Nightmare Before Christmas

Started by Banky, October 19, 2003, 07:39:43 PM

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Banky

does anyone have this DVD?  Is it a good buy?  Are they good features?

modage

i do. yes.  and yes: frankenweenie and vincent i think are worth buying the disc for even if you didnt like the movie, (which i do).
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Ravi

Good special features, but the movie is not 16:9 enhanced.  If you don't care about that, go ahead and buy it.

Banky

i dont see another edition coming out soon

MacGuffin

'Nightmare' awakens for 3-D release

Sally will drop nightshade into Dr. Finkelstein's tea in 3-D come Halloween, when Walt Disney Pictures releases a digitally remastered version of "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas."

The digital release of the 1993 stop-motion animated classic is set for Oct. 20.

"Nightmare" marks the second digital 3-D theatrical release from Disney after "Chicken Little" did banner business last year in digital 3-D on 84 U.S. screens at 81 locations. The digital 3-D boxoffice returns outperformed the standard screenings nearly 3-to-1, according to Disney estimates.

Burton and "Nightmare" director Henry Selick are involved in the digital remastering of the stop-mo feature starring Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, and were "very cheered by the news" that Disney wanted to release the movie in 3-D, according to Selick.

"When visitors came to visit the set of 'Nightmare Before Christmas,' they were always amazed by the intricate sets and beautiful puppets -- that they actually existed in miniature," Selick said Monday. "It was disappointing to see this effect lost on film. By remastering for 3-D, I hope that some of this magic can be captured and shown to the audience in a way they've never seen before."

Selick is directing Laika Entertainment's "Coraline," starring Dakota Fanning, in Portland, Ore. "Coraline" represents the first stop-motion animated film to be shot stereoscopically with a dual digital camera rig for digital 3-D exhibition.

Disney has asked the writer and director to review "Nightmare" materials, QC shots and make appearances when the digital 3-D version of "Nightmare" premieres.

Disney's rerelease of the wicked tale represents the first 3-D feature to stake a claim on the Halloween holiday, much like Warner Bros. Pictures called dibs on the Christmas frame with the 3-D rerelease of 2004's "The Polar Express."

Disney realized that "Nightmare" would make a promising 3-D release while mastering "Chicken Little," according to Lylle Breier, Walt Disney Pictures senior vp worldwide special events.

" 'Nightmare' is a beloved movie, and we always look to what can we do with it," Breier said. "The way Tim and Henry made 'Nightmare' was so cutting edge, it seemed like the perfect film to rerelease using cutting-edge processes. We see this as a natural extension of a spectacular movie."

Burton and Selick have attended Disney's special screenings of "Nightmare" at the El Capitan in Hollywood, where movie fans annually line the block in Halloween costumes. Disneyland similarly puts on a special "Nightmare" theme park attraction every year in time for Halloween.

"Nightmare" is in the early stages of being digitally scanned and converted into 3-D by the computer-graphics group at Industrial Light + Magic. The film represents a repeat gig for ILM's Colum Slevin, who in the summer oversaw the digital remastering of "Chicken Little's" 1,400 computer-animated shots.

Execs were reluctant to discuss the design of the 3-D passive glasses that will be handed out to audiences at "Nightmare" screenings but suggested they will be appropriately ghoulish and collectible.

Domestically, "Nightmare" made $50.3 million when first released in 1993.

Sony Pictures' "Monster House," executive produced by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, is expected to be the next film to play in digital 3-D when released July 21.

Real D and Dolby Digital Cinema, both involved in the 3-D projection of "Chicken Little," did not return calls seeking comment.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

Fall Out Boy, Panic, Marilyn Manson Add To New 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Soundtrack
'The songs in the film are pretty much the best things ever,' says Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz. 
Source; MTV 

When Tim Burton's kinda-spooky, kinda-silly "The Nightmare Before Christmas" first lurked into theaters in October 1993, it was greeted with lavish critical praise and ... well, that's about it.

Though it would eventually go on to gross a respectable $50 million at the box office, the film struggled to connect with mainstream audiences and was regarded by execs at Disney as a bit of a flop — a grand, goth-lite experiment in stop-motion animation that failed to live up to commercial expectations.

