Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, one of the stars of Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are," recently spoke with MTV News about the controversy over the film and its potential major re-edit to appeal to a younger audience.

"[The dark scenes] are the point of the movie, and I hope that they maintain that point, because I think children can identify with a character who is upset. ...[Max] rolls by himself, no father figure; this is a single family home. His mother ends up having a boyfriend that becomes like a monster to him...people have to build trust with the people their parent starts to date...These are real issues that the character deals with, and I hope that [the filmmakers] continue to explore them, because kids need to see that; they need to see that other kids are dealing with it" says Whitaker.

He continues on, saying "The thing is, it's one thing to read [scary stuff] in a book, but when you see an itty-bitty kid running alongside a 10-foot-giant on the side of a cliff, it gets intense. But that's the point, because we're representing the things inside of the kid. They represent his struggles, either him being too angry or being confused, or not feeling like he belongs. They're a gargantuan extension of the way he's feeling inside."

What's his character "I play Ira, he puts the holes in the trees. I have a wife and kid, and we're the only family unit inside [the land of the Wild Things]. It's a good movie. I saw an early cut of it. I brought my kids to see it, and I was really impressed."

Jonze hasn't released any more statements for the picture after identifying the early test footage that hit the Net back in February. Warner Bros. last set the film's release date for October 2009.