title: John Wooden

text: By the 1961–1962 season, the probation was no longer in place and Wooden returned his team to the top of the conference. This time, however, they would take the next step, and in so doing, unleash a run of dominance unparalleled in the history of college basketball. UCLA reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. A narrow loss, due largely to a controversial foul call in a 1962 semi-final game against Ed Jucker's eventual national champion Cincinnati team, convinced Wooden that his Bruins were ready to contend for national championships. Two seasons later in 1964, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place when assistant coach Jerry Norman persuaded Wooden that the team's small-sized players and fast-paced offense would be complemented by the adoption of a zone press defense, which increased the probability of turnovers by the opposing team. The result was a dramatic increase in scoring, giving UCLA a powerhouse team that went 30–0 on its way to the school's first basketball national championship and first undefeated season as the Bruins beat Vic Bubas' taller and slower racially segregated Duke team 98–83 in the final. Walt Hazzard fouled out of the game late in the second half on a player control foul, but this was irrelevant when he cut down the net in celebration and was named tournament most valuable player. Gail Goodrich, Keith Erickson, Fred Slaughter, and Jack Hirsch contributed to the UCLA win. With no player taller than 6 feet, 5 inches, the Bruins' speed and zone press forced 29 turnovers and nullified the height advantage of Duke's Hack Tison and Jay Buckley, two 6-foot, 10-inch players.


title: John Wooden

text: In the 1964-1965 campaign, the defending NCAA champions got off to an ominous start when UCLA lost to Illinois by 27 points in its opening game. It was all uphill after that as the squad repeated as national champions with Gail Goodrich, Kenny Washington, and Doug McIntosh. The Bruins upended Dave Strack's Michigan team 91–80 in the finals of the NCAA tournament. Goodrich shared Player of the Year honors with Princeton's Bill Bradley. The 1966 squad was denied a chance at a triple crown when it finished second to Oregon State in the Athletic Association of Western Universities (now the Pac-12). UCLA was ineligible to play in the NCAA tournament that year because in those days only conference champions received a bid to the tournament. The Bruins' 1967 incarnation returned with a vengeance with sophomore star Alcindor, reclaiming not only the conference title, but the national crown with another 30–0 season, and then retaining it every season but one until Wooden's retirement immediately following the 1975 NCAA championship.


title: John Wooden

text: The resurgence of the Bruins under Wooden made it obvious that they needed a new home. Since 1932, the Bruins had played at the Men's Gym. It normally seated 2,400, but had been limited to 1,500 since 1955 by order of the city fire marshal. This forced the Bruins to move games to Pan Pacific Auditorium, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena and other venues around Los Angeles when they were expected to attract larger crowds—something that happened fairly often after the Bruins' first national title. At Wooden's urging, a much larger on-campus facility, Pauley Pavilion, was built in time for the 1965–66 season. The building in Westwood was christened on November 27, 1965, in a special game that pitted the UCLA varsity against the UCLA freshmen. It was Lew Alcindor's (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) freshman season (freshmen were ineligible to play on the varsity in those days). UCLA was the defending national champion and ranked number 1 in the pre-season poll. The freshmen easily won the game by a score of 75–60. It was a powerful indication of things to come.


title: John Wooden

text: A rule change was instituted for the 1967–1968 season, primarily because of Alcindor's towering play near the basket. The dunk shot was outlawed and would not be reinstated until the 1976–1977 season, which was shortly after Wooden's retirement. This was at least the second time that the rules committee had initiated change in response to the domination of a superstar player; in 1944, the goaltending rule was instituted to counter George Mikan's dominant defensive play near the basket. In January, UCLA took its 47-game winning streak to the Astrodome in Houston, where the Bruins met Guy Lewis' Houston squad, who had Elvin Hayes and Ken Spain, in the Game of the Century in the nation's first nationally televised regular season college basketball game. Houston upset UCLA 71–69, as Hayes scored 39 points. In a post-game interview, Wooden said, "We have to start over." UCLA went undefeated the rest of the year and thrashed Houston 101–69 in the semi-final rematch of the NCAA tournament en route to the national championship. "Sports Illustrated" ran the front cover headline "Lew's Revenge. The rout of Houston". UCLA limited Hayes to only 10 points; he had been averaging 37.7 points per game. Wooden credited Norman for devising the diamond-and-one defense that contained Hayes. The Game of the Century is also remembered for an incident involving Wooden and Edgar Lacy. Lacy was ineffective on defense against Elvin Hayes, and Wooden benched him after 11 minutes. Lacy never re-entered the game. Furious with Wooden, Lacy quit the team three days later, telling the "Los Angeles Times" "I've never enjoyed playing for that man." UCLA's talent during the 1968 NCAA tournament was so overwhelming that they placed four players on the All-Tournament team. In addition to Alcindor, Lucius Allen, Mike Warren, and "Lefty" Lynn Shackelford were given accolades. Kenny Heitz was also a member of UCLA's 1968 team.


title: John Wooden

text: Lew Alcindor finished his career at UCLA in 1969 with a third consecutive national championship when the Bruins beat George King's Purdue team 92–72 in the title game. The three straight titles were matched by three consecutive MVP awards in the tournament as Alcindor established himself as college basketball's superstar during the three-peat performance. Alcindor and Wooden would continue their communication even after he left UCLA. In 2017, Jabbar wrote a book, "Coach Wooden and Me", which details their long-standing friendship.


title: John Wooden

text: A sportswriter commented that everybody outside of UCLA would be happy that glorious day in June when Alcindor finally graduated and college basketball could go back to the routine method of determining a national champion. This prophecy would prove to be ludicrous over the next six years. The 1970 squad proved that nobody was indispensable to the success of the UCLA program, not even Alcindor, as Sidney Wicks, Henry Bibby, Curtis Rowe, John Vallely, and Kenny Booker carried the Bruins to their fourth consecutive NCAA title with an 80–69 win over upstart Jacksonville, coached by Joe Williams. Wicks and Rowe double teamed 7-foot Artis Gilmore on defense and shut down the high-powered Jacksonville offense, which had been averaging 100 points per game. Gilmore and 5'10" Rex Morgan had been dubbed "Batman and Robin" by the press.


title: John Wooden

text: In the 1971 NCAA championship game, Steve Patterson outscored Howard Porter of Jack Kraft's scandal-plagued Villanova squad as UCLA won 68–62. The following year, UCLA had its closest game in all of Wooden's 10 championships, beating Hugh Durham's Florida State team 81–76 to take the 1972 title. After the game, Bill Walton said, "We didn't play well."


title: John Wooden

text: The 1972–1973 season was one of the most memorable campaigns in the history of UCLA basketball. Freshmen became eligible to play varsity ball again, and the Bruins went 30–0 and stretched their winning streak to a record 75 straight in breezing through the NCAA tournament by blowing out Gene Bartow's Memphis State team 87–66 in the final, as Bill Walton hit an incredible 21 of 22 field goal attempts. Walton and Wooden were everybody's Player and Coach of the Year again. Keith Wilkes, Greg Lee, and Larry Hollyfield were members of that team, and Wilkes would go on to win four NBA championships as well.


title: John Wooden

text: UCLA's two big streaks came to an end during the 1973–1974 season. In January, the winning streak stopped at 88 games when Digger Phelps's Notre Dame squad upended the Bruins 71–70 in South Bend. Two months later, Norm Sloan's North Carolina State team defeated UCLA 80–77 in double overtime in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. David Thompson was NC State's All-American, and Tom Burleson did an excellent job on defense against Bill Walton. UCLA had beaten the Wolfpack by 18 points early in the season, but things were different when they met in March.


title: John Wooden

text: Wooden coached what would prove to be his final game in Pauley Pavilion on March 1, 1975, a 93–59 victory over Stanford. Four weeks later, following a 75–74 overtime victory over former player and former assistant coach Denny Crum and Louisville in the 1975 NCAA Tournament semifinal game, Wooden announced that he would retire at age 64 immediately after the championship game. His legendary coaching career concluded triumphantly when Richard Washington and David Meyers combined for 52 points as UCLA responded with a 92–85 win over Joe B. Hall and Kentucky to claim Wooden's first career coaching victory over the Wildcats and his unprecedented 10th national championship. Marques Johnson and Andre McCarter were also key contributors on Wooden's final championship team. The success of Wooden's last team was particularly impressive because it had no marquee stars such as Alcindor, Walton, Hazzard, and Goodrich; the team was a group of rugged opportunists.


title: John Wooden

text: Andy Hill, who was on three Bruin teams under Wooden that won NCAA championships from 1970 to 1972, decades later co-wrote with Wooden the 2001 book "Be Quick—But Don't Hurry! Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime". The bestseller details how Hill applied his experience as a player under Wooden to achieve success in his career as a television executive. His goal was to demonstrate the relevance of Wooden's coaching style to the business world. The book also delves into his personal relationship with Wooden as his coach and mentor.


title: John Wooden

text: In 2004, a 93-year-old Wooden stated that he would not mind coming back as an assistant who could help players with practices and other light duties.


title: John Wooden

text: During his tenure with the Bruins, Wooden became known as the "Wizard of Westwood", though he personally disdained the nickname. He gained lasting fame with UCLA by winning 620 games in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. His UCLA teams also established an NCAA men's basketball record winning streak of 88 games and four perfect 30–0 seasons. They also won 38 straight games in NCAA tournaments and 98 straight home wins at Pauley Pavilion.


