Henry Selick Exclusive Video Interview. Talks Future Projects, CORALINE UNFIXED, Why He Left Laika Studios, More

A few days ago I sat down with director Henry Selick (”Coraline”, “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “James and the Giant Peach”) for a very extensive interview.  While I spoke to him earlier this year before “Coraline” got released, with Focus Features trying to get “Coraline” nominated for Best Animated Feature (it absolutely deserves a nomination!) [...]

DVD Weekly Roundup Mon 12th October 2009

CORALINE Based on a brilliant book by Neil Gaiman, Coraline is ...

Coraline Director Henry Selick Leaves Animation Studio Laika

After working at the Portland, OR-based animation studio Laika for five years, writer/director Henry Selick has decided to leave the studio to work elsewhere. Selick had been looking for another feature to oversee, but with his contract up and no next project in place for him to tackle, he decided to move on. Selick's last stop-animation feature film Coraline wasn't exactly a smash success, but it did earn a respectable $75 million at the US box office. As Anne Thompson said: "It seems odd that when a movie breaks out and does as well as Coraline, that the filmmaker would leave the animation company behind it." Before joining Laika, Selick was best known for directing The Nightmare Before Christmas. Animators who worked on Coraline with Selick credit his experience and artistic vision with bringing the film to life, but others complain privately that he was an exceedingly demanding boss, according to ...

Selick leaves Laika

In a stunning development for Laika, the indie animation studio behind CORALINE that was hoping to be the stop-motion version of Pixar, director Henry Selick has left the studio. While Selick had no formal position with the studio, he was something of a creative director who helped establish the upstart with the surprise success of CORALINE. Recently the studio announced that it was dropping CGI animation to focus... Read More...

CORALINE Director Henry Selick Leaves Laika

Talk about a major free agent.  Henry Selick, the acclaimed director of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is leaving Laika, the studio behind his latest success, “Coraline.”  The move is surprising since Selick’s work had almost singlehandedly built up Laika’s reputation as a premier producer of animation.  Selick arrived in 2004, right as Nike executive Phil [...]

Coraline Director Henry Selick Leaves Laika

I really want Laika to be the next Pixar. I know that is such a bold statement to make, especially after only one movie. But I feel like the animation studio possesses all the ingredients. Their first feature film, the groundbreaking 3D stop-motion animated film Coraline, was not only critically acclaimed, but also a financial success. The 3D stop-motion animation company has already built up some powerful brand recognition in the world of animation. Like Pixar, the company operates out of the Hollywood system, based in Oregon, far away from the LA smog. When I think Laika, I think hand crafted, and I also think of Henry Selick, the animation director who was behind Coraline, and to me was as much a part of the company as John Lasseter was to the early days of Pixar. So it was very surprising to learn that Selick has decided to leave Laika. Apparently the ...

Laika Scraps Computer Animated Feature Plans

Animation Studio Laika, best known for the 3D stop-motion animated feature adaptation of Coraline, laid off 63 employees in its computer animation department. Laika was originally setup as an animation studio which would produce both stop-motion and computer animated feature films. But Laika has decided that they would rather specialize in stop-motion animated projects. Before Coraline, Henry Selick directed a computer animated short film for Laika titled Moongirl, which won the Short Film Special Jury prize at the Ottawa Film Festival. The short was a test for Selick, who originally planned to film Coraline as a computer animated feature. For those of you interested, you can watch Moongirl embedded after the jump. More information about the layoffs at Laika and the company's future plans, also included after the jump. According to Oregon Live, "today's layoff, which reduces Laika's work force from 243 to 180, is the second round of cuts in its ...

Coraline on Blu-Ray

Once again, 3-D comes home with red and green glasses, so you can watch a beautifully crafted movie in purple. Coraline’s hair doesn’t even look blue and the garden of the other world is just a hodgepodge of colors fighting for some authenticity, none of them achieving a real look. You do still see all the detail in the stitching and the depth separating objects, but come on. They also give you a warning that it takes five minutes to adjust, but it never looks right.

On Blu-Ray: Coraline
So, you’ll lose 3-D to watch the 2-D version but at least you get to see what the film looks like. There’s so much beautiful detail to see. A chair is rumpled with the creator’s touch. A window streak separates the picture of Coraline. The character dolls shine under the light showing every carved line of hair.

DVD: Coraline

Aaron Horwitz reviews "Coraline" Read More...

Director Henry Selick Comic-Con Interview - Talks CORALINE and Next Project

I got the chance to speak with the man single-handedly keeping stop motion not only alive, but viable. Henry Selick gives his thoughts on the state of stop motion, “Coraline”, as well as working with Neil Gaiman again. He also says he’s going to pick his next project soon and it’ll be another stop motion [...]