Henry Selick Quotes

Powerful Henry Selick for Daily Growth

About Henry Selick

Henry Selick, born on March 30, 1952, in Kansas City, Missouri, is a renowned American animator, director, and screenwriter, best known for his stop-motion films that blend traditional storytelling with innovative visual styles. Growing up in California, Selick developed a passion for animation at an early age, particularly influenced by the works of Ray Harryhausen and Walt Disney. After graduating from the California Institute of the Arts, Selick began his career as an animator at Pixar Animation Studios, where he worked on several projects including 'The Incredible Mr. Limpet' and 'Tron.' However, it was his departure from Pixar in 1984 that marked the beginning of his distinguished independent career. In 1993, Selick made his directorial debut with 'James and the Giant Peach,' an adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel, which received critical acclaim and solidified his position as a master of stop-motion animation. Four years later, he released 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,' a dark fantasy musical film that has become a timeless holiday classic. Selick's most recent work is the 2009 film 'Coraline,' based on Neil Gaiman's novel. The film was praised for its intricate stop-motion animation and deep exploration of themes like self-discovery, identity, and courage. Throughout his career, Selick has been recognized with numerous awards, including an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for 'Coraline.' His unique storytelling and visual style continue to inspire a new generation of animators and filmmakers.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Fantasy is a means of taking more active control of our dreams and giving them more reality."

This quote by Henry Selick suggests that fantasy, in the context of creative expression, serves as a tool for people to exert greater influence over their dreams or imaginative thoughts, making them feel more tangible or real. Essentially, engaging with fantasy can help transform our intangible desires and ideas into something we can experience, understand, and manipulate, thereby giving them a sense of reality.


"There's something about puppets that makes people let their guard down."

This quote suggests that there is a unique quality about puppets which allows individuals to feel more at ease, lessening their defenses or "guards." The simplified form of human expression through puppetry may evoke empathy, creating an intimate connection between the audience and the puppet. This emotional bonding can lead people to share feelings or ideas they might not in other situations, making them more open and vulnerable.


"I love the idea of making films with real actors but having the freedom to manipulate time, space, and emotions in ways that you can't do in live-action filmmaking."

This quote by Henry Selick reflects his appreciation for both animation and live-action filmmaking. He values the ability to control and manipulate elements like time, space, and emotions more freely in animated films than in live-action productions. Animators can use these artistic tools to create fantastical worlds, exaggerate or subtly express feelings, and stretch or compress storytelling sequences in ways that wouldn't be feasible with real actors and practical settings. This freedom allows for a more imaginative and surreal cinematic experience.


"The best ideas come out of the collaboration between the director and the artists, not just from one source."

This quote underscores the importance of collaboration in creative endeavors, particularly in filmmaking. By suggesting that the best ideas emerge from a partnership between the director and the artists involved, Henry Selick emphasizes the value of diverse perspectives and combined brainpower for generating innovative solutions and exceptional work. The collaborative process not only fosters creativity but also encourages mutual understanding, respect, and growth among team members, ultimately leading to a more vibrant and impactful end product.


"I like the idea that movies can be magical and transporting but also have a bit of darkness and complexity."

This quote suggests that Henry Selick values films that offer both enchantment and escapism, as well as deeper, thought-provoking elements. He appreciates stories that can whisk audiences away to another world while also challenging them with complex themes or darker aspects, making for a more engaging and meaningful viewing experience.


When you're writing, it's all up to you, and you don't have to make any compromises. And when you're directing, there's this intense pleasure you get from working with all these really talented people, and pooling the efforts towards a common goal. I like all the aspects of film-making.

- Henry Selick

Writing, Common, Aspects, Compromises

Every kid has a toy that they believe is their best friend, that they believe communicates with them, and they imagine it being alive, their toy horse or car or whatever it is. Stop-motion is the only medium where we literally can make a toy come to life, an actual object.

- Henry Selick

Best, Kid, Alive, Medium

What stop-motion does best is present real objects magically brought to life in a very imperfect situation; the hand of the artist is there, the electricity of someone touching, massaging and torturing themselves to get life out of an inanimate object.

- Henry Selick

Artist, Very, Brought, Inanimate

People are very harsh critics of animated humans.

- Henry Selick

Critics, Harsh, Very, Animated

No one's ever going to make a PG-13 animated film unless David Fincher executive produces it and puts it out on Netflix, and then if it's a success everyone will change.

- Henry Selick

Will, Everyone, Going, Animated

'Coraline' is Neil Gaiman's book, it sold a lot, it has a big fan base. It was originally conceived to be live action, but I never really wanted it to be. I always thought that it would work better as an animated film.

- Henry Selick

Book, Thought, Big, Animated

I'm meant to be an animation director. That world, and the culture of stop-motion, is where I want to live. It's more my problem than Hollywood's. I'm not attuned to Hollywood.

- Henry Selick

Director, Hollywood, Meant, Attuned

I was influenced by Ray Harryhausen and Lotte Reiniger, with her twitchy, cutout animation, which I happened to see at a very young age, but also by the Warner Bros. cartoons, 'Tom and Jerry,' and of course Disney. And also by Fellini's 'Giulietta of the Spirits' and Kurosawa's 'Ran.' And by other American illustrators and painters.

