create is so inspiring. They're drawing a picture? They love the picture they drew; they're not tortured about it.

What the world is like from a nine-year-old's point of view? My memory is that nothing is explained to you, you've got to try to figure it out, pick up clues from the people around you, try to figure it out from their reactions.

Big emotions that are unexplained are really scary. At least to me.