Henry Selick Films Ranked
Born in New Jersey in 1952, director and animator Henry Selick isn’t known for the quantity of films he has made but rather the quality of his craft. For any other filmmaker, releasing only 5 features over a 40 year career might be seen as a sign of difficulties in the creation or financing processes, but Selick works primarily in the medium of stop-motion animation, a famously time-consuming and intensive undertaking.
After beginning his journey at Disney along with the likes of Brad Bird and Tim Burton, he has since worked with Pixar, Laika and even Wes Anderson on a variety of projects, not all of which have seen the light of day.
Selick has professed a great admiration for the work of Ray Harryhausen and therefore values the unique look and feel of stop-motion animation above any other medium, the inherent imperfections and lasting evidence of it being the product of a very patient human hand (moving models frame by frame) being a big part of that. Consequently, he has turned down helming several projects that were to be rendered in the glossier CG method (as demanded by studios) in order to retain his own artistic vision.
Every one of these handful of films are interesting in their way, and each must-sees for any fan of one of the greatest proponents of this most demanding of mediums. But some works are better than others and have transcended curiosity status to become among the best of their kind, so we have put considerable thought into placing them into a definitive order. This is The Film Magazine’s list of Henry Selick Films Ranked.
5. Monkeybone (2001)
Even the film that made Henry Selick turn his back on live-action films forever makes for a fascinating watch, albeit one that is slightly frustrating.
Cartoonist Stu Miley (a committed Brendan Fraser) falls into a coma just after hitting the big time and struggles to escape the nightmarish limbo world of Down Town. Meanwhile, his anarchic animated creation Monkeybone (a high-pitched John Turturro) possesses Stu’s body and begins to cause havoc.
You’ve got to give this to Monkeybone: it certainly looks unique, with a striking combination of nightmare circus set design for the live-action portions and an impressive combination of elaborate puppetry, stop-motion and traditional animation for the rest.
The main problem we run into is one of an inconsistent tone and the fact that the second half of the film runs out of clever ideas to become a crude and unfunny mess of chaotic slapstick.
4. James and the Giant Peach (1996)
Orphan James Henry Trotter (Paul Terry) escapes the clutches of his abusive aunts Spicer and Sponge (Joanna Lumley and Miriam Margolyes, more cartoony than anything actually animated in this) by setting sail on a magically enlarged peach crewed by magically enlarged anthropomorphic bugs.
Selick definitely didn’t shy away from the macabre elements of Roald Dahl stories, many of which were ultimately about escaping child abuse through the power of imagination, and his slightly disturbing stop-motion animation style and character design is perfectly suited to this material. It’s a slight film, but isn’t short on memorable elements such as a battle with a mechanical shark, a rhino charging out of a storm cloud, and James’ sweet relationships with his unlikely friends.
It’s a shame that the songs bring the whole enterprise down a notch or two and are far from Randy Newman’s best work. They come across like they were added as an afterthought, because in the 1990s cartoons also being musicals was pretty much expected.
Recommended for you: Stop Motion Animated Feature Oscar Nominees Ranked