But when the film was released the following year on VHS, something amazing happened: "Nightmare" became massive, spawning merchandise and a devoted cult following that included tons of goth kids, their younger siblings, basically every emo-punk band on the planet and a whole lot of decidedly un-emo acts too.

So when Disney announced earlier this year that it planned to bring "Nightmare" back to the big screen — it arrives in select theaters October 20 in a fancy, digital 3-D format — the logical decision was to reach out to some of those bands to supply music for the film.

As it turns out, a whole lot of them were more than happy to comply. Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Marilyn Manson, Fiona Apple and She Wants Revenge will all appear on a special two-disc edition of the "Nightmare" soundtrack, contributing cover versions of songs featured in the film. The double-disc set will hit stores October 24.

"Disney approached our management about us doing a song," Fall Out bassist Pete Wentz told MTV News. "And we're obsessed with that film and Danny Elfman [who wrote the score]. And of course I've got my 'Nightmare' tattoos, so we were like, 'Yes!'

"The songs in the film are pretty much the best things ever," he continued. "They're Elfman at his prime. And our song 'Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner' [from 2005's From Under the Cork Tree] blatantly rips off a crescendo from one of them. They're absolutely amazing."

Fall Out Boy contribute a raucous version of "What's This?" (a song belted out in the film by protagonist Jack Skellington). Fellow Decaydancers Panic! at the Disco offer up an orchestrated version of "This Is Halloween" (sung by the citizens of Halloweentown in the film), as does Marilyn Manson. Fiona Apple covers the somber "Sally's Song," while She Wants Revenge do "Oogie Boogie's Song."

Also included on the second disc of the set are two demo versions of songs Elfman originally wrote for the film, "Making Christmas" and "Oogie Boogie's Song." Disc one presents Elfman's score — including 10 original songs — in its entirety.

For Panic frontman Brendon Urie, just the chance to be included alongside Elfman was reason enough to get on board. Well that and a little good-natured band rivalry of course.

"Everyone in Panic loves Danny Elfman, so it's a bonus to be included alongside him," Urie said. "And I spoke to [drummer Andy Hurley] from Fall Out Boy about it, and he said they were on it, so we wanted to get on there too. So many bands that we're friends with and bands we tour with are a part of it and such huge fans of the movie. We all watched it as kids and we all watch it now, so it's really cool to be a part of it."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D: 13 Years and Three Dimensions Later
Director Henry Selick looks back on the beloved spook-fest.

When Disney releases The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D this weekend, there will bound to be a sense of satisfaction floating in the air for producer Tim Burton and director Henry Selick. After all, when the studio first bowed the picture in 1993, Nightmare was a bit of an ugly stepchild as far as the Mouse House was concerned. So non-Disney was its stop-motion animated ghouls and goblins that the studio didn't even see fit to put its name on the release; rather, they distributed it under their sub-banner Touchstone Pictures. But that wasn't the first time Disney took the low road with the project, it turns out.

"Tim had come up with the basic idea," recalls Selick. "And him and Rick Heinrichs, who was a creative partner of his, had sculpted [the characters] Jack and Zero and Sandy Claws back in the early '80s. And Disney rejected it then. They were both working at Disney, as was I, so I was exposed to the first images. And then Tim left and went on to great success. I think they liked the project and saw that Tim was very successful with Batman, so I believe they wanted Tim to come back to the studio and do big movies for them, big successful films like Batman, and this was a gift to him to get him to come back."

Yes, Burton had come a long way from his days working in the trenches at Disney as an animator, and suddenly his tale of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown who decides to try his hand at running the Christmas holiday one year, was of great interest to the studio. Selick was brought in as director, but still the studio wasn't quite sure what they'd signed up for. (Though they got what they wanted... sort of. Burton made his next live-action feature for them, Ed Wood. Not exactly Batman, but what can ya do?)

"They never felt [Nightmare] was a Disney film; they put it out as a Touchstone film rather than Disney," says Selick. "Their biggest fear, and why it was kind of a stepchild project, was they were afraid of their core audience hating the film and not coming, when in fact once kids found out about it, it connected with them as well as Tim's regular fan base. But it was very much, 'We don't have high expectations. It's kind of too dark and too scary.' And that's utterly wrong. It wasn't too dark, too scary. Kids love to get scared. In fact, I don't think it's too scary at all. Even little, little kids, as young as three, a lot of them love that film and respond well to it."

