The Nightmare Before Christmas Director’s Return to Stop-Motion Animation!

Adam is joined in the cave by one of the great stop-motion film directors Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Coraline) to discuss the art of stop-motion animation and the making of Henry's new film Wendell & Wild! Henry brings along a few puppets that were used in Wendell & Wild and shows the incredible amount of detail put into these characters.
Watch Wendell & Wild right now on Netflix: www.netflix.com/title/80231433
Shot and edited by Josh Self
Additional footage courtesy Netflix
Music by Jinglepunks
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Ryan Kiser / ryan.kiser
Josh Self / puppetflesh
Kristen Lomasney / krystynlo
Jen Schachter www.jenschachter.com
Kishore Hari / sciencequiche
Sean Charlesworth / cworthdynamics
Kayte Sabicer / kaytesabicer
Bill Doran / chinbeard
Ariel Waldman / arielwaldman
Darrell Maloney / brokennerd
Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman
Thanks for watching!
#stopmotion #animation #adamsavage

[@tested]

Watch Wendell & Wild right now on Netflix: www.netflix.com/title/80231433

[@chellastation]

Why do stop motion? Because it is cool. It takes so much skill to handle such an animation style, and have the film, show or anything look amazing 👏

[@vksof]

YES!!! Hoping Netflix supports even more of Selick's stop motion because audiences want more!!!

[@josellem4837]

OMG!!! That’s my puppet!!! 🥰 I made the Irmgard puppets for W&W. Very fun process and cool to learn on.

[@m.maclellan7147]

Congratulations! Save this interview !

[@squeedles_1943]

Omg such cool work!!! What was it like?

[@skudfisher]

Amazing work! Loved the film

[@Juniversal]

Wow great job. I love stop motion so much artist like you are an inspiration.

[@Hythenos]

I love how she reminds me of the Cynthia doll from rugrats and the elongated torso is such a fun touch. Just expert character design, amazing silhouette, and she looks to be excellently crafted. Great job!

[@slope4772]

Hearing that Selick re-acquired the rights for 'The Shadow King', and that a potential cinematic reunion with Neil Gaiman; an adaptation of the haunting and sad 'The Ocean At The End Of The Lane' is in the early stages, made me happy as hell.

[@SeventhSwell]

Unfortunately I lost my dad earlier this year so I'll never really know how he pulled this off, and when I asked him about it years later he already didn't remember, but when I was in high school, somehow, he got me and a friend a visit to the set of Nightmare Before Christmas as it was filming in San Francisco. I saw the walls of storyboards, I saw the different rooms they were filming different scenes in. I got to see the town square set and got to manipulate the armature under Santa's cheek. I got to handle a few of the Jack heads stored in racks and racks of poses... I'll never forget it. I just wish I could remember who was giving me the tour. I can't help but wonder who I met. For all I know I could have met either or both of you. Whoever it was I will always be thankful to them, because when my friend and I showed up he didn't see anything listed about our visit. We were just two high school kids that showed up expecting a tour and even though he didn't know about it he gave us a tour anyway.

[@scoobertmcruppert2915]

Awesome experience!

[@anniebell6846]

Well thank you for sharing this wonderful story . I hope you know the creativity he shared inspired so many

[@tolkienfan1972]

That's so cool. What an experience

[@daviddarko5837]

Sorry about your dad.

[@Desasteroid]

My condolences, friend.

[@kurt7020]

I love that Henry, himself, moves a little like a stop motion character. It's perfect.

[@MorningDusk7734]

He probably models a lot of his directing of motion based on his own movements, so that makes sense as to why it would come through.

[@Jurassic.Fan17]

It’s called Tourette’s syndrome

[@FlippytheMasterofPie]

He moves like Jack Skellington!

[@MrPhotodoc]

Might be symptoms of Tourette's Syndrome.

[@FUBARguy107]

He almost over-animates which is what claymation tends to do. Like "revving" for a brisk walk, a character will swing their arms back and then catch them up with their body as if gaining momentum or something. I see some of it in his motion.

[@nattykp]

side by side it looks like I'm looking at Adam going back in time 15 years to be interviewed by himself

[@mf--]

Thought I had woken from a coma for a moment.

[@kyleolson8977]

I came here to make this joke but was way too late.

[@scoobertmcruppert2915]

Yep

[@gallimead]

Yep, you got a point

[@EvanCops]

Ha I thought that too!

[@TokyoSwan.]

James and the Giant Peach was a masterpiece. I'm glad he is directing again!

