Henry Selick signs with Pixar!

Stop-motion animation is alive and well. Henry Selick, director of 'Nightmare Before Christmas,' 'James & The Giant Peach,' and most recently 'Coraline,' has signed on with Pixar/Disney. He worked with Disney before but after the financial failure of 'James' the Disney Co. called stop-motion a dead art and stopped all future projects. With the success of 'Coraline' & 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' it looks like they've changed their tune, only now Selick will be under the wing of Pixar and will be back in company with John Lassester and Brad Bird. There were plenty of rumors floating around when it came out the Selick had not signed a contract with Laika, who put out 'Coraline,' but I don't think anyone could have imagined him moving in with Pixar. With the freedoms he is now going to be given it will be very exciting to see what Selick can cook up.

waking sleeping beauty

just saw this pretty ok trailer for what looks like it might be a really great documentary. having seen this, i can't help but be really surprised at how much i WANT disney to make another great animated film. i really WANT those guys to make something else as good as the lion king or the little mermaid or beauty and the beast, and i'm a little shocked by that revelation, though i guess i shouldn't be. all they need is a good story (pixar has all the good stories?), new character designs, better music, and not be afraid to make something that isn't %110 geared to be emblazoned on the backpacks and lunch boxes of kindergartners. also, give up on the crutch of the "princess film." i wanna be shocked by good new 2-d disney animation in the same way that i had my head 'sploded by the first toy story film.

sadly, i think the era of mainstream 2-d animation geared to the masses is a done with, but then again, it's a not even 8:30 on a monday morning and i haven't had any coffee, so i might be a little more pessimistical than i would be normally.

no idea when this thing hits dvd, but in the interim, be sure to check out the excellent pixar story documentary from a year or so ago.