Henry Selick Discusses Potential Follow-Up to Coraline with Neil Gaiman

Stop-motion giant Henry Selick is once again circling the Neil Gaiman adaptation The Ocean at the End of the Lane, confirming that ongoing work with the English author will shape his next feature film. The filmmaker holds Gaiman’s 2013 novel in high esteem, describing it as Gaiman’s crowning achievement and envisioning this project as a companion piece to their modern classic Coraline. He describes the development title as almost a sequel.

In an interview with Variety, he elaborated, Instead of a child going to this other world with a monstrous mother, it’s a monstrous mother who comes into our world to wreak havoc on a kid’s life,. With a honed 35-page treatment and scores of artwork and concept designs, Selick is now shopping the project around. He’s hinted at interest from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio studio, ShadowMachine, while also praising Coraline studio Laika as home to the best talent and the best resources. Reflecting on Laika, he continued, He has the humanism, the heart, and the genius.

Selick’s partnership with Neil Gaiman isn’t new. Their past collaboration yielded the successful animated movie Coraline, which LAIKA released to set new standards in 3D animation. David Burke, LAIKA’s CMOO, has remarked that LAIKA set the 3D standard with the 2009 release of Coraline. This newly remastered version brings Neil Gaiman’s enchanting story to life in stunning stereoscopic 3D detail.

The Shadow King, another long-delayed project from Selick, might see new life through a graphic novel release intended to spark interest for an eventual film production. At Annecy Animation Festival, Selick seized an opportunity to screen minutes of nearly finished footage of The Shadow King, completed during his stint at Pixar.

The first of two sequences featured a doppelganger resembling Marvel villain Kingpin answering an urgent call—while his shadow takes on a malevolent life of its own. The second sequence was an updated clip circulating online with startling technical polish. Both sequences captured Selick’s trademark sinister humor.

The audience gathered at Annecy were not there to dwell on what might have been but instead to celebrate an animation icon’s career. Starting with bouts of childhood indecision about whether he wanted to grow up to be a lion or a horse, Selick found his true calling in the dark theater rooms enchanted by Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion sequences. Models created by visual effects pioneer Harryhausen left such an impact on him that they determined his future career trajectory.

Delving deeper into his formative years, Henry recalled studying animation at Syracuse University and CalArts where he was drawn to Eastern European puppetry and experimental Canadian films from National Film Board. Meanwhile his classmates like Brad Bird, John Musker and John Lasseter were focused on Disney-style character designs.

Eventually finding himself working at Disney despite this not being his initial goal, Selick carved out an unconventional path by blending experimental ideas within more traditional stories—a hallmark that he carried forward into projects such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, releasing amidst significant industry shifts spearheaded by films like Jurassic Park lifting reliance off practical effects.

James and The Giant Peach, another iconic stop-motion feature helmed by Selick released coincidingly with Toy Story’s digital dawn emphasized how adeptly he navigated both methods adapting timeless content featuring memorable characters effectively despite transitions within animation practices.

Slicing through technological evolution thoughtfully—[Stop-motion] is based on original movie magic [itself], notes Selick—to striking balance allowing flexibility vis-a-vis market fluctuations reiterating [our format] maintains historical value ;if [correlates deeply connected yet ethereal capturing audience imagination regardless era seen under] timelessness surrounding given medium immensely supporting longevity distinct uniqueness expected years follow further shaping future nowhere near fading away entirely becoming increasingly relevant progressing years continuously reminds generations soulful meaningful messaging conveyed powerfully encapsulating overarching journey whereby lenses positioned duly relevantly deserving utmost commendation further inherently representing genre-best exemplifying true artistic brilliance]].