The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick has admitted he thinks it’s “a little unfair” that Tim Burton largely gets the credit for the hit film.
While Tim Burton produced the Halloween/Christmas crossover movie and came up with its story and characters, it was actually Henry who was on directing duties for the project, while Caroline Thompson penned the screenplay.
During a new interview with The AV Club, the director joked he’d “won many a bar bet” about his work on the cult classic, when the outlet pointed out that many people believe it was directed by Tim.
“[It] was a little unfair because it wasn’t called Tim Burton’s [The Nightmare Before Christmas] until three weeks before the film came out,” Henry claimed.
“And I would have been fine with that, if that’s what I signed up for. But Tim was in LA making two features while I directed that film.”
Henry continued: “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.”
Henry went on to joke that composer Danny Elfman – who wrote the songs and performed Jack Skellington’s singing voice – also believes it’s “his movie” .
“When we finished the film, it was so funny because he came up to me and shook my hand,” the filmmaker recalled, claiming the songwriter told him: “Henry, you’ve done a wonderful job illustrating my songs!”
“And he was serious,” Henry added. “And I loved it! Fine.”
The Nightmare Before Christmas centres around Halloween king Jack Skellington who becomes disenfranchised with the annual celebrations, but gets a new lease on life when he stumbles upon “Christmas Town” by chance.
The film was lauded upon its release in 1993 and has gone on to secure a loyal cult following.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is available to watch now on Disney+. HuffPost may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page