title: John Wooden

text: "He never made more than $35,000 a year salary (not including camps and speaking engagements), including 1975, the year he won his 10th national championship, and never asked for a raise", wrote Rick Reilly of ESPN. He was given a Bruin powder blue Mercedes that season as a retirement gift. According to his own writings, Wooden turned down an offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers from owner Jack Kent Cooke that may have been ten times what UCLA was paying him.


title: John Wooden

text: When Wooden arrived at UCLA for the 1948–1949 season, he inherited a little-known program that played in a cramped gym. He left it as a national powerhouse with 10 national championships— the most successful rebuilding project in college basketball history. John Wooden ended his UCLA coaching career with a 620–147 overall record and a winning percentage of .808. These figures do not include his two-year record at Indiana State prior to taking over the duties at UCLA.


title: John Wooden

text: Wooden was recognized numerous times for his achievements. He was named NCAA College Basketball's Coach of the Year in 1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973. In 1967, he was the Henry Iba Award USBWA College Basketball Coach of the Year. In 1972, he shared "Sports Illustrated" magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award with Billie Jean King. In 1960, he was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame for his achievements as a player and as a coach in 1973, becoming the first to be honoured as both a player and a coach.


title: John Wooden

text: After his coaching career ended, UCLA continued to honour Wooden with the title of Head Men's Basketball Coach Emeritus. On November 17, 2006, Wooden was recognised for his impact on college basketball as a member of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was one of five people—along with Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Dean Smith and Dr. James Naismith—who were selected to represent the inaugural class. In 2009, he was inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Athletics Hall of Fame in St. Louis. Coach Wooden was the ninth honouree in the Missouri Valley Conference's Lifetime Achievement category. Wooden said the honour he was most proud of was "Outstanding Basketball Coach of the U.S". by his denomination, the Christian Church.


title: John Wooden

text: Since 1977, the John R. Wooden Award has been the most coveted of the four college basketball player-of-the-year awards. This award has attained the status of being the equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy for college basketball, with the winner announced during a ceremony held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The MVP award for the McDonald's All-American Game in high-school basketball is named the "John R. Wooden Most Valuable Player Award". The Wooden Legacy is held in his honour.


title: John Wooden

text: In 1998 the Coach Wooden "Keys to Life" Award was created to be given to a former player or coach who exemplifies character, leadership and faith. This Award is presented at the Legends of the Hardwood Breakfast, which is held each year at the Final Four and is hosted by Athletes in Action.


title: John Wooden

text: In 2000, Wooden was honoured with the "Lombardi Award of Excellence" from the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation. The award was created to honour Coach Lombardi's legacy, and is awarded annually to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of the Coach.


title: John Wooden

text: Wooden has schools and athletic facilities named after him. The gym at his alma mater Martinsville High School bears his name, and in 2005 a high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District was renamed to John R. Wooden High School. In 2003, UCLA dedicated the basketball court in Pauley Pavilion in honour of John and Nell Wooden. Named the "Nell & John Wooden Court", Wooden asked for the change from the original proposal of the "John & Nell Wooden Court", insisting that his wife's name should come first. In 2008, Indiana State also bestowed this honour on Wooden by naming their home court in the Hulman Center the "Nellie and John Wooden Court". The student recreation centre at UCLA is also named in his honour. Also in 2008, Wooden was honoured with a commemorative bronze plaque in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Memorial Court of Honour because his UCLA basketball teams played six seasons in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. On November 8, 2008, Indiana State officially named the floor at the Hulman Centre The Nellie and John Wooden Court in honour of the legendary coach and his late wife, Nellie. The ceremony included taped comments from Coach Wooden and the participation of members of his 1946–47 and 1947–48 teams. The Sycamores christened the newly named floor by defeating the Albion College (MI) Britons in an exhibition game.


title: John Wooden

text: On July 23, 2003, John Wooden received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honour. It was presented by George W. Bush after a three-year campaign by Andre McCarter, who was on Wooden's 1975 National Championship team. The Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership at California State University, Long Beach established the John Wooden Ethics in Leadership Award in 2009, with Wooden being the inaugural recipient. In 1986, John Wooden was honoured as an Outstanding Alumnus of the School of Liberal Arts at Purdue University – the first year the award was given.


title: John Wooden

text: On May 17, 2004, Wooden was awarded the Ambassador Award of Excellence by the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission at the Riviera Country Club.


title: John Wooden

text: On Wooden's 96th birthday in 2006, a post office in Reseda, California, near where Wooden's daughter lives, was renamed the Coach John Wooden Post Office. This act was signed by President George W. Bush based on legislation introduced by Congressman Brad Sherman.


title: John Wooden

text: On October 14, 2010, the Undergraduate Student Association Council of UCLA held a "John Wooden Day Celebration" to honour Wooden's 100th birthday and to commemorate his contributions to the university. A portion of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame at Morgan Centre is a recreation of Wooden's den office in honour of his memory on campus.


title: John Wooden

text: "Golf Digest" lists Wooden as one of four people to score both a double eagle and a hole in one in the same round of golf. The feat was accomplished in 1947 at the South Bend Country Club in South Bend, Indiana.


title: John Wooden

text: The flagship leadership development program of Wooden's fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, is named "The John and Nellie Wooden Institute for Men of Principle" after Coach Wooden and his wife, Nellie. Coach Wooden's maxims and creed are central to the teaching of leadership development at the institute.


title: John Wooden

text: On October 26, 2012, a bronze statue of Wooden by sculptor Blair Buswell was dedicated at the newly renovated Pauley Pavilion.


title: John Wooden

text: "Wooden's Legacy", a 2012 public artwork statue by Jeffrey Rouse, is exhibited in Indianapolis, Indiana.


title: John Wooden

text: Three of Wooden's former players would take over the program and leave within a few years. Gene Bartow, Gary Cunningham, Larry Brown, and Larry Farmer were the four coaches who entered and left UCLA in the nine years following Wooden. One former UCLA head coach, former ESPN analyst and former St. John's head coach Steve Lavin (fired from UCLA in 2003), has said "The mythology and pathology of UCLA basketball isn't going to change" due to Wooden's legacy and believes that every basketball coach will eventually be fired or forced out from UCLA.


title: John Wooden

text: Bartow, Wooden's immediate successor at UCLA, went 28–5 in 1976, but was blown out twice that season by Bob Knight's eventual undefeated national-champion Indiana Hoosiers, the second time in the Final Four, and lost 76–75 in the 1977 West Region semifinals to Idaho State.


title: John Wooden

text: Bartow won 85.2% of his games (compared to Wooden's 80.8%) in two years, yet supposedly received death threats from unsatisfied UCLA fans.


title: John Wooden

text: Wooden himself often joked about being a victim of his own success, calling his successors on the phone and playfully identifying himself ominously as "we the alumni..." In his autobiography, Wooden recounts walking off the court in 1975 after his last game as a coach, having just won his tenth title, only to have a UCLA fan walk up and say, "Great win coach, this makes up for letting us down last year" (UCLA had lost in the semifinals in double overtime in 1974 to eventual national champion North Carolina State).


title: John Wooden

text: Bartow's successor, Wooden protege Gary Cunningham, posted an even better two-year record after Bartow, .862 (50–8) and No. 2 rankings each year, but could not proceed past two wins in the NCAAs, and left. Larry Brown came next, racking up more losses, 17, in two years than UCLA had experienced the previous four. With a near-magical end-of-season run typical of his career, he managed to coach UCLA into the title game in 1980, where the Bruins lost to Louisville, coached by Denny Crum. Coincidentally, Crum had played for Wooden at UCLA before working for him there as an assistant coach. Brown then left UCLA. Former UCLA players Larry Farmer and Walt Hazzard then took turns directing the UCLA program from 1981 to 1988. Hazzard's 1985 team won the National Invitation Tournament.


title: John Wooden

text: UCLA went 20 years after Wooden's retirement before winning another national championship, finally hanging a banner again in 1995 under coach Jim Harrick, when Ed O'Bannon starred for the Bruins as they beat Arkansas 89–78 in the title game and denied Nolan Richardson back-to-back titles. In 2006, Ben Howland led the team back to the national championship game for the first time since the 1995 title game, but they were defeated 73–57 by the Florida Gators and their star player Joakim Noah. Harrick was the only coach of John Wooden's nine successors who has guided the Bruins to an NCAA championship.


title: John Wooden

text: Wooden met his future wife, Nellie "Nell" Riley, when he was a freshman in high school They were both 21 years of age when they married in a small ceremony in Indianapolis in August 1932 and afterward attended a Mills Brothers concert at the Circle Theatre to celebrate. The couple had a son, James Hugh Wooden, and a daughter, Nancy Anne Muehlhausen. Nellie died on March 21, 1985 from cancer at age 73.


title: John Wooden

text: Wooden remained devoted to Nellie's memory until his own death 25 years after her passing. He kept to a monthly ritual—health permitting—on the 21st of every month, when he would visit her crypt in the mausoleum, then write a love letter to her. After completing each letter, he placed it in an envelope and added it to a stack of similar letters that accumulated over the years on the pillow she slept on during their life together. Wooden stopped writing the letters because of failing eyesight in the last months of his life.


title: John Wooden

text: In mourning Nellie's death, Wooden was comforted by his faith. He was a devout Christian, considering his beliefs more important to him than basketball: "I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior." Wooden's faith strongly influenced his life. He read the Bible daily and attended the First Christian Church. He said that he hoped his faith was apparent to others: "If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me." In a 2009 interview, he described himself politically as a "liberal Democrat", who had voted for some Republican presidential candidates.


