--- name: "Henry Selick" canonical: "https://film.one/person/henry-selick" fi1m_id: "henry-selick" imdb_id: "nm0783139" tmdb_id: 57646 wikidata_id: "Q514859" roles: ["Director"] born: "30 November 1952" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 84 average_as: "director" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-17T17:48:17.930461+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Henry Selick ## Identity Henry Selick - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/henry-selick - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** henry-selick - **IMDb ID:** nm0783139 - **TMDB ID:** 57646 - **Wikidata ID:** Q514859 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Selick, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q514859, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0783139/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/57646 Director. Born 30 November 1952 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 30 November 1952, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA - **Active:** 1993–2009 - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination - **Average Fi1m score:** 84, as director, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 82 (1), 2000s 85 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Selick, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q514859, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0783139/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/57646 ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*Coraline*](https://film.one/film/coraline.md) (85), [*The Nightmare Before Christmas*](https://film.one/film/the-nightmare-before-christmas.md) (82) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Henry Selick > Henry Selick makes grotesque puppets good company without tidying away their oddness. We value the humour and affection in his stop-motion, even when, as in *The Nightmare Before Christmas*, the story needs more work. The grotesque figures dancing together in *The Nightmare Before Christmas* (1993) keep their individual peculiarities even as they move as an ensemble. We laughed with pleasure at those scenes because Selick makes their company inviting without asking them to look any less odd. Editor Stan Webb keeps the movement readable as the numbers gather energy, so the pleasure comes from watching the performers together. Selick’s affection is clear in the attention each figure receives, rather than in any demand that we find them endearing. Tim Burton supplies the story and is among the producers, but *The Nightmare Before Christmas* is Selick’s feature debut. That distinction matters when so much of the humour depends on how the figures move. Danny Elfman’s music gives the animation a strong partner, though the story thins out between songs. Even at 76 minutes, the middle drags, and we recommend the film with that reservation: Selick makes the characters worth spending time with, but cannot always give them enough to do. He followed it with *James and the Giant Peach* (1996), a stop-motion adaptation made with Burton’s involvement. *Monkeybone* (2001) mixed live action with stop-motion; Selick later expressed unhappiness with the final cut and avoided further live-action work. *Coraline* (2009), which he directed, wrote and produced at Laika, brought distinct visual worlds and psychological detail to his dark fantasy. Cancelled projects, including *ShadeMaker*, preceded his return with *Wendell & Wild* (2022), a stop-motion collaboration with Jordan Peele. He favours the physical qualities of puppets, including their handmade imperfections, over the smoothness of computer animation. What we value most, though, is his willingness to let these peculiar creatures enjoy themselves. A fondness for the macabre can become tiresome when every scene is another display of ugliness, and his debut avoids that trap by making its characters sociable. Start with *The Nightmare Before Christmas* if a macabre musical sounds like good company, and allow for the stretches when nobody is singing. ## Biography Henry Selick is an American filmmaker and stop-motion animator. Born on 30 November 1952 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, he attended Rutgers University, Syracuse University and the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied experimental animation under Jules Engel. Selick directed the stop-motion features *The Nightmare Before Christmas* (1993), *James and the Giant Peach* (1996), *Monkeybone* (2001), *Coraline* (2009) and *Wendell & Wild* (2022). He has also contributed storyboards and animation to other projects, including work for Walt Disney Studios. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, rottentomatoes.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Coraline* (2009), Fi1m 85, Producer, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/coraline.md) - *The Nightmare Before Christmas* (1993), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-nightmare-before-christmas.md) ## Complete filmography (16) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Wendell & Wild* (2022), Book, Director, Producer, Screenplay - *Coraline* (2009), Director, Screenplay, Producer — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/coraline.md) - *Moongirl* (2005), as Gargaloons (voice) · Director - *The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou* (2004), Animation - *Smash Cuts! Super Sci-Fi Shorts Fest* (2001), Thanks - *Monkeybone* (2001), Director, Executive Producer - *James and the Giant Peach* (1996), Director, Co-Producer - *The Nightmare Before Christmas* (1993), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-nightmare-before-christmas.md) - *Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions* (1991), Director, Writer, Producer, Production Design - *Return to Oz* (1985), Storyboard - *The Ewok Adventure* (1984), Animation - *Twice Upon a Time* (1983), Animation Director - *Seepage* (1982), Director, Writer, Animation - *Phases* (1977), Director, Animation - *Tube Tales* (1975), Director, Writer, Animation - *The Ocean at the End of the Lane*, Director, Screenplay ## Gallery - ![Henry Selick, director of Coraline, speaks on a panel with Robert Rodreguiz during South by Southwest 2009.](https://film.one/media/person/83277/gallery-d93053b193af.jpg) Henry Selick, director of Coraline, speaks on a panel with Robert Rodreguiz during South by Southwest 2009. — thomascrenshaw (Thomas Crenshaw), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Henry_Selick_2009.jpg/1280px-Henry_Selick_2009.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Henry Selick](https://film.one/media/person/83277/gallery-76589d1301ad.jpg) Henry Selick — thomascrenshaw (Thomas Crenshaw), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Henry_Selick_2009_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Henry_Selick_2009_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Henry Selick](https://film.one/media/person/83277/gallery-c2c279bdbfec.jpg) Henry Selick — Image via TMDB - ![Henry Selick](https://film.one/media/person/83277/gallery-14edaec093cb.jpg) Henry Selick — Image via TMDB - ![Henry Selick](https://film.one/media/person/83277/gallery-32c87000ebc0.jpg) Henry Selick — Image via TMDB - ![Henry Selick](https://film.one/media/person/83277/gallery-7a25538933ab.jpg) Henry Selick — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 2010: Best Animated Feature (nominated), for *Coraline* ### Other awards — 1 won - Winsor McCay Award 2019: Winsor McCay Award (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/henry-selick