Henry Selick is a renowned film director, specializing in stop-motion animation. He has formal training as an animator and has worked on numerous films and television shows throughout his career.
Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Selick was raised in Rumson, New Jersey. He developed an interest in animation at a young age, inspired by films such as "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" and "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad".
Selick attended Rutgers University, Syracuse University, and the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied science, art, and animation. He won two Student Academy Awards for his student films.
Selick began his career at Walt Disney Productions in the 1970s, working as an in-betweener, animator, and trainee. He worked on several films, including "Pete's Dragon" and "The Fox and the Hound".
In the 1980s, Selick freelanced, directing animation for television commercials and working on several films, including "Twice Upon a Time" and "Return to Oz". He also worked on the stop-motion animated film "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993),which became a critical and commercial success.
Selick's next film was the novel adaptation "James and the Giant Peach" (1996),which combined live-action and stop-motion animation. Although it was critically acclaimed, it was a box office flop.
Selick's next project was the comic book adaptation "Monkeybone" (2001),which was a dark fantasy film that turned out to be a box office bomb.
Selick then worked as a supervising director for Will Vinton Studios and later Laika, developing and directing several short films and feature films, including "Coraline" (2009),which was critically acclaimed and commercially successful.
Selick left Laika shortly after the release of "Coraline" and signed a long-term contract with Disney, where he formed a new studio called Cinderbiter Productions to produce new stop-motion animation films. He has been working on several projects, including "ShadeMaker", but has not released a new feature film since "Coraline".