title: John Wooden

text: Wooden was in good physical health until the later years of his life. On April 3, 2006, he spent three days in a Los Angeles hospital, receiving treatment for diverticulitis. He was hospitalized again in 2007 for bleeding in the colon, with his daughter quoted as saying her father was "doing well" upon his subsequent release. Wooden was hospitalized on March 1, 2008, after a fall in his home. He broke his left wrist and his collarbone in the fall, but remained in good condition according to his daughter and was given around-the-clock supervision. In February 2009, he was hospitalized for four weeks with pneumonia.


title: John Wooden

text: On May 26, 2010, Wooden was admitted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after suffering from dehydration. He remained hospitalized there and died of natural causes at age 99 on June 4, 2010. He was survived by his son, daughter, three grandsons, four granddaughters, and 13 great-grandchildren. Following a private ceremony, Wooden was interred with his wife Nellie in an outdoor community mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. A public memorial service was held two weeks later at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.


title: John Wooden

text: John Wooden's Seven Point Creed was given to him by his father Joshua upon his graduation from grammar school:


title: John Wooden

text: Wooden also lectured and authored a book about the Pyramid of Success. The Pyramid of Success consists of philosophical building blocks for succeeding at basketball and at life. In his later years he was hired by corporations to deliver inspirational lectures and even appeared in commercials for Hartford Insurance and the NCAA. Following his death in June 2010—shortly after the basketball season— all UCLA sports teams wore either a patch or helmet sticker with the initials "JRW" inside a black pyramid for the remainder of the season, in honor of his philosophy. Furthermore, the men's basketball team continues to wear the patch as of 2019, though not in black. It is generally known that he received lecture fees that exceeded the salaries he was paid as a coach. Wooden proudly claimed that these late in life windfalls allowed him to set up education accounts for all of his grandchildren. At the top of the Pyramid of Success was "Competitive Greatness" which Wooden defined as "Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day."


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The Mercedes-Benz W123 is a range of executive cars produced by German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz from November 1975 to January 1986. The W123 models surpassed their predecessor, the Mercedes-Benz W114, as the most successful Mercedes, selling 2.7 million units before production ended in the autumn of 1985 for the saloon/sedan versions and January 1986 for coupés and estates/station wagons.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: Following a slow production build-up during the first year, customers who placed their orders faced a lengthy waiting period of nine to twelve months. A black market emerged for the customers who were willing to pay more for immediate delivery. The slightly used W123 commanded about 5,000 Deutsche Mark premium over its original sale price.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: Like its predecessors, the W123 gained the reputation of being well built and reliable. Many taxi companies chose the W123, and they were a common sight in Germany. Reaching 500,000 or 1,000,000 km with only minor mechanical issues was common with W123s used as taxicabs. Once the W123 reached the end of its service life, they were often shipped to Africa and third world countries where they were highly esteemed for their ability to travel on rough roads and to not require frequent maintenance.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: W123 production ended in January 1986 with 63 final T-models rolling out. The most popular single models were the 240 D (455,000 built), the 230 E (442,000 built), and the 200 D (378,000 built).


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The W123 shares technical similarities with its predecessors including engines, steering system, and suspension system. The design is updated with styling cues from its larger sibling, Mercedes-Benz W116, namely wider ribbed taillights, horizontal headlamps, front turn signal indicators on the outer edge, and pull-to-open door handles. The interior is revised with a larger instrument panel, central round ventilation outlets, HVAC control panel and a single row of control switches in the centre.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The instrument panel has three large gauges placed behind a single plastic cover. The manual HVAC control panel has three large dials with the left and right for individual temperature control and the centre dial for fan speed control. Air flow is controlled by two sliders (left for upper zone and right for lower zone). If the optional air conditioning unit was ordered, a temperature roll dial was fitted to the row of control switches. The automatic HVAC control panel is simplified with a single roll disc on the left for temperature control, a row of push buttons in the middle for directing the air flow and switching the system on and off and a vertical set of buttons on the right for controlling the fan speed and switching automatic control on and off.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: All models except the 280, 280 E, and coupé feature larger round headlamps with smaller round fog lamps with large glass plate covering the entire headlamp housing and acting as a diffusing lens. This setup is the same for North American models with the sealed beam units and glass plate partially covering the headlamp housing. The 280, 280 E, and coupé models use large rectangular headlamps with round fog lamps. The headlamp washers and wipers set are optional.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: Per Mercedes-Benz tradition (prior to the 1994 change), model designation corresponded to the engine displacement, chassis type (coupé or estate/station wagon), fuel type (for diesel engines only), and availability of fuel injection system (for petrol engines only):


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: No designation was given for the long-wheelbase: it was simply called "Lang" (long) in the brochures and order forms.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: As for the chassis codes, W123 is the saloon/sedan, S123 the estate/station wagon, C123 the coupé, V123 the long-wheelbase saloon/sedan a.k.a. Lang, and F123 refers to the bare long-wheelbase chassis as used for ambulances and other conversions.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: In the spring of 1977, a coupé version was introduced on a shortened wheelbase ( versus for the saloon). The C123 was available as 230 C (later 230 CE) and as 280 C and 280 CE in most markets. Unlike the W123 saloon, the rectangular headlamps were fitted to the C123 regardless of engine type.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: From August 1976, a long-wheelbase version () with seating for seven to eight was produced. The limousine was built on a stretched W123 saloon/sedan chassis with lower side panels from the coupé behind the rear passenger doors. The elongated roof has the same C-pillar form as on the saloon/sedan. The rear passenger doors were custom-designed in rectangular shape and of the same length as the ones on the saloon/sedan. The engine options were 250, 240 D, and 300 D. A few 280 E limousines were built as special orders.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The stretched limousine version was offered with complete front body clip (B-pillar forward) and strengthened chassis as the base for ambulances or hearses to be built by the conversion specialists such as Binz and Miesen. F stands for "Fahrgestelle" (chassis).


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: At the 1977 IAA in Frankfurt, the first-ever factory-built estate, S123, was introduced. The letter T in the model designation stood for "Tourismus und Transport" (Touring and Transport). Previous estates had been custom-built by the coachbuilders, namely Binz. S123 production began in April 1978 at Mercedes-Benz Bremen factory. All engines except the 2-litre version of the M115 were available in the range.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: While Mercedes-Benz never built its own convertible, they have been built by external companies such as Crayford in the UK, who built the St. Tropez models, and also by Niko-Michaels in New York, USA. In the city of Hagen, Germany, until 2016 one small family owned firm- Baehr [not be mistaken with Baur, which have for many years built BMW-based cabriolet conversions], have produced cabrio versions of the C123 Coupe models, and also sold kits for cabrio conversions of the same model.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: All engines from the W114/W115 are carried over. The single new engine was the SOHC 2.5-litre M123 inline six. The 3-litre, five-cylinder diesel engine received a proper nomenclature for the W123, matching the engine displacement: 300 D instead of 240 D 3.0 on the previous W114/W115.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: In the autumn of 1978, the power output of the 240 D was increased from to and of the 280 E from 177PS to 185 PS. In early 1979, the power output rose from to for the 200 D and from to for the 300 D. The 220 D was deleted from the model range for 1980.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: In June 1980, the new M102 four-cylinder inline petrol engine replaced the M115. The 2-litre version was only available with a carburetor while the 2.3-litre version was available with fuel injection only. The carbureted version of 2.8-litre M110 engine in the 280 and 280 C was discontinued in 1981 leaving the 250 as the sole carbureted six-cylinder inline engine.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The world's first turbocharged diesel engine for a passenger vehicle, the OM617 A, was finally introduced in W123 models in September 1979, exclusive to the 300 TD TURBODIESEL for the European market. The same engine was offered in North America and Japan in 1981 as the 300 D TURBODIESEL, 300 CD TURBODIESEL, and 300 TD TURBODIESEL.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The engines in the W123 were mounted with small shock absorbers in addition to industry standard motor mounts to reduce felt vibration and a provide a smoother ride. These designs were carried over from previous chassis models like the W114/W115.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: One notable achievement was in the 1977 London–Sydney Marathon road race, where the 280E won first and second, ahead of the third and fourth place Citroën CX.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: For the North American market, C123 (coupé) was available with both petrol (280 CE) and naturally aspirated diesel (300 CD) until 1981. For 1982 model year, 280 CE was dropped, and 300 CD TURBODIESEL was introduced as a sole engine offering for coupé model.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The estate/station wagon was available with a 3-litre five-cylinder inline OM617 diesel engine only. The naturally aspirated 300 TD was sold for two years (1979-1980) until the turbocharged 300 TD TURBODIESEL replaced it from autumn 1980 because consumers found the 300 TD to be too heavy and too slow with the less powerful engine. 300 TD TURBODIESEL preceded 300 D TURBODIESEL and 300 CD TURBODIESEL by a few months.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The petrol engines (230, 280 E, and 280 CE) were offered from 1976 to 1980 model years. From 1981 until 1985, W123 models were sold only with diesel engines to comply with the federal regulation on corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) without paying heavy penalties. The American consumers also preferred the diesel engines for lower fuel consumption after two oil crises and fuel shock of 1973 and 1979.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: Four-speed manual gearboxes were offered with four-cylinder inline engines (2.3-litre M115 petrol and 2.4-litre OM616 Diesel) only. The new 5-speed manual gearboxes were never offered by Mercedes-Benz itself on the North American market.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The North American version of W123 differs from European version due to the US Department of Transportation automotive regulations along with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) automotive emission control regulations. Autoweek writes "the visual changes were on the mild side" compared to U.S. Models of the Mercedes-Benz R107 and Mercedes-Benz W116, which have been described by journalists as if a "beautiful car was beaten with the malaise ugly stick."


