Henry Selick talks about doing a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas. The stop-motion animated film produced by Tim Burton first premiered on October 13, 1993, through Walt Disney Studios' Touchstone Pictures banner. The film follows the story of Halloween Town's greatest scarer Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon), who becomes bored by the yearly traditions until he stumbles upon the more festive Christmas. He decides to take matters into his own hands by stealing the holiday from Santa Claus, only to cause more trouble when his spooky sensibilities bleed into the jolly holiday.
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The Nightmare Before Christmas has become a holiday classic for its animation, the Danny Elfman-composed music, and dark humor. For years, Disney has promoted the film with a line of toys, books, and video games. The characters have even appeared in the theme parks as walk-around characters and a holiday overlay with The Haunted Mansion attraction. The film even got a 3D re-release in theaters from 2006 to 2010. Its popularity has developed rumors of a possible sequel with Burton and Selick involved. The closest thing to a sequel was a novel titled Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw.
In an interview with Collider, Henry Selick revealed that he hopes to one day do a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas under certain conditions. Selick wanted to avoid doing a sequel using CGI as he wanted to retain the original stop-motion animated look that made the film famous. Furthermore, he stated that rather than a full-blown feature film sequel, he felt that a short movie or holiday special would be more sufficient and specifically pointed to Jack Skellington's ghostly dog Zero as the primary focus for such a project.
The idea of a short has never come up in the past… I think that Tim might be open to a short… It would have to be so refreshing…such a new take to justify making a sequel, but a short makes good sense… …a short that's about Zero… his viewpoint of the world or a day in his life… I think that's a fantastic idea. And doable. I predict Tim would back [it] then.
One main point supporting Henry Selick's idea is Disney+'s focus on developing short-form series and specials. Shows such as Baymax! and Cars on the Road present audiences with a short and satisfying revisit of classic characters. Their other series, such as Short Circuit, allow animators to experiment and try different animation styles, showing that Disney supports the idea of giving their viewers a variety of entertaining visuals.
While it remains to be seen what Disney has in store for The Nightmare Before Christmas franchise, Henry Selick is optimistic about the idea of returning to the world of those characters. Audiences who grew up on the holiday classic would want to see Jack Skellington and Zero in one form or another. Disney would not want to pass up on an opportunity to cash in on the film's success, and offering Disney+ subscribers a chance to see more of the beloved movie could be just what they need to satisfy viewers.