[@milesbrown2]

4 years ago I got my first opportunity to work on an animated movie where we did the “Proof of Concept “ for Wendel and Wild in LA. 2 1/2 months on stage building and lighting the sets. There were only about a dozen of us but there was a real sense of urgency and excitement to make things work the first time. I learned a lot and also developed an incredible appreciation of animators. The patience and artistry it took to make the characters come to life was amazing. We had a screening a couple of weeks ago and many of the shots we did made it in the movie. And got to meet Keegan Michael Keys too. I’m happy and proud to have had a small part of this movie. I also should praise the folks who tirelessly toiled away at making the characters and the wardrobe and sets. All amazing artists.

[@pathologicaldoubt]

I believe I saw that years ago presented at CTN in an exclusive panel. It was a scene of the devils on the girl’s head, correct?

[@TheManTheMythD]

Just started the video, but what Henry's talking about with the feather stole reminds me of Picasso's philosophy on art in a really fascinating way. Picasso was a brilliant painter at an insanely young age (Mozart level prodigy). The kid could replicate anything in beautiful detail. And as soon as he saw photographs taken by cameras, he decided there was no point in replicating life. The camera could do such a good job so much more easily, that he decided there's no point in making paintings if the goal is just to look like a photograph. It seems like Henry feels the same way about animation. CGI can make animation that is so smooth and perfect, that the imperfections of hand done stop-motion become an artistic choice and a noteworthy feature of the piece. Really fascinating stuff to me.

[@hman2912]

Is that true about Picasso? I never knew. How cool

[@TheStockwell]

When did this epiphany of Picasso's happen? You know: source, please? 🤔

[@TheManTheMythD]

@@TheStockwell You know, I don't actually know. It's something I learned in an Art History class I took in college, but you make a good point. Just because a professor said it, doesn't mean it's true.

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

Henry Selick needs way more credit than he receives.

[@qwertyboo]

agree

[@smokinwoodz]

what are you on??? he deserves infamy not just simply "more credit than he receives" pfffffffff

[@Chelsi.n.Avi-tv]

Fr

[@Chelsi.n.Avi-tv]

@@smokinwoodz yea

[@Charles12]

@@smokinwoodz you do know what infamy means right? its not something good

[@warnerww83]

It’s interesting how expressive his gesticulating and body language is. Guess that’s the result of decades of studying and leveraging movement and how it tells a story.

[@wombleofwimbledon5442]

16 minutes in, and the dude just relaxes and chills. It's beautiful. Sting does the same thing in a Rick Beato interview. Closed up like a walnut in the beginning, just totally alive by the end. Good interview.

[@petertrast]

I love that I am not the only cross subscriber to both Adam and Rick XD

[@PabloJ1968]

@@petertrast I am too.

[@GreyDevil]

What a great opportunity to talk to Henry Selick. I love his work and hope he's not done with the stop motion medium

[@StarNanny]

Stop motion is soooo much art….2-D cartoon aesthetic translated to 3-D sculpture … with diorama set building and sliding landscape friezes….with light-painting and shadow-play used in live action production….with the added patience and precision of the puppeteers and storyboard artists … all predicated on the vision of the director. To me, it’s THE most intense art experience.

[@kevinmcelhinney]

Adam lives the best life and gets to talk to amazing creators.

[@RustyShackleford_]

Absolutely agree that the animation doesn't need to be flawless, the textures breathe life into things.

[@SwedeEad]

Ocean at the end of the lane by Henry Selick? Oooh Yesss! Great to see you two talking together about stuff you love.

[@zoinomiko]

YESSSSS

[@PickySun]

Really hope that project comes to fruition, it would be a phenomenal collaboration!

[@wesleycolvin7158]

'An artist's work is never done.' Artists never really quit or retire. Something always brings them back.

[@3DJapan]

I went to school for animation, including stop motion in my earlier years in the late 90s. I recall one project where I made my character with a solder wire armature, covered in tin foil for bulk, then plasticine for the outer part. It looked, great, I still have it. However I only had a 3 hour window to shoot my 5 second project and quickly realized that the hot lights melt the plasticine. So it was drooping and showing the foil before I was even half way through. What a disaster.

[@peterkelley6344]

Did your teacher give you a fair grade from that experiance?.