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The standard and optional features are numerous along with a large number of engine and gearbox options. Customers could choose cloth, MB-Tex vinyl, velour or leather for the upholstery as well as interior wood trim for dashboard and centre console. The paint and interior colour palettes are extensive as well.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The driving dynamic enhancement options for extra cost became more extensive over the time: ABS (from August 1980 onward), self-locking differential gear, five-speed manual gearbox (introduced in 1982 for European markets only), Tempomat cruise control system, power steering system (standard from 1982 onward), passenger-side external rear view mirror (standard on S123 model), "Alpine" horn with selectable loudness (popular in Switzerland due to strict noise regulations), retractable steering column (from 1982 onward) and so forth.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The extra cost options for creature comforts includes power windows (with a cut-off switch for the rear passenger door windows), vacuum-powered central locking system, sunroof (manual and electric), air conditioning system (manual or automatic control), seats with orthopaedic support, electrically heated seats (all seats were individually ordered), pre-heating system (for heating the passenger compartment at a pre-selected time when the engine is not running), an assortment of different radios with and without cassette players, rear seat head rests, etc. The W123s destined for the North American market tended to have more features as standard, reflecting the American customer's preference for luxury accessories. For the first time in an executive saloon from Mercedes-Benz, the W123 had the option of fully automatic climate control at extra cost. This option was popular in the North American and Japanese markets. A rare option was a column gear selector that could be ordered with an automatic gearbox if the customer wished. The most expensive option was the Becker radio telephone, selling for 13,512 Deutsche Mark.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: In the estate/station wagon model, a third row rear-facing foldable seat was offered as an extra cost option.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: For the 1981 model year, the automatic climate control panel from the W126 S-Class with a simplified icon design was adopted. A new five-speed manual gearbox was introduced in February 1982 and was available in all models except those with the 3-litre turbocharged diesel engine but not in North America. This gearbox was only offered to North America via the grey market.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: In September 1982, the driver's airbag with seat belt pre-tensioners for the passenger were offered as a 1,762.80 Deutsche Mark option for all models from the 1983 model year onward. Very few W123s had both driver and passenger air bags. The passenger air bag used a pyrotechnic gas discharge design, a world's first.


title: Mercedes-Benz W123

text: The W123 was officially produced by FAW in China from 1987 until 1988, as a 200 sedan or as a long wheelbase 230E. Only 828 cars were built in their Changchun plant. Another Chinese company called Bamin Automobile made W123 lookalikes using other parts. Bamin was a army-owned company located in Minhou. Their W123 copy was built on the chassis of the Bamin BM212A/213A, a copy of the Beijing BJ212 and came in a few different bodystyles. There was a four-door pickup called the BM2022A (or the better equipped BM1020KHA) and a wagon derived from it, as well as the BM1020KH/BM6480 (proper station wagons). The Chinese copies used the 2.4-litre BJ492 pushrod inline-four engine from the BJ212.


title: MSC Cruises

text: MSC Cruises () is an Italian global cruise line registered in Switzerland and based in Geneva, with operations offices in Naples, Genoa and Venice. It was founded in 1989 in Naples, Italy, as part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). In addition to being the world's largest privately held cruise company, employing about 23,500 people worldwide and with offices in 45 countries , MSC Cruises is the third-largest cruise company in the world, after Carnival Corporation & plc and Royal Caribbean Group, with a 10.2% share of all passengers carried in 2021.


title: MSC Cruises

text: Lauro Lines () was founded in Naples, Italy by Achille Lauro in 1960. The company entered the cruise business operating two ships, and . "Angelina Lauro" burnt in the port of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands in 1979 and "Achille Lauro" was hijacked by members of the Palestine Liberation Front in 1985 which put the company in financial difficulties.


title: MSC Cruises

text: In 1988, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) entered the cruise business by buying the liner "Monterey."


title: MSC Cruises

text: In 1989, MSC bought Lauro Lines. The new company was named StarLauro Cruises and had 2 ships, "Monterey" and "Achille Lauro".


title: MSC Cruises

text: In 2014, MSC Cruises announced that the four "Lirica'-class ships underwent renovation under the "Renaissance Programme"."


title: MSC Cruises

text: In July 2018, the company announced that it would build a second cruise terminal at PortMiami for its "World"-class cruise ships as an expansion of its North American program. It is scheduled to be completed in October 2022.


title: MSC Cruises

text: In October 2018, MSC announced an order for four luxury ships of 64,000 gross tons each. These ultra-luxury vessels will be based on the cruise line's luxury concept, the "MSC Yacht Club." The first ship will arrive in the spring of 2023. All ships will be built at Fincantieri.


title: MSC Cruises

text: In January 2019, MSC Cruises unveiled the world’s first virtual personal cruise assistant - ZOE, an artificial intelligence device designed by Harman International. It is currently featured on "MSC Bellissima" and "MSC Grandiosa" and will be featured on future newbuilds upon their delivery.


title: MSC Cruises

text: In mid 2020, all cruise lines suspended most (or all) of their operations for over six months during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: MSC Cruises

text: On 7 January 2021, MSC had released a plan for MSC Grandiosa to start its 7-night cruises on 24 January 2021 and for MSC Magnifica to start its 10-night cruises on 14 February 2021, both in the Mediterranean. Only passengers who were residents of Schengen countries would be accepted until further notice, however.


title: MSC Cruises

text: On 9 January 2021, a report stated MSC was hoping to resume some cruises in Europe in the near future but added that "it remains to be seen whether this will go ahead with much of the continent still in lockdown".


title: MSC Cruises

text: In June 2021, MSC announced a new luxury brand named Explora Journeys, with four vessels planned beginning with the "Explora I".


title: MSC Cruises

text: In March 2022, MSC Cruises signed a multi-year deal with Formula 1 to become their official cruise partner.


title: MSC Cruises

text: In December 2015, MSC Cruises signed a 100-year lease on land in the Bahamas to develop the land for an exclusive island experience. The project was named the Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve and was set to open in mid-November 2019, but weather delays pushed the date to 5 December 2019.


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules. It was said that the brain was composed of different muscles, so those that were used more often were bigger, resulting in the different skull shapes. This led to the reasoning behind why everyone had bumps on the skull in different locations. The brain "muscles" not being used as frequently remained small and were therefore not present on the exterior of the skull. Although both of those ideas have a basis in reality, phrenology generalized beyond empirical knowledge in a way that departed from science. The central phrenological notion that measuring the contour of the skull can predict personality traits is discredited by empirical research. Developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall in 1796, the discipline was influential in the 19th century, especially from about 1810 until 1840. The principal British centre for phrenology was Edinburgh, where the Edinburgh Phrenological Society was established in 1820.


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenology is today recognized as pseudoscience. The methodological rigor of phrenology was doubtful even for the standards of its time, since many authors already regarded phrenology as pseudoscience in the 19th century. There have been various studies conducted that discredited phrenology, most of which were done with ablation techniques. Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens demonstrated through ablation that the cerebrum and cerebellum accomplish different functions. He found that the impacted areas never carried out the functions that were proposed through the pseudoscience, phrenology. However, Paul Broca was the one who demolished the idea that phrenology was a science when he discovered and named the "Broca's area". The patient's ability to produce language was lost while their ability to understand language remained intact. Through an autopsy examining their brains, he found that there was damage to the left frontal lobe. He concluded that this area of the brain was responsible for language production. Between Flourens and Broca, the claims to support phrenology were dismantled. Phrenological thinking was influential in the psychiatry and psychology of the 19th century. Gall's assumption that character, thoughts, and emotions are located in specific areas of the brain is considered an important historical advance toward neuropsychology. He contributed to the idea that the brain is spatially organized, but not in the way he proposed. There is a clear division of labor in the brain but none of which even remotely correlates to the size of the head or the structure of the skull. While it contributed to some advancements in understanding the brain and its functions, skepticism of phrenology developed over time. Phrenology was argued to be a science, when in fact it is a pseudoscience.


title: Phrenology

text: While phrenology itself has long been discredited, the study of the "inner" surface of the skulls of archaic human species allows modern researchers to obtain information about the development of various areas of the brains of those species, and thereby infer something about their cognitive and communicative abilities, and possibly even something about their social life. Due to its limitations, this technique is sometimes criticized as "paleo-phrenology".


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenologists believe that the human mind has a set of various mental faculties, each one represented in a different area of the brain. For example, the faculty of "philoprogenitiveness", from the Greek for "love of offspring", was located centrally at the back of the head (see illustration of the chart from "Webster's Academic Dictionary").


title: Phrenology

text: These areas were said to be proportional to a person's propensities. The importance of an organ was derived from relative size compared to other organs. It was believed that the cranial skull—like a glove on the hand—accommodates to the different sizes of these areas of the brain, so that a person's capacity for a given personality trait could be determined simply by measuring the area of the skull that overlies the corresponding area of the brain.


