Tomorrow marks the triumphant return of Henry Selick. Selick, who has been MIA since the critically and financially panned Monkeybone, returns this week with the stop-action tour de force Coraline, based on the novelette by Neil Gaiman. Why do we care? Because he was also the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and regardless of having Tim Burton’s name attached, Selick’s ability to pull off such imaginative sequences with the technology was the reason why that film is remembered 15 years later.
Sci-Fi blog io9 has an exclusive interview with the man behind this season’s creepiest kids flick, which will undoubtedly appeal to adults just the same. One question they ask is how it can survive in today’s CG-dominated market:
Do you feel like this type of movie is a hard sell? With all the Pixar movies and CG movies that are riding the popularity wave right now, is there a place for stop motion?
I don’t know. I think people are always looking for something different. If all the fans of Nightmare, many who have grown up with that film, if just the fans of Nightmare come it will be a success. So I’m counting on the fans of Nightmare but also there’s been a lot of CG so people know that look. Obviously it can serve a great story well, the Pixar films are brilliant same with Dreamworks. So we’re kind of off to the side. And we hope that people notice and are interested in it.
We’re certain it will be an amazing film, but we’re holding out if the creepy factor is too much for young children. If you’ve seen it, let us know!