[@tobicain7816]

on the subject of stop motion dying out/ having a resurgence. from what ive seen in many genres is every few decades something we thought was out thee door is brought back in and this is due to the kids and teens who's childhoods and memories were crafted around a specific genre want to give a new generation that feeling. and then itll die out again until the new generation come of age and decided to impart their own spin on things thats influnced by the films they grew up with. stop motion will always be there....itll just leap over a couple of generations here and there

[@m.maclellan7147]

Quite true ! And, also, since the genre is no longer "trendy", the base price of the technical gear will be lower ! An important aspect of any "bootstrap" production is being able to get good "off the shelf" or used gear !

[@elizabethalvarado8698]

What Henry says, about imperfections being unique to everything, it's making me remember another creative director, Dave Pressler, the creator of "Robot and Monster". In the case of the character, Marf, Dave made a point to say that Marf's edges aren't supposed to be perfectly straight.

[@thelemonwho]

James and the Giant Peach is one of the fondest memories of my childhood, and seeing it brought to life was absolutely epic.

[@m.maclellan7147]

I LOVE how much he praises others - (saying their names, specifically!), talking about the young people being so talented, etc., etc. This is what folks should be. Cognizant of their part, but joyful to promote younger people.

[@PabloEdvardo]

Nice to see him getting some recognition. It's true that putting "Tim Burton's" on the tag-line for Nightmare really obscured the contributions of the director.

[@vksof]

Yes! Exactly! Hopefully Netfllix supporting Wendell & Wild will help people see (and fund) more from Henry Selick!

[@fartzinwind]

I work in Portland, live in Vancouver Wa. I'd heard about how rough things were for the stop motion studios in the area during covid and the fires. That heat wave, and the fires since have been infinity saddening to witness and experience. I've been here my whole life, this isn't the PNW I grew up with. i had blueberries growing in my yard that turned brown on the bush, brown, they cooked. A coworker had be hives that the honey from was useless for most things, it was smoked honey.

[@Boshuda1977]

So heartwarming to see Henry enthusing about his passion. I adore his movies and hope he gets to continue making more. Can't wait to catch Wendell and Wild!

[@kiran258]

I was so sad when shadow king was cancelled, finally happy to see something new from him!

[@lekiscool]

Peele is out here making some great stuff. I’m happy to see him working with Henry Selick. 😊

[@Fabio_Rebelato]

I wish, from the bottom of my heart, I could give a thousand likes on his video! It was magic, simple and plain magic!

[@tgmaschmidt7068]

Actually Pablo Lobato is a Brazilian artist. I’m also from Brazil and I didn’t know him, so thanks for introducing this great artist and fellow countryman to me. And I’m always happy to see Brazilian people getting recognition and respect 🇧🇷

[@Gazulolima]

i didnt know Pablo was brazilian born. I thought he was 100% argentinian. Nice tho!

[@MorningDusk7734]

3:21 Henry cringes at Adam's hand hitting the table and rocking the model, probably because that could have cost months of work on a stop motion set.

[@scoobertmcruppert2915]

Wow great conversation! Almost like watching Adam interview his older brother haha

[@andycoppes]

Definitely look like brothers 😅

[@tazhapeoples9257]

I literally just got done watching it and I think it was perfect! I’m a big fan of coraline, paranorman, kubo, nightmare before Christmas etc so when I heard they were releasing a new animated movie I got super excited. I love the fact that the movie looks very unique, and the overall story is very cool too. 10/10

Amazing getting to know more about Selick's creative process! The interview felt great, two people talking about stuff they know and love and you could tell how much Adam respect Henry, great video!

[@bloomp7999]

This director is a true genius

[@BrianAchart]

Amazing interview! I love the kind of questions Adam does and the responses he gets from Henry Sellick, very insightful and interesting. Hope we can get many more films from him. Also loved the little bits of BTS footage here and there. Thanks for sharing this!

[@invox9490]

Wonderful interview. So happy stop-motion is coming back in a big way and cannot wait to see his future projects.

[@nihalbhobe1292]

The collab we always wanted

[@MrSiasman]

Adam has found his twin look-alike:) Love you both:)

[@elizabethsloan3192]

I love stop motion, I feel there is so much skill and life involved.

[@PabloEdvardo]

What an incredibly fascinating interview. Thanks for not cutting it too short.

[@jcollif]

After seeing this, I want so badly to see a stop motion animated puppet of a caricature of Henry....His mannerisms, gestures, etc. are screaming to be duplicated in this form.

[@Vandueren5]

I just posted: you should watch the big bird in Pixar’s “for the birds”, I always though the Pixar’s animators secretly were hommaging/lampooning him.