- Henry Selick

Young, Other, Very, Warner Bros

There's the animation ghetto of feature films in this country. There's this flavor at DreamWorks, and Pixar does their own thing, and generally they're safe. But if you look at Walt Disney's original films, at the time and in the context, they weren't safe. They were really dark and troubling.

- Henry Selick

Country, Own, Pixar, Context

I was at Disney for about four years, so I made good friends there. It was a time of not a lot of creativity. It was the end of the first great era, with a few of the original animators. They called them the Nine Old Men. I learned a lot from them, but it wasn't going to be a future home for me.

- Henry Selick

Nine, About, Animators, Old Men

If you're drawing humans, it can be detrimental to be too naturalistic, which is like animating little corpses.

- Henry Selick

Like, Which, Too, Corpses

Morals always sound like cliches, but usually cliches are based on things that are ultimate truths. Be grateful for what you have; appreciate what's right there in front of you.

- Henry Selick

Grateful, Always, Based, Cliches

I'm looking at some comedic horror films because I have often been accused of being too dark. I'm not dark, not compared with 'Saw' or anything like that. So I'm looking at live-action horror films, but not slasher ones - ones that have humor and maybe some social satire.

- Henry Selick

Some, Been, Maybe, Comedic

As a director, I'm not the one animating every frame, every shot. I'm moving around like a surgeon on rounds, or a farmer checking in on all the plants being grown, pruning and adjusting. For me, it's a very exciting job.

- Henry Selick

Checking, Pruning, Very, Frame

Very few people have made the transition from animation to live-action; I'm certainly not one.

- Henry Selick

Made, Very, Certainly, Transition

You know, I love stop-motion. I've done almost all the styles of animation: I was a 2D animator. I've done cutout animation. I did a CG short a few years ago, 'Moongirl,' for young kids. Stop-motion is what I keep coming back to, because it has a primal nature. It can never be perfect.

- Henry Selick

Love, Perfect, Almost, Young Kids

I learned my lesson that in the live-action world, you have to earn the support of people over a very, very long time. And in animation, I already have the support.

- Henry Selick

Over, Very, Very Long Time, Animation

Just like those little Viewmaster slides, there's a inherent magic that's captured in 3D that you can't get in drawn animation or in CG.

- Henry Selick

Magic, Like, Slides, Animation

Any type of animation, it could be really super crude or very sophisticated, it doesn't mean anything if we don't make this point in this shot, this one here and this one here. There's the saying, 'One shot, one thought.' It's pretty much a true way to go.

- Henry Selick

Here, Sophisticated, Very, Animation

In all animation, if it's done quickly, you'll know it. And if you're very slow and careful with it, it's going to look a little more beautiful. It's just compressing time into seconds.

- Henry Selick

More, Going, Very, Animation

I have more faith in doing something creative for a cable station or something like Yahoo or Google or Amazon. What Netflix did with 'House of Cards' and David Fincher was brilliant. That is inspiring to me. I think there is more chance for creativity in animation, it just hasn't happened there yet.

- Henry Selick

Doing, Cards, I Think, Animation

Nobody does animation better than Disney; it's just that some of us wanted out of the box. Burton was one. I was another. We were the mutual complaint society.

- Henry Selick

Box, Some, Another, Animation

Kids love to be scared; we all do. But there's a difference between leaving them hanging out there, with their fears, and then bringing them safely home. Kids love it when someone like them stands up against real evil, something really horrendous and frightening, and win.

- Henry Selick

Love, Against, Out, Scared

Kids love to be scared - there's way to do it right, and ways to do it wrong.

- Henry Selick

Love, Right, Ways, Scared

My mother is a huge fan of my work. I told her about 'Coraline' long before the film was made, and she got the book and read it. She reminded me that when I was about five years old, I used to sit in the kitchen for hours and talk about my 'other' family in Africa, my other mother and father. I had totally forgotten that.

- Henry Selick

Other, Mother And Father, Kitchen

We are suffering from a glut of too many 3-D movies and not enough screens.

- Henry Selick

Movies, Glut, Too, Screens

What I personally gravitate toward tends to be fantasy, medium dark - not too dark - fairy tales and sci fi. Stop-motion takes something on the page that's really dark and adds a little sweetness to it, a living toys realm.

- Henry Selick

Medium, Gravitate, Too, Tales

Underneath this tired, middle-aged exterior, I'm an 11 year old kid.

- Henry Selick

Year, Old, Exterior, Middle-Aged

Stop-motion is sort of twitchy; you can feel the life in it. If we were to remove that completely, there'd be no point in it.

- Henry Selick

Life, Feel, Sort, Remove

CG can do anything, but it can't do everything well. What it naturally can do is special effects. But using stop-motion comes from our desire to do handmade stuff. There are always going to be kids who get out whatever it might be - clay, bits of wire, Barbie dolls, Legos. They want to tell little stories.

- Henry Selick

Tell, Special Effects, Our, Wire

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