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenology, which focuses on personality and character, is distinct from craniometry, which is the study of skull size, weight and shape, and physiognomy, the study of facial features.


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenology is a process that involves observing and/or feeling the skull to determine an individual's psychological attributes. Franz Joseph Gall believed that the brain was made up of 27 individual organs that determined personality, the first 19 of these 'organs' he believed to exist in other animal species. Phrenologists would run their fingertips and palms over the skulls of their patients to feel for enlargements or indentations. The phrenologist would often take measurements with a tape measure of the overall head size and more rarely employ a craniometer, a special version of a caliper. In general, instruments to measure sizes of cranium continued to be used after the mainstream phrenology had ended. The phrenologists put emphasis on using drawings of individuals with particular traits, to determine the character of the person and thus many phrenology books show pictures of subjects. From absolute and relative sizes of the skull the phrenologist would assess the character and temperament of the patient.


title: Phrenology

text: Gall's list of the "brain organs" was specific. An enlarged organ meant that the patient used that particular "organ" extensively. The number—and more detailed meanings—of organs were added later by other phrenologists. The 27 areas varied in function, from sense of color, to religiosity, to being combative or destructive. Each of the 27 "brain organs" was located under a specific area of the skull. As a phrenologist felt the skull, he would use his knowledge of the shapes of heads and organ positions to determine the overall natural strengths and weaknesses of an individual. Phrenologists believed the head revealed natural tendencies but not absolute limitations or strengths of character. The first phrenological chart gave the names of the organs described by Gall; it was a single sheet, and sold for a cent. Later charts were more expansive.


title: Phrenology

text: Among the first to identify the brain as the major controlling center for the body were Hippocrates and his followers, inaugurating a major change in thinking from Egyptian, biblical and early Greek views, which based bodily primacy of control on the heart. This belief was supported by the Greek physician Galen, who concluded that mental activity occurred in the brain rather than the heart, contending that the brain, a cold, moist organ formed of sperm, was the seat of the animal soul—one of three "souls" found in the body, each associated with a principal organ.


title: Phrenology

text: The Swiss pastor Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) introduced the idea that physiognomy related to the specific character traits of individuals, rather than general types, in his "Physiognomische Fragmente", published between 1775 and 1778. His work was translated into English and published in 1832 as "The Pocket Lavater, or, The Science of Physiognomy". He believed that thoughts of the mind and passions of the soul were connected with an individual's external frame.


title: Phrenology

text: Of the forehead, When the forehead is perfectly perpendicular, from the hair to the eyebrows, it denotes an utter deficiency of understanding. (p. 24)


title: Phrenology

text: In 1796 the German physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1828) began lecturing on organology: the isolation of mental faculties and later cranioscopy which involved reading the skull's shape as it pertained to the individual. It was Gall's collaborator Johann Gaspar Spurzheim who would popularize the term "phrenology".


title: Phrenology

text: In 1809 Gall began writing his principal work, "The Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System in General, and of the Brain in Particular, with Observations upon the possibility of ascertaining the several Intellectual and Moral Dispositions of Man and Animal, by the configuration of their Heads". It was not published until 1819. In the introduction to this main work, Gall makes the following statement in regard to his doctrinal principles, which comprise the intellectual basis of phrenology:


title: Phrenology

text: Through careful observation and extensive experimentation, Gall believed he had established a relationship between aspects of character, called "faculties", with precise "organs" in the brain.


title: Phrenology

text: Johann Spurzheim was Gall's most important collaborator. He worked as Gall's anatomist until 1813 when for unknown reasons they had a permanent falling out. Publishing under his own name Spurzheim successfully disseminated phrenology throughout the United Kingdom during his lecture tours through 1814 and 1815 and the United States in 1832 where he would eventually die.


title: Phrenology

text: Gall was more concerned with creating a physical science, so it was through Spurzheim that phrenology was first spread throughout Europe and America. Phrenology, while not universally accepted, was hardly a fringe phenomenon of the era. George Combe would become the chief promoter of phrenology throughout the English-speaking world after he viewed a brain dissection by Spurzheim, convincing him of phrenology's merits.


title: Phrenology

text: The popularization of phrenology in the middle and working classes was due in part to the idea that scientific knowledge was important and an indication of sophistication and modernity. Cheap and plentiful pamphlets, as well as the growing popularity of scientific lectures as entertainment, also helped spread phrenology to the masses. Combe created a system of philosophy of the human mind that became popular with the masses because of its simplified principles and wide range of social applications that were in harmony with the liberal Victorian world view. George Combe's book "On the Constitution of Man and its Relationship to External Objects" sold over 200,000 copies through nine editions. Combe also devoted a large portion of his book to reconciling religion and phrenology, which had long been a sticking point. Another reason for its popularity was that phrenology balanced between free will and determinism. A person's inherent faculties were clear, and no faculty was viewed as evil, though the abuse of a faculty was. Phrenology allowed for self-improvement and upward mobility, while providing fodder for attacks on aristocratic privilege. Phrenology also had wide appeal because of its being a reformist philosophy not a radical one. Phrenology was not limited to the common people, and both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert invited George Combe to read the heads of their children.


title: Phrenology

text: The American brothers Lorenzo Niles Fowler (1811–1896) and Orson Squire Fowler (1809–1887) were leading phrenologists of their time. Orson, together with associates Samuel Robert Wells and Nelson Sizer, ran the phrenological business and publishing house "Fowlers & Wells" in New York City. Meanwhile, Lorenzo spent much of his life in England, where he initiated the famous phrenological publishing house L. N. Fowler & Co. and gained considerable fame with his "phrenology head" (a china head showing the phrenological faculties), which has become a symbol of the discipline. Orson Fowler was known for his octagonal house.


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenology came about at a time when scientific procedures and standards for acceptable evidence were still being codified. In the context of Victorian society, phrenology was a respectable scientific theory. The Phrenological Society of Edinburgh founded by George and Andrew Combe was an example of the credibility of phrenology at the time, and included a number of extremely influential social reformers and intellectuals, including the publisher Robert Chambers, the astronomer John Pringle Nichol, the evolutionary environmentalist Hewett Cottrell Watson, and asylum reformer William A. F. Browne. In 1826, out of the 120 members of the Edinburgh society an estimated one third were from a medical background. By the 1840s there were more than 28 phrenological societies in London with over 1,000 members. Another important scholar was Luigi Ferrarese, the leading Italian phrenologist. He advocated that governments should embrace phrenology as a scientific means of conquering many social ills, and his "Memorie Riguardanti La Dottrina Frenologica" (1836), is considered "one of the fundamental 19th-century works in the field".


title: Phrenology

text: Traditionally the mind had been studied through introspection. Phrenology provided an attractive, biological alternative that attempted to unite all mental phenomena using consistent biological terminology. Gall's approach prepared the way for studying the mind that would lead to the downfall of his own theories. Phrenology contributed to development of physical anthropology, forensic medicine, knowledge of the nervous system and brain anatomy as well as contributing to applied psychology.


title: Phrenology

text: John Elliotson was a brilliant but erratic heart specialist who became a phrenologist in the 1840s. He was also a mesmerist and combined the two into something he called phrenomesmerism or phrenomagnatism. Changing behaviour through mesmerism eventually won out in Elliotson's hospital, putting phrenology in a subordinate role. Others amalgamated phrenology and mesmerism as well, such as the practical phrenologists Collyer and Joseph R. Buchanan. The benefits of combining mesmerism and phrenology was that the trance the patient was placed in was supposed to allow for the manipulation of his/her penchants and qualities. For example, if the organ of self-esteem was touched, the subject would take on a haughty expression.


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenology was mostly discredited as a scientific theory by the 1840s. This was due only in part to a growing amount of evidence against phrenology. Phrenologists had never been able to agree on the most basic mental organ numbers, going from 27 to over 40, and had difficulty locating the mental organs. Phrenologists relied on cranioscopic readings of the skull to find organ locations. Jean Pierre Flourens' experiments on the brains of pigeons indicated that the loss of parts of the brain either caused no loss of function, or the loss of a completely different function than what had been attributed to it by phrenology. Flourens' experiment, while not perfect, seemed to indicate that Gall's supposed organs were imaginary. Scientists had also become disillusioned with phrenology since its exploitation with the middle and working classes by entrepreneurs. The popularization had resulted in the simplification of phrenology and mixing in it of principles of physiognomy, which had from the start been rejected by Gall as an indicator of personality. Phrenology from its inception was tainted by accusations of promoting materialism and atheism, and being destructive of morality. These were all factors which led to the downfall of phrenology. Recent studies, using modern day technology like Magnetic Resonance Imaging have further disproven phrenology claims.


title: Phrenology

text: During the early 20th century, a revival of interest in phrenology occurred, partly because of studies of evolution, criminology and anthropology (as pursued by Cesare Lombroso). The most famous British phrenologist of the 20th century was the London psychiatrist Bernard Hollander (1864–1934). His main works, "The Mental Function of the Brain" (1901) and "Scientific Phrenology" (1902), are an appraisal of Gall's teachings. Hollander introduced a quantitative approach to the phrenological diagnosis, defining a method for measuring the skull, and comparing the measurements with statistical averages.


