Sarah’s Sanctuary

Sarah Michelle Gellar was away shooting the Angel episode ‘Sanctuary‘ during the filming of Where the Wild Things Are which is why we see so little of her in that episode.

Thank you for Tara

At the Posting Board in August 2000, Joss said, “a woman came up to me after the panel (at a convention) to say “Thank you for Tara”. But I was being herded away and I didn’t get to respond, I shouted “You’re Welcome” but I don’t know if she heard, anyway it was a big deal for me that she came up to say that and I hope she knows it. Amber and I chat on occasion about the greatness of helping people with this role.”

Bryan Cuprill

Bryan Cuprill, who played Roy in Beer Bad, played the same character in the Buffy episode Where the Wild Things Are. He has also appeared in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, ER, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane and The Drew Carey Show.

Casey McCarthy

Casey McCarthy, who played the curly-haired Julie in Where the Wild Things Are, was Angela Sutton in Daredevil. She has also been in The Last Shot and Charity.

Danielle Pessis

Danielle Pessis, who played Christie in Where the Wild Things Are, played Rachel in MTV’s Undressed and R.J. in Angel in Training.

James M. Connor

James M. Connor played the Initiative scientist in Where the Wild Things Are, New Moon Rising and Restless. He played Jack in The Yard Sale, and was Randall’s Best Man in About Schmidt. He has also been in Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, The X Files, and The Drew Carey Show.

Jeff Wilson

Jeff Wilson played the character Evan in Where the Wild Things Are. He also made an appearance on an episode of Judging Amy and appeared in Generation Why?, Sally Boy, and Date Less.

Kathryn Joosten

Kathryn Joosten, who played Genevieve Holt in Where the Wild Things Are, played Mrs. Landingham, secretary to the President (played by Martin Sheen) in The West Wing. She has appeared in Dharma and Greg, Becker, Ally McBeal, The X Files, Providence, Seinfeld, Charmed, Joan of Arcadia, Scrubs and Frasier. Kathryn started acting at the age of 42. Previous to this she was a psychiatric nurse in a medium security wing for disturbed teenagers.

Neil Daly

Neil Daly played Mason in The I in Team and Where the Wild Things Are. He has also been in Brink and Flashpoint.

Genevieve Holt

Genevieve Holt ran Lowell Home for Children from 1949 to 1960. She won awards for her work with children, but she was actually a religious fanatic who brutalized and mistreated the children in her care. The Scoobies discovered this in Where the Wild Things Are.

Julie

Julie was the girl with long, curly, red hair who attended a party at Lowell House in Where the Wild Things Are. She kissed Xander during a game of spin the bottle. The spirits of repressed children then took over the house and Julie cut off all of her hair as penance.

Comforting

In the season four episode Where the Wild Things Are, Spike and Anya talked about getting revenge on Drusilla and Xander. They also bonded over the loss of their respective powers. They abandoned the ‘revenge’ idea and instead Anya took Spike to a party. Spike “comforted” Anya again in Entropy after her break-up with Xander. They mention the event again in Sleeper and Get It Done.

Condoms

In Where the Wild Things Are, we see that Riley keeps condoms in the drawer by his bed. Some appear to be made by Durex. This is the first time condoms have been shown on the show, though Anya mentioned them to Xander in The Harsh Light of Day (”some are black”).

Earthquake shenanigans

The Initiative clearly doesn’t train it’s soldiers in earthquake survival. Forrest and Graham get into a lift in the middle of an earthquake in Where the Wild Things Are, and Forrest and Riley try using the lift when they lose their voices in Hush - thus being unable to activate the voice recognition system.

Hostile Seventeen

Hostile Seventeen was the Initiative’s code name given to Spike after they captured him in the episode The Initiative. Interestingly, Riley told Buffy in A New Man that he had captured or killed seventeen ‘Hostile Sub-Terrestrials’ (or HSTs, the Initiative name given to demons).
In Where the Wild Things Are, Spike goes to a party held by the Initiative boys. Xander calls out, “Hey! What a surprise! hostile 17! Can I get you a drink Hostile 17?”
In Goodbye, Iowa, Riley recognises Spike as Hostile 17. Spike attempts to fake an accent to disguise himself but gives up.
In The Killer in Me, when Buffy has Spike’s chip removed, the Initiative soldier calls Spike Hostile 17. In Lessons, Adam refers to Spike as “Number 17″.