Upon release, the film not only did moderately well at the box office, but it quickly wound up on the Hipster's Must-See List of Cool Movies, slowly but surely turning into a cult classic — whatever that means — in the process. Home video sales and theatrical re-releases continued to add to Nightmare's popularity, though Selick says he and his team had little time to anticipate such success during the back-breaking process of making the film.

"It was a very, very hard project," he laughs. "I was on it for three-and-a-half years. But we knew it was going to be a pretty cool movie. It was great: We were getting to make a stop-motion film! There's hardly been any stop-motion features ever made. And we knew that there'd be a certain group of people that would like it, but we had no idea that it would keep going. It just sort of had this life beyond its first release, growing from a cult-size audience to a very large cult audience of people dressed up in the costumes, and with tattoos, and with songs inspired by it... So no, we never could have foreseen this."

In retrospect, Selick is not surprised by audiences' fondness for the film, and neither does he mind that Disney has inevitably gone from distancing itself from it to embracing it. That's just what corporate megaliths do, right?

"Going back to Tim's drawings from the early '80s, I'd say it's Tim's best idea that he's ever had," says the director. "This idea was inspired by How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but [with] a very unique twist in that it's the clash of two holidays, and someone stealing the holiday. It's just that wonderful combination, that collision, that gives it strength. Danny Elfman's songs are wonderful. I always felt there were like two or three too many when we were making it, and at first when it was first released a number of people said, 'Hey, there's too many songs in this thing.' But over time [that's faded]; really it's a big part, I think, of why it's successful and has lasted. The songs do a lot of the work of storytelling. I've seen it work really well with the little kids; they sort of march around to it."

As for the new 3-D version of Nightmare, the technical process used to transform the film into (seemingly) three dimensions is the same technique that is expected to be used on Star Wars, Titanic, Lord of the Ring and many other high-profile pictures in the near future. For many though, 3-D brings instant visions of headaches and gimmicks, and Selick himself admits to having harbored some trepidation about the 3-D-ifying of Nightmare at first.

"The idea didn't originate with me. Disney had taken one of their recent movies, Chicken Little, and decided in the middle of it to make it a 3-D movie," he says. "They did that and they had a lot of success with it, and they did that with people at ILM, so Don Hahn, who's actually an old friend of mine and a producer at Disney, kind of running things for John Lasseter [there], he thought, 'Well, look at what they did with this Chicken Little movie. What if they can do that to Nightmare Before Christmas?' Of course, it's utterly different technology because Chicken Little was a CG movie and all of that information exists as actually three-dimensional things in the computer, and Nightmare was photographed a frame at a time onto a flat piece of film. So it's a much more challenging assignment, and I thought they were crazy and it was the worst idea I ever heard of. That they were going to make it look like a bunch of flat cut-outs in layers and then have stuff flying off the screen all the time!"

Those nightmares about Nightmare, however, were thankfully put to rest.

"But I saw some of the work and I was actually really pleased because they're really respectful of the original space of the film," Selick says. "They're not trying to over-dramatize things. But the process itself is extraordinarily complicated."

In the particular case of Nightmare, which after all was shot on three-dimensional sets with three-dimensional figures, the 3-D version of the film has proven to be a bit of a nostalgia trip for those who actually worked on the production a decade-and-a-half ago.

"I just saw the finished film the other night and it looks wonderful," says Selick. "It turns up the fire a little in the warmth department because it takes you back to when you were making the film and those sets were right in front of us and the puppets were there. It's not an in-your-face, overly dramatic change, but it is a wonderful window that pulls you inside the movie a little bit."

The film is easier for Selick to watch these days too. As with many a perfectionist artist, for years it was tough for the filmmaker to view Nightmare without cringing at the various little mistakes and flaws of the film — the kind of stuff most folks wouldn't even notice. "I figure now it's part of why people make it [that way], because it has flaws. It's obviously handmade." And he's also got his favorite moments from the movie, including a fun background character that reminds him of a colleague from the shoot who has since passed away.

