Carls later formed Wild Things Productions in 1992, with the intent to produce adaptations of Sendak's properties. Universal Studios and Playtone acquired rights to the book's adaptation in 1999, initially attempting to develop a live-action/CGI adaptation with Gore Verbinski attached to direct and Eric Warren Singer attached to write the screenplay. In 2001, Universal replaced the live-action/CGI concept with a fully computer-animated adaptation, with Disney animator Eric Goldberg attached to direct, but in 2003 they reverted back to live-action, and Goldberg was replaced with Spike Jonze. After years of interest from various producers, Sendak favoured Spike Jonze as director, noting he was "young, interesting and had a spark that none of the others had". The film was originally set for release from Universal, and a teaser of the film was attached to the studio's 2000 adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Disagreements between Universal and Sendak over Jonze's approach to the story led to a turnaround arrangement where the film's production was transferred to Warner Bros. In 2005, Jonze and Dave Eggers completed a 111-page screenplay, expanding the original thirteen-sentence story. On 8 July 2006, production began open auditions for the role of Max. The process took months, but, eventually, Max Records was cast. Academy Award-winning make-up effects supervisor Howard Berger (The Chronicles of Narnia) turned down offers to work on the film four times. Although the book inspired him as a child to work in special effects, he felt filming it was a "horrible idea." Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the animatronic suits for the Wild Things. Jonze kept in close consultation with Sendak throughout the process, and the author approved creature designs created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. To make the set a more comfortable environment for Max Records, Jonze encouraged the crew members to bring their children to the set. Some of them can be seen in the film's classroom scene. Michelle Williams was originally cast as the female Wild Thing KW only to leave the project after her voice "didn't match the original vision of how the Wild Thing should sound". She was replaced by Lauren Ambrose, and filming continued. Filming Principal photography began in July 2006 at Docklands Studios Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia and wrapped in December 2006. In 2008, test footage was leaked onto the internet, garnering mixed reactions. Jonze called the footage "a very early test... to see if our VFX plan