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Tag Archives: Henry Selick
Disney Puts The Brakes On Henry Selick’s Stop-Motion Animated Feature
Disney has halted work on Henry Selick’s stop-motion animated feature that was scheduled to be released in October of 2013. The film, which did not have a title yet, was not where it needed to be to meet production deadlines according to sources.
This is the first project that new Disney Exec Alan Horn has cancelled since he replaced Rich Ross as the Chairman of Walt Disney Studios in June. The 150 people that were working on the project from San Francisco based Shademaker Productions were informed on Tuesday.
Selick has directed the stop-motion films Coraline, James and Giant Peach, and Disney’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Selick now has the option to shop the project to another studio.
Related articles
- Disney pulls plug on Selick stop-motion pic (variety.com)
- With ‘ParaNorman,’ Laika Aims to Push Animation Boundaries (nytimes.com)
Disney to Adapt Neil Gaiman’s ‘Graveyard Book’
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has picked up Neil Gaiman’s award winning novel Graveyard Book. Gaiman is probably best known outside of comic book circles for his book Coraline which was also turned into a film. Attached to direct is Henry Selick who not only directed Coraline but also Disney’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Producing the project is Gil Netter who has worked on other literary adaptations like Marley & Me and Water for Elepahants.
Reportedly inspired by The Jungle Book, Graveyard Book centers around a boy name Nobody “Bod” Owens. He is raised in a graveyard by ghosts and other creatures after his family is murdered. As a teen he must confront he family’s murderer , a being called “the Man Jack.” I am intrigued by not only the story but also by Selick being attached to direct.
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Henry Selick returns to Disney/Pixar
Exciting news comes to us from Variety Magazine:
Henry Selick is coming home — to the Mouse House, that is.
The “Coraline” director, who began his animation career at Disney in the late ’70s, has struck an exclusive long-term deal to make stop-motion features for Disney/Pixar.
Disney Animation topper John Lasseter’s decision to bring Selick into the Disney/Pixar fold is another boost for the painstaking hand-crafted technique, while representing expansion beyond strictly computer-animated fare for the company.
The reunion also is a personal one, putting Selick in business with a number of long-time friends, including Lasseter and “Ratatouille” director Brad Bird.
“I first met John Lasseter when we were classmates at CalArts,” Selick said in a statement. “I’ve watched with awe and amazement as Pixar created a new way to make animated movies with computers.”
The helmer, who’s been spotted in recent months at Pixar’s Emeryville, Calif. campus, will set up shop in the Bay Area, where he plans to write and direct features based on both original ideas and literary properties. Selick hopes to benefit from the Pixar brain trust and technology, but will continue to produce toons using his trademark stop-motion style.
Selick made his directing debut at Disney in 1993 with the Tim Burton-produced “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” which has earned more than $75 million in box office receipts for the company. But his followup, “James and Giant Peach,” was a box office disappointment and ended the studio’s involvement with stop-motion.
“I’ll quote Dick Cook right after ‘James and the Giant Peach’ was finished. He said, ‘We don’t believe this is a viable medium anymore, and we’re not going to do it,’?” Selick told Daily Variety. “A few years later they shut down 2D. It’s great that both of those things are back.”
At least four feature toons were produced using stop-motion animation last year, including “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Mary and Max” and “A Town Called Panic.” “Coraline” was by far the most successful of last year’s stop-motion crop. Directed by Selick at Portland-based Laika, the Focus-released film earned $75 million in its theatrical release and an Oscar nomination.
Photo from scifiwire.com
