Family Guy’s short adaptation of beloved children’s book Where The Wild Things Are is predictably bleak. While Family Guy evolved into a comedy mainstay it had a difficult first few years. The show follows the title character Peter Griffin and his oddball family and friends, and while he might mean well he’s also a dim-witted and destructive jerk. Despite gaining a cult audience following its 1999 debut it was eventually canceled by FOX after three seasons. Thanks to robust DVD sales and gaining an even bigger viewership via re-runs, the series was resurrected in 2005.
Family Guy has been running ever since, with creator Seth MacFarlane going on to work on shows like The Orville and movies like the Ted duology. Despite it’s lasting success Family Guy has often been criticized for it’s many comparisons to The Simpsons – though the two shows eventually crossed over – and its overreliance on random, silly cutaway gags to provide humor.
That’s exactly how Family Guy adapted Where The Wild Things Are, which is based on the classic 1963 picture book by author Maurice Sendak. It’s a simple story of a young boy named Max who finds himself sucked into a mysterious land filled with creatures known as the “Wild Things.” Max is eventually crowned their King but starts to miss his old life and decides to return home. The book has since become beloved and was adapted for a 2009 live-action movie directed by Spike Jonze which featured voice performances by James Gandolfini and Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek).
The movie was a good deal more touching than Family Guy’s take, which featured in season 13’s “Quagmire’s Mom.” This episode sees Peter learn his real first name is actually Justin, so he decides to change his image into an unbearable douche. When he eventually decides to drop this new persona, he triggers a cutaway revealing he found where the “Wild Things” were as Justin. This sketch sees Max – complete with his wolf outfit – dancing with the creatures around a campfire before shots ring out in succession gruesomely killing them all.
That’s when “Justin” emerges with a smoking rifle to a horrified Max, thanking the boy for leading him right to the creatures and then revealing he’s going to grind up their horns to make an aphrodisiac. It’s not one of Family Guy’s better episodes but it can’t be denied the sheer bluntness of this Where The Wild Thing Are skit is kind of funny.
