Skellington Productions
Skellington Productions was an American production company that was a joint venture between Walt Disney Feature Animation and directors Henry Selick and Tim Burton. The company specialized in stop motion animation and made use of the art in its two films.[1]
 | |
Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Joint venture | |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Fate | Absorbed into Walt Disney Pictures |
| Successor | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Founder | Henry Selick Tim Burton |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Headquarters | , |
Production output | Stop motion |
| Parent | Walt Disney Feature Animation (The Walt Disney Studios) |
History
Henry Selick and Tim Burton formed the company in 1986 as Selick/Burton Projects, where Tim Burton could direct episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre, while Henry Selick could focus on doing animation. In 1988, Tim Burton left to work on Beetlejuice, and Selick renamed the studio to Selick Projects. During this period, Selick Projects produced commercials for MTV, Ritz, and Pillsbury.
In September 1992, Tim Burton returned to Selick's studio, renamed it Skellington Productions, and sold it to Disney. The first film produced by Skellington Productions (which gave the company its namesake), The Nightmare Before Christmas, was released theatrically in 1993 under Disney's Touchstone Pictures banner to a positive reception and a successful box office, becoming a sleeper hit. Since 2006, Nightmare has been released by Walt Disney Pictures and in Disney Digital 3-D format.
Three months later, Disney released Skellington's second feature, Cabin Boy, starring Chris Elliott and directed by screenwriter, Adam Resnick. Tim Burton was a fan of the show Get a Life and commissioned Elliott and Resnick to write him a screenplay. When Burton received the script, he liked it very much and was going to direct it. At last minute, Burton got an offer to direct Ed Wood instead, so Burton jumped ship from Cabin Boy and handed the directing duties to Resnick, who had never directed anything in his life. When the film was released on January 7, 1994, the reception was overwhelmingly negative and was a huge flop at the box office. This film affected both Chris Elliott and Adam Resnick's careers for a long while.
Skellington's third and final film, James and the Giant Peach, was released to theaters in 1996.[2] Disney closed Skellington after the film became a box office flop despite positive reviews.
Aside from film, the KaBlam! short Life with Loopy was produced at Skellington Productions for the show's first season. Production on Life with Loopy moved to Custer Avenue Stages after Disney closed Skellington.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Co-production with | Distributor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Nightmare Before Christmas | Walt Disney Pictures Touchstone Pictures |
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution | |
| 1994 | Cabin Boy | Touchstone Pictures | ||
| 1996 | James and the Giant Peach | Walt Disney Pictures Allied Filmmakers |
The last film to be made from the studio | |
| KaBlam! | Nickelodeon Animation Studios | MTV Networks | Life with Loopy (season 1 only) | |
See also
- List of Disney theatrical animated features
- List of Disney feature films
References
- Noell K. Wolfgram Evans Animators of Film and Television: Nineteen Artists, Writers, ... 2011 0786486031 - Page 129 "To meet this challenge Selick established a separate production unit at Disney. Skellington Productions was filled with hand-chosen artists and technicians who collaborated together perfectly to advance this form of animation."
- Ken A. Priebe The Art of Stop-Motion Animation - 2006 Page 182 1598632450 "I think Skellington Productions was the only studio that I've been a part of that lasted for more than one project, and that was Nightmare and James. There was about a year between those two projects when a few animators were shooting their ..."
External links
- Skellington Productions on Internet Movie Database
