Be willing to get fired for a good idea.

When I first moved up to San Francisco to write Where The Wild Things Are, I had a couple moments where I talked to somebody, and they're like, "Oh, I love that book. I love this part of it," or, "This is what it means to me." And it's like, "Well, I don't know. I guess that's not what I'm making the movie about." But very early on, I don't know, we sort of let go of that fear.

If I can make one generalised statement, and generalised statements are never entirely true, nobody wants to be talked down to, kids included.

On everything I do I'm always taking someone's money, whether it's a movie studio or a record label. Somebody's paying for it, and I'm always respectful of that. But I'm never going to compromise.

The invention of the iPod changes how you use music. Suddenly you have music everywhere.

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.

I feel like you only have so much time to make stuff. I'm definitely aware of that. I'm also excited about it.