Stop-motion animator and director Henry Selick has had a pretty momentous past few months with two of his biggest movies, Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas, reaching major milestones. As the creator looks back on these films, he expresses what it means to him to have two movies that are so widely celebrated today, but says they probably won't be receiving sequels anytime soon.
"You know, it's fantastic to work very hard on something that kind of comes and goes and then turns out to have a longer life in it," Selick tells 12DOVE in an exclusive interview. "The films find new fans, especially in The Nightmare case that has made it to the children of original fans, second generation, it'll be a third generation before long. It's incredibly rewarding and just feels like, yeah, that worked out pretty nicely."
Selick’s 2009 movie Coraline is being re-released in cinemas this summer to celebrate its 15th anniversary. The stop-motion animation, originally released in 3D, follows a young girl named Coraline who finds a little door to an alternate reality with perfect versions of her parents. But all is not what it seems as The Other Mother has ulterior movies. "I'm very grateful that Laika is doing a special remaster," says Selick. "This is in 3D as it was meant to be seen, as it was very carefully planned and shot in."
Released in 1993, Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, which follows the king of Halloween Town’s Jack Skellington’s venture into Christmas Town, recently reached its 30th anniversary. Over the years, there have been many discussions about the Disney movie getting a sequel, but Selick says that it will probably never happen as he doesn't want to "beat it to death" like other franchises.
"It’s been discussed forever at various times in the past. I was told 'Oh, we want to do a sequel, but it has to be CGI' and I said 'No, absolutely not,'" explains Selick. "But you don't want to ruin something by, killing the golden goose. Doing a sequel or a prequel can destroy that. I mean, by the time of Jaws six, the shark movies, they'd really beat that shark to death."
So what about a Coraline sequel? Well, Selick reveals that there have been talks about that as well, but nothing has ever come of it. In fact, just this year it was announced that Selick would take on another one of Coraline author Neil Gaiman’s stories, The Ocean at the End of the Lane movie, which the director has previously called the almost sequel to Coraline. But it looks like that isn't going ahead anymore.
"It's something I love and have danced around," explains Selick. "It's almost come together a few times. I would hope that it might still come together, but I have no predictions." Well, with no Coraline or Nightmare adaptations on the horizon, we guess we’ll have to get our Selick animation fix from the Coraline remaster.
Coraline remastered in 3D hits theaters for a limited time from August 15, get tickets here. The Nightmare Before Christmas is available to stream on Disney Plus. For more, see our list of the best animated movies, or keep up with upcoming movies.