"One of the chief creators on that film was Joe Ranft, who went on to be head of story for Pixar," recalls Selick of Ranft, who died in 2005. "Joe was really in his element [on Nightmare]. He was the head of the storyboard artists, and there's a character, the Corpse Boy, that kind of captures Joe's spirit. He's the kid whose eyes are sewn shut and he's crying because it looks like there goes Christmas. I just love that weird little character, and it captures Joe's spirit."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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polkablues

I actually went to see this on Saturday, but the 3D was giving me a monster headache, so I left halfway through and saw the Prestige instead.  It all looked very nice, but a movie that's remastered to be 3D is very different from a movie that was shot to be 3D.  It all might just be a little too subtle to make it worthwhile.  And like I said, monster headache.
My house, my rules, my coffee

MacGuffin

Tim Burton Talks 'Nightmare,' Goth Kids, Frightening 'Friends' Episodes
Director also discusses emo superheroes: 'They should all just get some therapy!'
Source: MTV

SANTA MONICA, California — In hundreds of interviews, an entertainment reporter relies on one mandatory question: "So, what's coming up next for you?" Answers range from blank stares to huge news scoops, but filmmaker Tim Burton had a brand-new response: "My lunch!" He then pretended to vomit.

His two-word response sums up the 48-year-old director's legendary career — take something repellant, and then help us embrace the fear with humor. In many ways, it's the same message behind Halloween — and Burton is to Halloween what Frank Capra was to Christmas.

So as another Halloween approaches and Burton returns his beloved "The Nightmare Before Christmas" to theaters in 3-D, we caught up with the director in the hope that he'd make us cower, laugh and possibly vomit.

MTV: With the exception of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," "Nightmare" is the only mandatory must-watch Halloween animated special. Was it your intention that people would want to watch it every year?

Tim Burton: Well, the idea of the project actually came years earlier, growing up watching "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," those sort of annual events. Those kind of projects inspired what this ended up being: those traditional, holiday, weird animated films.

MTV: In the early '90s, tons of teenagers went to the mall to buy a "Nightmare" T-shirt and toys. Thirteen years later, new generations of teens have done the same thing. How does Jack Skellington avoid fad backlash?

Burton: Well, one thing I want to say [to those mall shoppers] is, come to London, in Camden Town, because you don't have to spend all that money. There are knockoffs. There are all these stores that have illegal "Nightmare" things — so come to London where you can buy your "Nightmare" products cheaply.

MTV: Your girlfriend, Helena Bonham Carter, once told us that you signed away all your rights to make money off the "Nightmare" merchandise.

Burton: Well, that's why I'm suggesting to come to London. [He laughs.] ... The Disney police are now going to stomp down on the Camden Market and arrest them all.

MTV: Usually, people think of Halloween as death and monsters, and they associate Christmas with love and family. Should the holidays be segmented like that?

Burton: No. There are many Christmas slasher movies like "Black Christmas" [the 1974 original and the remake that's in the works], and they've been combining things for years. Then there's space travel and Christmas, with [1964's] "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians," so you get lots of crossover in the history of movies.

MTV: You were something of an outcast as a teen, like so many of your subjects. Of all the characters in your movies, which is closest to the real Tim Burton?

Burton: Well, they all have their moments in a way, but ["Nightmare"] has a lot. It comes from a certain emotional place. And things like "Edward Scissorhands" perhaps, or "Ed Wood," has certain themes. You try to put a lot of yourself into whatever you are doing, even if it's a mindless Hollywood blockbuster.

MTV: So the actual character of Edward Scissorhands is reminiscent of you when you were a teen?

Burton: That was based on feelings. It was a symbol of those feelings you have as a teenager. Not so much literally but emotionally, and that dynamic of not touching and not being able to connect with people. There were very strong feelings at that time, yeah.

MTV: A decade and a half after you reinvented things with "Batman," we are now getting bombarded with a superhero movie every month, each one darker than the last. Are you happy that these guys are moody and conflicted rather than campy and cartoonish?

Burton: I know. They should all just get some therapy. [He laughs.] Either that or I have got to send them all a nice, brightly colored costume for a change. I think we've taken them down the dark path far enough. We have been there too long.

MTV: So did you go see "Batman Begins" and think, "Why did I start this?"