Lowell House

Lowell House was the fraternity house situated directly above The Initiative’s secret base. Riley, Forrest and Graham lived there. They accessed the Initiative via a secret elevator hidden behind a mirror. From 1949 to 1960 Lowell House was a home for children run by Genevieve Holt. She was a religious fanatic who mistreated the children, punishing them for what she thought were their sins. The children’s spirits possessed the house in Where the Wild Things Are.

Not the snacks

In Where the Wild Things Are, Xander asks if every UC Sunnydale frat house is haunted, as the last frat party they went to was gate-crashed by a fear demon who trapped them in the house and fed on their fears (seen in Fear, Itself).

Pony fear

Willow tells Tara that she had “a bad birthday party pony thing” when she was four years old. She now has a fear of ponies. And horses, which she sees as “really big ponies”.

Willow’s crush

In I Robot, You Jane, we see that Willow has a picture of herself and Giles pinned to the inside of her locker. It can also be seen in the episode Nightmares. Willow confirms that she used to have a crush on Giles in Where the Wild Things Are, after she sees him singing.

Behind Blue Eyes

Giles reveals a hidden talent in Where the Wild Things Are, that he can sing and play guitar. He sings ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ in the Espresso Pump. The song is by The Who and the guitar part was recorded by John King. The lyrics are as follows:

No one knows what it’s like to be the bad man,
to be the sad man, behind blue eyes.
No one knows what it’s like to be hated,
to be fated to telling only lies.
But my dreams, they aren’t as empty as my conscience seems to be.
I have hours, only lonely, my love is vengeance that’s never free.
No one knows what it’s like to feel these feelings like I do.
And I blame you.
No one bites back as hard on their anger,
none of my pain and woe can show through.
But my dreams, they aren’t as empty as my conscience seems to be.
I have hours, only lonely, my love is vengeance that’s never free.
When my fist clenches, crack it open before I use it and lose my cool.
When I smile tell me some bad news, before I laugh and act like a fool.
And if I swallow anything evil, put your finger down my throat.
And if I shiver, please give me a blanket,
keep me warm, let me wear your coat.
No one knows what it’s like to be the bad man,
to be the sad man, behind blue eyes.

Ghostly spirits

In Where the Wild Things Are, the Scoobies discover that the spirits of repressed children have been unleashed on a frat house. Giles describes them as “Not a ghost. An apparition. I believe we’re dealing with a kind of poltergeist. A whole cluster of them, in fact, born out of intense adolescent emotion and sexual energy.”

Felicity

In Where the Wild Things Are, Lowell House becomes possessed with the poltergeists of repressed, abused orphans who once lived there. We see a girl crying and cutting off her long curly hair as an effect of the possession. Xander says, “Anya, look around! There’s ghosts and shaking, and people are going all Felicity with their hair…” He’s referring to the WB show Felicity in which Keri Russell, who plays the title character, cut off her trademark long hair at the beginning of the second season.
Juliet Landau (Drusilla) is apparently a fan of Felicity.

Martin Luther King

In Where the Wild Things Are, the Scoobies discuss Adam’s tactic of making demons and vampires work together. Willow compares him with Martin Luther King after Tara says, “So he’s bridging the gap between the races”. The Reverend Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968) was an American Nobel Laureate, Baptist minister, and African American civil rights activist. He was assassinated in 1968.
In a deleted line from the script, Willow further discusses Adam/Luther King:

Wild Things

The title of the episode Where the Wild Things Are comes from the 1963 children’s book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. It’s about a boy called Max who is sent to his room without supper and imagines that his room turns into a magical forest inhabited by monsters which take him to be their king. One feature of the story is vines growing all over the room, turning it into a jungle, like Lowell House in the episode.

Seen at 27.57 minutes:

When the Scoobies leave the house with the newly-bald Julie, the door closes suddenly. If you look at the bottom left corner of the door frame, you can see a non-supernatural hand ensuring the door stays closed.

Seen at 28.20 minutes:

When Spike leaves Lowell house and is deciding whether to go in again or not, his reflection can be seen first in the window and then in the glass door.

Seen at 39.57 minutes:

Considering that a vine shot straight through Anya’s hand, she doesn’t seem in much pain.