THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS Director Henry Selick Says It's a Little Unfair That Tim Burton Gets All the Credit

When you think of the movie Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, one name certainly comes to mind… Tim Burton. He created the characters and wrote the script for the film, but the movie’s director, Henry Selick, is rarely mentioned in association with the hit holiday classic. Selick is also responsible for directing James and the Giant Peach, Coraline, and the new Netflix film Wendell & Wild, but he’s often been overshadowed by the writers and co-collaborators of his projects like Tim Burton, Roald Dahl, Neil Gaiman, and Jordan Peele.

In a recent interview with AVClub, Selick talked about the struggle of his work not getting the recognition it deserves, and joking that he’s “won many a bar bet” against people who are absolutely sure that Burton directed The Nightmare Before Christmas. He explained:

“That was a little unfair because it wasn’t called Tim Burton’s Nightmare until three weeks before the film came out. And I would have been fine with that, if that’s what I signed up for. But Tim was in L.A. making two features while I directed that film, and I mean, Tim is a genius—or he certainly was in his most creative years. I always thought his story was perfect, and he designed the main characters. But it was really me and my team of people who brought that to life. Now, of course, if you ask Danny Elfman, well, that’s his movie [Laughs]. When we finished the film, it was so funny because he came up to me and shook my hand. “Henry, you’ve done a wonderful job illustrating my songs!” And he was serious, and I loved it! Fine. But my thing was I’m going to hang in there long enough to where people actually say, “Oh, that guy Henry, he does stuff.” And so in the long run, especially with Coraline and this film, I mean, Coraline is based on a really good book by Neil Gaiman. That didn’t hurt. On this, my collaborator is Jordan Peele—and that is the reason we were able to set this up. So I really, truly like to collaborate. But I’m the one leading the team to make the movie.”

I feel bad that I really never knew of Henry Selick until the last few years, despite the fact that he directed all these movies that are so beloved. I’ll definitely remember his name these days, and I hope he continues to work and make more awesome movies. What’s your favorite in his catalog?