Burton: It's funny, because all I remember is getting a lot of criticism for doing those [darker] things. I remember there being a lot of criticism over all of it, but it's still hanging around! I enjoyed doing it at the time, and I felt that it explored it in a way that felt new to me. ... I think the dark brooding thing, it does feel a little old.

MTV: Whether we're talking about Halloween or your movies like "The Corpse Bride" and "Beetlejuice," why do you think we find humor in death?

Burton: Growing up in a certain culture where things are somewhat puritanical, they get on the case of things like Halloween and monster movies, and I think those things help you grow up and are quite cathartic in your life. You see other cultures, like the Hispanic culture, when they celebrate the Day of the Dead ... [death] is part of life. It's much more positive, and I've always seen that in [my] movies and monster movies.

MTV: Over the past few years, we've seen torture flicks like the "Saw" and "Hostel" franchises make big bucks. Do they take things too far? Would you ever do a torture movie?

Burton: Maybe. That's kind of hard to do, but it would be really fun to do a scary movie. Growing up on what we perceived as scary movies didn't scare me. Real life and other things like going to school was the most terrifying thing. You have to find what is right for you to make really scary, because it's all open for interpretation. I like all of those kinds of [torture] movies. I don't really have a problem with them. I've always watched gory movies.

MTV: So "Saw" and "Hostel" don't scare you?

Burton: No. I mean, an episode of "Friends" scares me.

MTV: Lots of directors influence other filmmakers, but you've probably inspired more bands than any other director. My Chemical Romance, Marilyn Manson, AFI, She Wants Revenge — do you see a similarity between the art of these bands and your own?

Burton: Yeah. It's always great to hear people doing different sorts of things, because you get to hear music in a different way. It's interesting to see that. But I go back to when I'd go to see ["Nightmare" composer] Danny Elfman in Oingo Boingo — they were just a band. They weren't doing movie scores, I wasn't doing movies. But there was something very cinematic about their music. Obviously Danny has that very much in him. Weirdly enough, I do hear a lot of bands now that each have their own individual voice, but you feel like there is something quite cinematic.

MTV: For better or worse, you're a patron saint of the so-called "goth" movement. How do you feel about that?

Burton: People get scared of people like that, but they really are quite sweet, great people. It's that image versus what people have in their heart versus what people think people should look like — that always causes a problem.

MTV: On the flip side, though, goth kids are often linked with things like suicide and cutting. Have you ever had an encounter with a fan who ultimately took the goth thing too far?

Burton: Well, I can only speak for myself, and I know responding to that kind of imagery didn't make me worse. It made me feel more at home and psychologically able to work out certain things. People argue the opposite, that it creates that kind of problem, but most of the people are using it to work out things in life.

MTV: What does Tim Burton do on Halloween?

Burton: I just like to go with the flow. ... I don't usually plan too much. ... Being in London is like Halloween all the time anyway.

MTV: What is the one movie that you would recommend to somebody looking to really scare themselves this Halloween?

Burton: I always found "The Ten Commandments" [1956] to be quite frightening. It's one of the most underrated horror movies. Have you seen that one lately? The guy starts out as kind of this regular guy, and by the end he's like this zombie, you know? It's really long, but if it's sped up it could be quite a shocking horror film.

MTV: Would you ever want to remake "The Ten Commandments," bring back Charlton Heston and put zombie makeup on him?

Burton: Well, he does a fine job himself. He's amazing, really.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Blu-ray Reveals New Nightmare

When director Henry Selick's classic animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas drops on Blu-ray on Aug. 26, fans will get to see some of the movie's details for the first time, Selick told SCI FI Wire. That includes details that were added during production but not visible in earlier releases.

"We tried to add texture to all the characters and backgrounds as if they were an engraving," Selick said in an interview. "For example, you'll see that Jack's stripes on his suit are hand drawn, and the hills behind also have hand-made textures built into them. Additional details would be things like the leaves that Sallie is stuffed with, the bugs inside Oogie Boogie."

The new format reveals secrets previously hidden from viewers, Selick said. "Look into the shadow areas," he said. "There are hidden details there that have never shown up on previoius DVDs but will show up on the Blu-ray."