[@AutismusPrime69]

Dont simp

[@filippobona6763]

I love stop motion so much! The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my all time favorites as well as Coraline and they’re a big inspiration for me, i dream of being a filmmaker and i definitely have stop motion on my list, thank you Henry Selick

[@Busted.Brains]

So cool to see the puppets I helped work on on Adam Savage’s Tested!!!

[@renatocann5142]

Saved this one a few days so I could watch it on Halloween hehe, excellent interview!! Always love hearing Henry talk about his work, and Adam is such a great interviewer, not least of all when it's an art form he clearly has a genuine love for himself.

[@samanthamcdanel6476]

if I could have one mentor in my filmmaking career, it’d be Henry Selick.

[@leemarsh3569]

What a wonderful interview. I could listen to Henry all day. 😊

[@dlbuffmovie]

OMG! There is so much great stuff here!! Loving this one, and even the history/tech parts are wonderful.

[@IllustratorJones]

What an insightful interview. I love the fact that you Both talk about physical animation. CG has it's place, but hand crafted visual work does it for me! Thanks Adam for a wonderful show. Kindest regards #illustratorjones

[@appalachianunderground8474]

Picasso and Monet having a conversation….I’m just happy that we get to enjoy this. Awesome! ✝️🇺🇸👆🏻🅰️

[@eldertoys1409]

Wow, another Neil Gaiman project! I really wish Laika and Selick can make an adaptation of Gaiman's "Tragical Comedy Or Comical Tragedy Of Mr Punch", a dark and melancholic tale with art of the wonderful Dave McKean (cause dreaming is cheap, isn't?) By the way, this interview is like a warm caress to the heart. Kudos to Adam!

[@davidkglevi]

What a dream team! Henry Selick, Jordan Peele and Pablo Lobato!

[@John.Pullen]

I would love love LOVE to see Ocean at the End of the Lane brought to life by Henry Selick 🥰

[@harleyrobertson6746]

I love stop motion animation, it brings cartoons to reality.... basically a live action cartoon

[@davidhiscock1969]

Looking forward to seeing this. Big fan of his previous films . Stop motion films have a beautiful charm about them. Can't help thinking the character in the wheelchair looks like Marlon Brando

[@IbelinnCreations]

Loved this interview! Coraline and nightmare are some of my favorite movies, always love hearing from the creative minds behind stop motion

[@86billionneurons]

The Wabi Sabi movie making is imperfections of perfections.

[@Games_and_Music]

40:48 That reminds me of Akira again, when i first watched it when i was about 10-11, after the opening title seeing that shot of the shop light flickering, it looked so realistic that i was immediately sold on its realism, despite the unrealistic character designs. Having grown up with mostly Disney movies or Scooby Doo as feature length animations, Akira opened the door for me to the "Manga" movies, with the Street Fighter II movie becoming a favorite for me at that time (94-95). I also loved Alita and Ghost in the Shell, in fact i had been looking for Alita for years, because that death scene of Yugo was engraved into my memory, but i had forgotten what the movie was called for many years until i found it again right before the announcement of the reboot, haha. Sadly, i never saw any Miyazaki movies as a kid, i only discovered them when my girlfriend at the time introduced me to them with Spirited Away in 2010. I always loved the Devonian time period and Miyazaki seems to take flora/fauna design cues from it, i would probably be obsessed with the movies as a kid. My favorite is Nausicaä, the Ohmu are fantastic and i love the concept of the toxic forest, and the ancient battle is great. Castle in the Sky comes second, love the tech mix with nature and fantastical ideas and designs. Spirited Away will be 3rd, even though the story is small, but it also reminds me a bit of the 90s "Manga" movies, great character development. Princess Mononoke 4th, i do not care about the protagonists at all, but everything around it is pretty awesome. Ponyo 5th, similar to Spirited Away, small story, but Devonian fish (Placoderm) inspired designs and a weird but touching story makes it an endearing movie. My Neighbor Totoro 6th, how can you not like it? (but i don't think the movie itself is _that_ amazing). Howl's Moving Castle 7th, was briefly a favorite of mine, but after seeing Nausicaä and Castle in the Sky, i found it to be below par. Kiki 8th, cute movie, but it doesn't really affect me much or impress me much, i still like it though. I haven't seen the others yet.

[@jrnsurlan405]

I heartily recommend Porco Rosso.

[@brainsquid]

What a lovely life aferming interview. I love hearing about the process and the thought that this was a covid movie, that's a stop motion caovid movie is quite an achievement in its own right. Thank you for this video!