title: Phrenology

text: In Belgium, Paul Bouts (1900–1999) began studying phrenology from a pedagogical background, using the phrenological analysis to define an individual pedagogy. Combining phrenology with typology and graphology, he coined a global approach known as psychognomy. Bouts, a Roman Catholic priest, became the main promoter of renewed 20th-century interest in phrenology and psychognomy in Belgium. He was also active in Brazil and Canada, where he founded institutes for characterology. His works "Psychognomie" and "Les Grandioses Destinées individuelle et humaine dans la lumière de la Caractérologie et de l'Evolution cérébro-cranienne" are considered standard works in the field. In the latter work, which examines the subject of paleoanthropology, Bouts developed a teleological and orthogenetical view on a "perfecting evolution," from the paleo-encephalical skull shapes of prehistoric man, which he considered still prevalent in criminals and savages, towards a higher form of mankind, thus perpetuating phrenology's problematic racializing of the human frame. Bouts died on March 7, 1999. His work has been continued by the Dutch foundation PPP ("Per Pulchritudinem in Pulchritudine"), operated by Anette Müller, one of Bouts' students.


title: Phrenology

text: During the 1930s, Belgian colonial authorities in Rwanda used phrenology to explain the so-called superiority of Tutsis over Hutus.


title: Phrenology

text: Some scientists believed phrenology affirmed European superiority over other races. By comparing skulls of different ethnic groups it was thought to allow for ranking of races from least to most evolved. Broussais, a disciple of Gall, proclaimed that the Caucasians were the most beautiful, while peoples like the Australian Aboriginal and Māori would never become civilized since "they had no cerebral organ for producing great artists." Few phrenologists argued against the emancipation of the slaves, while many used it to advocate for slavery. Instead they argued that through education and interbreeding the "lesser peoples" could improve. Another argument was that the natural inequality of people could be used to situate them in the most appropriate place in society.


title: Phrenology

text: Gender stereotyping was also common with phrenology. Women whose heads were generally larger in the back with lower foreheads were thought to have underdeveloped organs necessary for success in the arts and sciences while having larger mental organs relating to the care of children and religion. While phrenologists did not contest the existence of talented women, this minority did not provide justification for citizenship or participation in politics.


title: Phrenology

text: One of the considered practical applications of phrenology was education. Due to the nature of phrenology people were naturally considered unequal, as very few people would have a naturally perfect balance between organs. Thus education would play an important role in creating a balance through rigorous exercise of beneficial organs while repressing baser ones. One of the best examples of this is Félix Voisin, who, for approximately ten years, ran a reform school in Issy for the express purpose of correction of the mind of children who had suffered some hardship. Voisin focused on four categories of children for his reform school:


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenology was one of the first to bring about the idea of rehabilitation of criminals instead of vindictive punishments that would not stop criminals, only with the reorganizing a disorganized brain would bring about change. Voisin believed along with others the accuracy of phrenology in diagnosing criminal tendencies. Diagnosis could point to the type of offender, the insane, an idiot or brute, and by knowing this an appropriate course of action could be taken. A strict system of reward and punishment, hard work and religious instruction, was thought to be able to correct those who had been abandoned and neglected with little education and moral ground works. Those who were considered intellectually disabled could be put to work and housed collectively while only criminals of intellect and vicious intent needed to be confined and isolated. Phrenology also advocated variable prison sentences, the idea being that those who were only defective in education and lacking in morals would soon be released while those who were "mentally deficient" could be watched and the truly abhorrent criminals would never be released. For other patients phrenology could help redirect impulses, one homicidal individual became a butcher to control his impulses, while another became a military chaplain so he could witness killings. Phrenology also provided reformist arguments for the lunatic asylums of the Victorian era. John Conolly, a physician interested in psychological aspects of disease, used phrenology on his patients in an attempt to use it as a diagnostic tool. While the success of this approach is debatable, Conolly, through phrenology, introduced a more humane way of dealing with the mentally ill. The first phrenological testimony in a court of law was solicited by American lawyer John Neal in Portland, Maine, in 1834. Neal argued unsuccessfully that the jury should take leniency on his client because the part of his brain associated with violent behavior was inflamed.


title: Phrenology

text: In psychiatry, phrenology was proposed as a viable model in order to the disciplinary field. The South Italian psychiatrist Biagio Miraglia proposed a new classification of mental illness based on brain functions as they were described by Gall. In Miraglia's view, madness is consequent to dysfunctions of the cerebral organs: "The organs of the brain that may become ill in isolation or in complex get their activities infected through energy, or depression, or inertia or deficiency. So the madness can take the appearance of these three characteristic forms; i.e. for enhanced activity, or for depressed activity, or for inertia or deficiency of brain activities".


title: Phrenology

text: In the Victorian era, phrenology as a psychology was taken seriously and permeated the literature and novels of the day. Many prominent public figures. such as the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher (a college classmate and initial partner of Orson Fowler) promoted phrenology actively as a source of psychological insight and self-knowledge. In Europe and the United States, many people visited phrenologists to have their heads analysed. After such an examination, clients received a written delineation of their character or a standardized chart with their score, combined with advice on how to improve themselves. People also consulted phrenologists for advice in matters such as hiring personnel or finding suitable marriage partners. As such, phrenology as a brain science waned but developed into the popular psychology of the 19th century.


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenology was introduced at a time when the old theological and philosophical understanding of the mind was being questioned and no longer seemed adequate in a society that was experiencing rapid social and demographic changes. Phrenology became one of the most popular movements of the Victorian Era. In part phrenology's success was due to George Combe tailoring phrenology for the middle class. Combe's book "On the Constitution of Man and its Relationship to External Objects" was one of the most popular of the time, selling over two hundred thousand copies in a ten-year period. Phrenology's success was also partly because it was introduced at a time when scientific lectures were becoming a form of middle-class entertainment, exposing a large demographic of people to phrenological ideas who would not have heard them otherwise. As a result of the changing times, new avenues of exposure and its multifaceted appeal, phrenology flourished in popular culture although it was discredited as scientific theory by 1840.


title: Phrenology

text: While still not a fringe movement, there was not popular widespread support of phrenology in France. This was not only due to strong opposition to phrenology by French scholars but also once again accusations of promoting atheism, materialism and radical religious views. Politics in France also played a role in preventing rapid spread of phrenology. In Britain phrenology had provided another tool to be used for situating demographic changes; the difference was there was less fear of revolutionary upheaval in Britain compared with France. Given that most French supporters of phrenology were liberal, left-wing or socialist, it was an objective of the social elite of France, who held a restrained vision of social change, that phrenology remain on the fringes. Another objection was that phrenology seemed to provide a built in excuse for criminal behaviour, since in its original form it was essentially deterministic in nature.


title: Phrenology

text: Phrenology arrived in Ireland in 1815, through Spurzheim. While Ireland largely mirrored British trends, with scientific lectures and demonstrations becoming a popular pastime of the age, by 1815 phrenology had already been ridiculed in some circles priming the audiences to its skeptical claims. Because of this the general public valued it more for its comic relief than anything else; however, it did find an audience in the rational dissenters who found it an attractive alternative to explain human motivations without the attached superstitions of religion. The supporters of phrenology in Ireland were relegated to scientific subcultures because the Irish scholars neglected marginal movements like phrenology, denying it scientific support in Ireland. In 1830 George Combe came to Ireland, his self-promotion barely winning out against his lack of medical expertise, still only drawing lukewarm crowds. This was due to not only the Vatican's decree that phrenology was subversive of religion and morality but also that, based on phrenology, the "Irish Catholics were sui generis a flawed and degenerate breed". Because of the lack of scientific support, along with religious and prejudicial reasons, phrenology never found a wide audience in Ireland.


title: Phrenology

text: The first publication in the United States in support of phrenology was published by Dr. John Bell, who reissued Combe's essays with an introductory discourse, in 1822. The following year, Dr. John G. Wells of Bowdoin College "commenced an annual exposition, and recommendation of its doctrines, to his class". In 1834, Dr. John D. Godman, professor of anatomy at Rutgers Medical College, emphatically defended phrenology when he wrote:It is, however, allowable to take as a principle, that there will be a relation betwixt vigour of intellect and perfection of form; and that, therefore, history will direct us to the original and chief family of mankind. We therefore ask, which are the nations that have excelled and figured in history, not only as conquerors, but as forwarding, by their improvements in arts and sciences, the progress of human knowledge?Phrenological teachings had become a widespread popular movement by 1834, when Combe came to lecture in the United States. Sensing commercial possibilities men like the Fowlers became phrenologists and sought additional ways to bring phrenology to the masses. Though a popular movement, the intellectual elite of the United States found phrenology attractive because it provided a biological explanation of mental processes based on observation, yet it was not accepted uncritically. Some intellectuals accepted organology while questioning cranioscopy. Gradually the popular success of phrenology undermined its scientific merits in the United States and elsewhere, along with its materialistic underpinnings, fostering radical religious views. There was increasing evidence to refute phrenological claims, and by the 1840s it had largely lost its credibility. In the United States, especially in the South, phrenology faced an additional obstacle in the antislavery movement. While phrenologists usually claimed the superiority of the European race, they were often sympathetic to liberal causes including the antislavery movement; this sowed skepticism about phrenology among those who were pro-slavery. The rise and surge in popularity in mesmerism, phrenomesmerism, also had a hand in the loss of interest in phrenology among intellectuals and the general public.


title: Phrenology

text: These produce ideas of relation or reflect. They minister to the direction and gratification of all the other powers:


title: Cat's Cradle

text: Cat's Cradle is a satirical postmodern novel, with science fiction elements, by American writer Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut's fourth novel, it was first published in 1963, exploring and satirizing issues of science, technology, the purpose of religion, and the arms race, often through the use of black humor. After turning down his original thesis in 1947, the University of Chicago awarded Vonnegut his master's degree in anthropology in 1971 for "Cat's Cradle".