Perhaps the most-anticipated new feature on these discs is an animated version of producer Tim Burton's original poem, narrated by Christopher Lee. The poem was the inspiration for the film and featured a more sinister Jack. Many of these traits were eventually translated to the Oogie Boogie character. "Oogie started out as the size of a pillowcase and not that scary or evil or important," Selick said. "As the story developed I felt the need to grow him in both his scale and his role. Ultimately Danny Eflman's Oogie Boogie song is what truly defined his character as THE villian and Jack's role was fully defined as a misguided hero."

The characters of Nightmare have become iconic since the film's original 1993 release. Would Selick ever consider a return to Halloweenland? "There has been discussions over the years about a possible sequel," he said. "When those discussions came up about seven years ago, it was unsettling that it was suggested this time it would have to be done in CG. I'm glad that did not happen."

Selic added: "As far as coming up ideas for a sequel, you have to admit there are alot of other great holidays for Jack Skellington to take over."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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w/o horse

If they don't keep including Frankenweenie and Vincent on Nightmare releases I'm going to feel like an ass for selling my old copy (which I kind of already do, unless they begin to put...)
Raven haired Linda and her school mate Linnea are studying after school, when their desires take over and they kiss and strip off their clothes. They take turns fingering and licking one another's trimmed pussies on the desks, then fuck each other to intense orgasms with colorful vibrators.

w/o horse

Raven haired Linda and her school mate Linnea are studying after school, when their desires take over and they kiss and strip off their clothes. They take turns fingering and licking one another's trimmed pussies on the desks, then fuck each other to intense orgasms with colorful vibrators.

MacGuffin

The Cutting Room Floor: What Didn't Make the Blu-ray?

The Special Edition DVD had an audio commentary by Henry Selick and cinematographer Pete Kozachik. Some of Selick's remarks were incorporated into the new group commentary, but many were not, and Kozachik was dropped entirely.

Back in the day, Disney released a deluxe laserdisc box set for 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' that included some additional material that's never been seen again, such as a longer version of the "Making of" documentary (it ran 43 min.), some animated commercial bumpers and a short film that Selick made for MTV, and an even more extensive collection of still galleries. The laserdisc also came packaged with a lovely hardcover book titled "Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, The Art, The Vision." The book shouldn't be too difficult to acquire separately, but it sure won't fit in this tiny Blu-ray case.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

How possible is a sequel to Nightmare Before Christmas?
Source: SciFi Wire

Director Henry Selick, who helmed the stop-motion-animated A Nightmare Before Christmas, doesn't dismiss the possibility of a sequel to the beloved movie, but he has reservations.

Selick—speaking to the press on Friday in Los Angeles while promoting his new animated film, Coraline—said he would consider it if he and producing partner Tim Burton could come up with the right story.

"It would have to depend," Selick said. "It's a hard thing to top in terms of story. That particular collision of nightmares is perfect. I don't know if Jack Skellington trying to take over President's Day weekend would be as good [laughs]."

Selick adds: "If there's a great idea, I would certainly love to [do it]. The film has a long life."

Selick still marvels at the movie's unstoppable staying power, though he created it in collaboration with Burton 16 years ago. When asked about the ongoing success of all things associated with Nightmare Before Christmas, from the yearly 3-D re-release to the popular merchandise, Selick smiles and says he's enjoyed seeing Disney claim the project as one of its own after the initial release under the company's Touchstone banner.

Of all the memorable characters created by Selick, Jack Skellington remains a personal favorite. "I'm pretty close to Jack, because he was created by Tim when I was working with Tim," Selick said. "I ended up acting out a lot of Jack for my animators. When you have a lot of different animators working with one character, you try to make it all the same. So I think Tim and I both have a special affection for that guy."

As for Coraline, which opens Feb. 6, Selick said that he has been painstakingly working on the intricate stop-motion details for five years. For now, he's taking a breather before picking his next directorial effort. He's also helping a younger artist bring a new original project to the screen and may serve as a producer.

"[It's] the first project I'm trying to help get off the ground with the company I'm working with, Licca," Selick said. "It's my head storyboard artist's project, Chris Butler. [It's called] Paranorman. I think he's come up with a great original story. It's sort of a sweet story about a boy who communes with his dead grandmother who ultimately has to face down an army of puritan zombies to save his town. It's very, very funny."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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