[@themusicofmikegoodwin]

We just watched this last night. Beautiful film. Such amazing art and a great story for our days.

[@helensarkisian7491]

Adam is a very good interviewer. Very interesting.

[@zachmoyer1849]

james and the giant peach was one of my favorite movies as a kid probably one of the only movies id buy a prop from

[@scifimodelsandstuff3211]

Incredible. What an inspiring interview!

[@MansfieldBum]

Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment is what I think of when it comes to stop motion what with all the Christmas specials and my favorite mad monster party, Henry Selick work as well!

[@nodfactor8808]

Exciting! I love stop motion. And wow, so cool that this is a collaboration with Jordan Peele! Now I gotta watch this!

[@clurkroberts2650]

Great interview. Henry Sellick is legend.

[@Jack_Wolfe]

42:00 OH! You recorded this before it was released! I love to see how his response to everyones response was :D

[@jimbo9313]

They almost seem like the same person. And I never seen Henry before so it’s kinda funny. I can tell they loved this conversation

[@GrassyCass]

I hope Henry returns to the shop for a future video!

[@nicolehavelyana5265]

Loved every second of this! Henry is so passionate 😢

[@VampOut69]

I would absolutely LOVE to see his take on The Ocean At The End Of The Lane! It's such a fascinating story.

[@wminion3890]

We just saw Guillermo Del Toro Pinocchio last night and we laughed and cried cried cried, the best, Oscar!

[@Dipsxi]

This is one of the interviews I knows going to be good before I even hear it.

[@thetimesink196]

Wow! What a fantastic interview!

[@rogue3398]

When they were evacuating the puppets I was evacuating my home one state further North. That was a bananas fire year.

[@qwertyboo]

He's a master! So glad he's back.

[@thewickednetwork7667]

This was like a Father & Son interview There chemistry is unbelievable .

[@tobberh]

Really nice interview, more content like this would be greatly appreciated!!! :)

[@brianholly3555]

The first movie I ever saw as a child was the stop-motion “Hansel and Gretel” in the early 50’s.

[@byarichand]

Thoroughly enjoyed this conversation! Great!

[@thecasualfly]

Just watched this movie the other day and stoked that this video is up on here..

[@SivistheoneArt]

Loved this interview! Stop motion will always have a spot in my heart.

[@ToddTevlin]

Loved this, thank you!

[@chellastation]

So glad the actors were able survive the forest fires 🔥 🙏

[@MephProduction]

🤩 hopefully we see more of henrys films in the future

[@thegodofhellfire]

What a splendid interview!

[@RaccoonsTrashVault]

I really wish they'd show us the unused voice reels that Jordan and Keegan did, because my artist self want to animate whatever they couldn't leave in

[@canidsong]

This was a very enjoyable watch.

[@nickdorenkamp959]

I watched Wendell and Wild a few hours ago and I have a couple of things to say: 1. I did not know that Peele's production company's logo is stopmotion; I've seen all of Peele's directed and produced films and it did not dawn on me that it was stop motion I thought it was CG. 2. This is probably Selick's second best film (Coraline is still my favorite) and 3. I thought the story was pretty good not great but good. In terms of a Jordan Peele production definitely echos Peele's work on Us and the most recent Candyman film where the main character must face they're past when they return to a place from their childhood. Definitely watching this again later and after watching this interview I'm definitely inspired to use mix media for a series of stop motion paintings I'm creating dedicated to people or studios or films of stop motion. One of which is dedicated to Selick and will include Nightmare, Giant Peach, Monkeybone, Coraline, and Wendell and Wild with maybe a reference to the Shadow King plus his work on Wes Anderson's the life aquatic with steve zissou.

[@Smieska_13]

Adam is acting exactly like me when I met Henry Selick :') I love you guys

[@ryanmpfeiffer]

I had a similar reaction to that icy puddle shot. So good.

[@MrChief101]

Long Live Stop-Motion! And Henry Selick!!

[@joeschmoe76]

What a great interview!

[@THEHARMONIKZ]

I could listen for days.

[@lilcrazymiami8306]

Respect for this artist 🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@TheCombatartist]

Outstanding interview!

[@BerlinBourne]

39:30 I believe lenses like that were used for some Lord Of The Rings scenes as well. Pretty awesome

[@TheShmoey]

Stop animation is insane, especially good stop animation. Kubo is one of my favorite movies

[@paulhasenauer4166]

So fascinating to hear about the process from a master craftsman!!!💥❤👍🙏🏽

[@petermotta1623]

Great interview with a great creator !