Spike Jonze the director of "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation" has dipped into the world of children's literature to deliver a delightfully trippy version of "Where the Wild Things Are." Which other odd directors have set foot in the world of children's books?
1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Leave it to Tim Burton to one-up an already trippy children's movie; his take on Roald Dahl's classic novel is even more acid-infused bad acid, some would say than the 1971 version starring Gene Wilder.
Mr. Burton's next film, "Alice in Wonderland," also dips into classic kiddie territory and promises to be just as odd. 2. The Witches — There's something about Mr. Dahl's work that lends itself to absurd — and frightening — adaptations, and Nicolas Roeg's version of "The Witches" is no exception, calling to mind the director's previous works, such as "The Man Who Fell to Earth," starring David Bowie.
3. Coraline — Based on a book by Neil Gaiman, Henry Selick's stop-motion extravaganza is a 10 on the creepy scale: There's nothing like trading eyeballs for buttons to make the skin crawl. Mr. Selick — whose work includes "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Monkeybone" — was the perfect choice to helm this oddball kid's flick.
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox — One more entry from Mr. Dahl's oeuvre; Wes Anderson, the uber-twee filmmaker behind "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums," recently debuted this stop-motion animated picture about a talking fox to much applause at the London Film Festival.
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — In this first entry in the Harry Potter film series to take a seriously dark turn, Alfonso Cuaron — the virtuoso behind "Children of Men" — brought a delightfully dark look to the evil Dementors haunting Harry.
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