Henry Selick explains why he deserves more credit for ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’
With a movie like The Nightmare Before Christmas, it’s no surprise that there are multiple individuals looking to claim creative credit. For most audiences, the film is commonly associated with Tim Burton, the legendary director behind Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands. After all, the film’s official title is Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
But Burton didn’t direct the film: that job went to Henry Selick, a former Disney animator who was helming his first feature film. Production on Nightmare lasted two full years, during which time Burton turned his attention to Batman Returns. Burton’s story remained even as Selick took over most of the creative decisions on set.
In late 2022, Selick talked about Nightmare during an expansive interview with The A.V. Club. There, he claimed that he had won “many a bar bet” with people who didn’t believe Burton hadn’t directed the film. Why Selick is defending his honour at local watering holes is anyone’s guess, but the director nevertheless has some thoughts about Burton’s ostentatious title credit.
“That was a little unfair because it wasn’t called Tim Burton’s Nightmare until three weeks before the film came out,” Selick revealed. “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.”
It didn’t appear as though Selick seemed all that bitter toward Burton himself. The pair worked together again on 1996’s James and the Giant Peach, and Selick still talks about Burton in a positive light. Evidently, Selick isn’t the only creative mind who made a claim of ownership over the final product. Composer Danny Elfman wrote the musical’s songs and provided the voice of Jack Skellington.
“Now, of course, if you ask Danny Elfman, well, that’s his movie,” Selick added. “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!” Selick seems happy to have the film under his belt, even if he sometimes has to convince people that he was indeed responsible for it.