title: Cat's Cradle

text: The first-person everyman narrator, a professional writer introducing himself as Jonah (but apparently named John), frames the plot as a flashback. Set in the mid-20th century, the plot revolves around a time when he was planning to write a book called "The Day the World Ended" about what people were doing on the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Throughout, he also intersperses meaningful as well as sarcastic passages and sentiments from an odd religious scripture known as "The Books of Bokonon". The events of the novel evidently occur before the narrator was converted to his current religion, Bokononism.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: While researching for his upcoming book, the narrator travels to Ilium, New York, the hometown of the late Felix Hoenikker, a co-creator of the atomic bomb and Nobel laureate physicist, to interview Hoenikker's children, coworkers, and other acquaintances. There, he learns of a substance called "ice-nine", created for military use by Hoenikker and now likely in the possession of his three adult children. "Ice-nine" is an alternative structure of water that is solid at room temperature and acts as a seed crystal upon contact with ordinary liquid water, causing that liquid water to instantly freeze and transform into more "ice-nine". Among several odd unfoldings in Ilium, the narrator meets Hoenniker's younger son, a dwarf named Newt, who recounts that his father was doing nothing more than playing the string game "cat's cradle" when the first bomb was dropped.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: Eventually, a magazine assignment takes the narrator to the (fictional) Caribbean island of San Lorenzo, one of the poorest countries on Earth. On the plane ride, the narrator is surprised to see Newt and also meets the newly appointed US ambassador to San Lorenzo, who provides a comprehensive guidebook on San Lorenzo's unusual culture and history. The guidebook describes a locally influential semi-parody religious movement called Bokononism, which combines irreverent, nihilistic, and cynical observations about life and God's will; an emphasis on coincidences and serendipity; and both thoughtful and humorous sayings and rituals into a holy text called "The Books of Bokonon". Bokonon, the religion's founder, was a former leader of the island who created Bokononism as part of a utopian project to give people purpose and community in the face of the island's unsolvable poverty and squalor. As a deliberate attempt to give Bokononism an alluring sense of forbidden glamor and hope, the religion is nominally outlawed, which forced Bokonon to live in "hiding" in the jungle. The current dictator, "Papa" Monzano, threatens all Bokononists with impalement on a large hook. Intrigued by Bokononism, the narrator later deduces the strange reality that nearly all residents of San Lorenzo, even including "Papa" Monzano himself, practice it in secret, and punishment by the hook is, in actuality, quite rare.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: On San Lorenzo, the plane passengers are greeted by "Papa" Monzano; his beautiful adopted daughter Mona, whom the narrator intensely lusts after; and a crowd of some five thousand San Lorenzans. Monzano is ill from cancer and wants his successor to be Frank Hoenikker: Monzano's personal bodyguard and, coincidentally, Felix Hoenikker's other son. However, Frank, uncomfortable with leading, confronts the narrator in private and somewhat randomly offers him the presidency. Startled at first, the narrator grudgingly accepts after he is promised the beautiful Mona for his bride. Newt reiterates the idea of the cat's cradle, implying that the game, with its invisible cat, is an appropriate symbol for nonsense and the meaninglessness of life. Soon after, the bedridden "Papa" Monzano commits suicide by swallowing "ice-nine", whereupon his corpse instantly turns into solid "ice-nine". Frank Hoenikker admits that he once gave Monzano a fragment of "ice-nine", and the Hoenikkers explain that when they were young their father would give them hints about the existence of "ice-nine" while experimenting with it in the kitchen. After their father's death, they gathered chunks of the substance into thermos flasks and have kept them ever since.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: Festivities for the narrator's presidential inauguration begin, but during an air show performed by San Lorenzo's fighter planes, one of the planes malfunctions and crashes into the seaside palace, causing Monzano's still-frozen body to fall into the sea. Instantly, all the water in the world's seas, rivers, and groundwater transforms into solid "ice-nine". The freezing of the world's oceans immediately causes violent tornadoes to ravage the Earth, but the narrator manages to escape with Mona to a secret bunker beneath the palace. When the initial storms subside after several days, they emerge. Exploring the island for survivors, they discover a mass grave where all the surviving San Lorenzans committed suicide by touching "ice-nine" from the landscape to their mouths on the facetious advice of Bokonon, who has left a note of explanation. Displaying a mix of grief for her people and resigned amusement, Mona promptly follows suit and dies.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: The horrified narrator is discovered by a few other survivors, including Newt and Frank Hoenikker, and he lives with them in a cave for several months, during which time he writes the contents of the book. Driving through the barren wasteland one day, he spots Bokonon himself, who is contemplating what the last words of "The Books of Bokonon" should be. Bokonon states that if he were younger, he would place a book about human stupidity on the peak of San Lorenzo's highest mountain, swallow "ice-nine", and die while thumbing his nose at God.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: Many of Vonnegut's recurring themes are prevalent in "Cat's Cradle", most notably the issues of free will and man's relation to technology. The former is embodied in the creation of Bokononism, an artificial religion created to make life bearable to the beleaguered inhabitants of San Lorenzo through acceptance and delight in the inevitability of everything that happens. The latter is demonstrated by the development and exploitation of "ice-nine", which is conceived with indifference but is misused to disastrous ends. In his 1969 address to the American Physical Society, Vonnegut describes the inspiration behind ice-nine and its creator as the type of "old-fashioned scientist who isn't interested in people", and draws connections to nuclear weapons.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: More topically, "Cat's Cradle" takes the threat of nuclear destruction in the Cold War as a major theme. The Cuban Missile Crisis, in which world powers collided around a small Caribbean island, bringing the world to the brink of mutual assured destruction, occurred in 1962, and much of the novel can be seen as allegorical.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: Like most of Vonnegut's work, irony, black humor, and parody are used heavily throughout. "Cat's Cradle", despite its relatively short length, contains 127 discrete chapters. Vonnegut himself claimed that his books "are essentially mosaics made up of a whole bunch of tiny little chips... and each chip is a joke."


title: Cat's Cradle

text: After World War II, Kurt Vonnegut worked in the public relations department for General Electric research company. GE hired scientists and let them do pure research, and his job was to interview these scientists and find good stories about their research. Vonnegut felt that the older scientists were indifferent about the ways their discoveries might be used. When science fiction author H. G. Wells visited the labs in the 30s, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Irving Langmuir suggested for him the idea of a story about a form of ice stable at room temperature. Wells never took it any further, but Vonnegut's older brother Bernard, who was Langmuir's junior colleague at GE, remembered and told him about it. After both the author and the scientist had died, Vonnegut thought to himself “Finders, keepers – the idea is mine”. Langmuir himself would become the model for Dr. Felix Hoenikker. Vonnegut said in an interview with "The Nation" that "Langmuir was absolutely indifferent to the uses that might be made of the truths he dug out of the rock and handed out to whoever was around, but any truth he found was beautiful in its own right, and he didn't give a damn who got it next." Dr. Felix Hoenikker's fictional invention of "ice-nine" was similar in name only to the real substance ice IX, one of a number of variant structures for ice. Langmuir had worked on seeding ice crystals to diminish or increase rain or storms.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: San Lorenzo is a tiny, rocky island nation located in the Caribbean Sea, positioned in the relative vicinity of Puerto Rico. San Lorenzo has only one city, its seaside capital of Bolivar. The country's form of government is a dictatorship, under the rule of ailing president "Papa" Monzano, who is a staunch ally of the United States and a fierce opponent of communism. No legislature exists. The infrastructure of San Lorenzo is described as being dilapidated, consisting of worn buildings, dirt roads, an impoverished populace, and having only one automobile taxi running in the entire country.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: The language of San Lorenzo is a fictitious English-based creole language (for example "twinkle, twinkle, little star" is rendered "tsvent-kiul, tsvent-kiul, lett-pool store") that is referred to as "the San Lorenzan dialect". The San Lorenzan national anthem is based on the tune of "Home on the Range". Its flag consists of a U.S. Marine Corps corporal's chevrons on a blue field (presumably the flag was updated, since in the 1920s Marine Corps rank insignia did not include crossed rifles). Its currency is named "corporals," at a rate of two corporals for every United States dollar; both the flag and the monetary unit are named after U.S. Marine Corporal Earl McCabe, who deserted his company while stationed at Port-au-Prince during the American occupation in 1922, and in transit to Miami, was shipwrecked on San Lorenzo. McCabe, along with accomplice Lionel Boyd Johnson from Tobago, together threw out the island's governing sugar company and, after a period of anarchy, proclaimed a republic.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: San Lorenzo also has its own native religion, Bokononism, a religion based on enjoying life through believing "foma" (harmless lies), and taking encouragement where you can. Bokononism, founded by McCabe's accomplice Boyd Johnson (pronounced "Bokonon" in San Lorenzan dialect), however, is outlawed – an idea Bokonon himself conceived, because forbidding the religion would only make it spread quicker. Bokononists are liable to be punished by being impaled on a hook, but Bokononism privately remains the dominant religion of nearly everyone on the island, including the leaders who outlaw it. Officially, however, San Lorenzo is a Christian nation.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: The semi-humorous religion secretly practiced by the people of San Lorenzo, called Bokononism, encompasses concepts unique to the novel. Many of these concepts use words from the San Lorenzan creole "dialect" of English. Many of its sacred texts, collectively called "The Books of Bokonon", are written in the form of calypso songs. Bokononist rituals are equally strange or absurdist; for example, the supreme religious act consists of any two worshippers rubbing the bare soles of their feet together to inspire spiritual connection.


title: Cat's Cradle

text: After "The Sirens of Titan" (1959) and "Mother Night" (1962) received favorable reviews and sold well in paperback, large publisher Holt, Rinehart, and Winston issued "Cat's Cradle" as a hardcover original. Theodore Sturgeon praised "Cat's Cradle", describing its storyline as "appalling, hilarious, shocking, and infuriating", and concluded that "this is an annoying book and you "must" read it. And you better take it lightly, because if you don't you'll go off weeping and shoot yourself".


title: Cat's Cradle

text: According to "Indianapolis Monthly", "In 1972, the school board in Strongsville, Ohio, banned the book without stating an official reason. Notes from the meeting include references to the book as 'completely sick' and 'garbage.' The ban was overturned in 1976." Additionally, the book was also challenged in 1982 at New Hampshire's Merrimack High School.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy adventure drama film directed by Spike Jonze. Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers, it is based on Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book of the same name. It combines live-action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery (CGI). The film stars Max Records and features the voices of James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Lauren Ambrose, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O'Hara, and Chris Cooper. The film centers on a lonely young boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the "Wild Things", who declare Max their king.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: In the early 1980s, Disney considered adapting the film as a blend of traditionally animated characters and computer-generated environments, but development did not go past a test film to see how the animation hybridizing would result. In 2001, Universal Studios acquired rights to the book's adaptation and initially attempted to develop a computer-animated adaptation with Disney animator Eric Goldberg, but the CGI concept was replaced with a live-action one in 2003, and Goldberg was dropped for Spike Jonze. The film was co-produced by actor Tom Hanks through his production company Playtone and made with an estimated budget of $100 million. "Where the Wild Things Are" was a joint production between Australia, Germany, and the United States, and was filmed principally in Melbourne.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: "Where the Wild Things Are" was released on 16 October 2009, in the United States, on 3 December in Australia, and on 17 December in Germany. Despite concerns from within Warner Bros. and news outlets leading up to release over whether or not Spike Jonze's approach to the film was suitable for children, the film was met with positive reviews and appeared on many year-end top ten lists. However, the film was a financial disappointment, grossing just $100 million against a production budget of $100 million. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 2 March 2010.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Max is a lonely 9-year-old boy with an active imagination and divorced parents. His older sister, Claire, does nothing when her friends crush Max's snow fort with him inside during a snowball fight. Out of frustration, Max messes up her bedroom and destroys a frame he made for her. Later, his mother, Connie, invites her boyfriend Adrian to dinner. Max becomes upset with her for not coming to the fort he made in his room. Wearing his wolf suit, he begins to wreak havoc among the house. As Connie scolds him, he acts up and bites her on the shoulder. She yells at him and he runs away, scared by what transpired. At the edge of a pond, Max finds a small boat that he boards.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Eventually, Max reaches an island that is home to a group of seven large monsters called the Wild Things - namely, Carol, Ira, Judith, Alexander, Douglas, the Bull, and KW. Carol is in the middle of a destructive tantrum caused by the departure of KW. Max tries joining in on the mayhem, but finds himself facing the suspicious anger of the Wild Things. When they contemplate eating him, Max convinces them that he is a king with magical powers capable of bringing harmony to the group. They crown him as their new king. Shortly after, KW returns, and Max declares a "wild rumpus" in which the Wild Things smash trees and tackle each other, before going to sleep in a pile with Max at the center.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Carol takes Max on a tour of the island, showing him a model he built depicting what he wishes the island looked like. Inspired by this, Max orders the construction of an enormous fort. When KW brings her two owl friends, Bob and Terry, to the fort, a disagreement ensues as Carol feels they are outsiders. To release their frustrations, Max divides the tribe into "good guys" and "bad guys" for a dirt clod fight. However, Alexander is injured during the game, and Carol berates KW for jokingly stepping on his head, prompting the latter to leave once again.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Max finds Alexander alone in the fort, whereupon he reveals that he knows Max is not a king with magical powers, but warns him never to let Carol know. However, Douglas reveals the truth when Carol throws another tantrum in the middle of the night over the state of the fort and Max's failure to fulfill his duties as a king. Enraged, Carol rips off Douglas's right arm - though only sand pours from the wound - before chasing Max into the forest and attempting to eat him. Max is saved by KW, who hides him in her stomach. After Carol leaves, KW explains to Max how difficult their lives are, with Carol's tantrums only making matters worse. Max realizes what his mother is going through and decides to leave the island.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Max finds the crushed remains of Carol's model island and leaves a token of affection for him to find. Max finds Carol and tells him he is going home because he is not a king. The other Wild Things escort Max to his boat. Carol runs to join them after finding Max's token and arrives in time to see him off. He starts to howl and Max howls back; all the other Wild Things join in. Carol looks at KW, and she smiles kindly at him. Returning home, Max is embraced by his mother, who gives him a bowl of soup, a piece of cake, and a glass of milk. She sits with him as he eats and he watches as she falls asleep at the table.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: "Where the Wild Things Are" started its development life in the early 1980s, originally to be an animated feature by Disney that would have blended traditionally animated characters with computer-generated settings. Animators Glen Keane and John Lasseter (who later moved on to Pixar Animation Studios) had completed a test film to see how the animation hybridising would work out, but the project proceeded no further. Sendak and producer John B. 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.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: 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.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: In 2005, Jonze and Dave Eggers completed a 111-page screenplay, expanding the original ten-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.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: 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.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: 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.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Principal photography began in July 2006 at Docklands Studios Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia and wrapped in December 2006.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: 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 for the faces would work," but early fan outcry over the video, along with rumored "scared children" in test audiences led Warner Bros. to delay the film's release for a year. On 20 February 2008, speculation emerged that Warner Bros. was considering reshooting the entire film.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Then-WB president Alan F. Horn responded, "We've given him more money and, even more importantly, more time for him to work on the film. We'd like to find a common ground that represents Spike's vision but still offers a film that really delivers for a broad-based audience. No one wants to turn this into a bland, sanitized studio movie. This is a very special piece of material, and we're just trying to get it right." Producer Gary Goetzman followed, "We support Spike's vision. We're helping him make the vision he wants to make."


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: At the end of 2008, Jonze got together with Framestore in London to complete his film and work with them to bring to life the performances through their animation and visual effects team. Over the course of the next six months, Jonze spent time with the animators on the floor of the studio as they worked together to realise his intention for the performances that had started many years before with the voices, continued with the suit performances in Australia, and were completed in London's Soho. He also reshot several scenes and added three new ones, bringing the film's cost up from the original greenlit $75 million to $100 million.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: For the film's trailer, Arcade Fire provided a re-recorded version of the track "Wake Up" from their album "Funeral". The new version is not featured in the actual film or the soundtrack and has never been made available to the public.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: During the film, various songs can be heard such as "Hideaway", "Rumpus", "Worried Shoes" and "All is Love" by Karen O, Zahida K, Anisa R K and the Kids.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: The studio decided not to position the film as a children's movie and spent 70% of the advertising on broad-based and adult-driven promotion.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: The film was released in North America in both conventional and IMAX theatres on 16 October 2009. Early Friday box office estimates show the film earned about $32.7 million on its opening weekend in theaters. It grossed $77.2 million during its theatrical run in the U.S. and Canada, plus $22.8 million internationally. Overall, the studio took a loss as the final budget of the movie was estimated to be around $100 million.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Internationally, the film was released in Australia on 4 December 2009; in Ireland and the UK on 11 December 2009; and in Germany on 17 December 2009.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: On review website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 270 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Some may find its dark tone and slender narrative off-putting, but Spike Jonze's heartfelt adaptation of the classic children's book is as beautiful as it is uncompromising." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F.


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film an A, declaring the film "one of the year's best." Manohla Dargis of the "New York Times" wrote that Spike Jonze's "filmmaking exceeds anything he's done" before, while also noting the imaginative visuals and otherworldly feel, along with the fantastic creature effects on the "Wild Things". Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" gave the film four stars saying, "For all the money spent, the film's success is best measured by its simplicity and the purity of its innovation." Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars out of four, saying, "All the same, the film will play better for older audiences remembering a much-loved book from childhood, and not as well with kids who have been trained on slam-bam action animation." Dan Jolin of "Empire Magazine" gave the film a four out of five stars, saying, "A film for anyone who's ever climbed trees, grassed knees or basked in the comfort of a parents sympathy as they've pulled you off the ground crying. It'll make your inner child run wild".


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Some critics have noted the movie's dark adaptation for children, such as David Denby from "The New Yorker" saying, "I have a vision of eight-year-olds leaving the movie in bewilderment. Why are the creatures so unhappy?" Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com criticized the film's visual aspect, "Even the look of the picture becomes tiresome after a while — it starts to seem depressive and shaggy and tired." She also stated that "The movie is so loaded with adult ideas about childhood — as opposed to things that might delight or engage an actual child." "The Globe and Mail"s Liam Lacey branded the production a "self-consciously sad film."


title: Where the Wild Things Are (film)

text: Critic A.O. Scott named the film the best of 2009 and placed it at number five on his list of top ten movies of the decade.