Was Tim Burton Involved in Coraline? The Truth Behind the Common Misconception
Corpse Bride’s director is often linked to other similar moody movies like Coraline, though in this case Burton’s connection is not so obvious.
Long before coming to helm Netflix’s Wednesday and Beetlejuice’s sequel, Tim Burton made his name thanks to a gloomy directorial style resulting in his movies’ much darker tones both visually and narratively.
It’s safe to say many other directors went on to create something inspired by Tim Burton’s horror-ish comedies and animated films, which is the reason why Burton is often credited for movies he actually had no part in whatsoever.
In most cases, this applies to Henry Selick’s 2009 cartoon Coraline which, as many still believe, was either produced or directed by Burton.
Even though the latter in fact never participated in Coraline’s production, he’s still somehow involved in the movie — thanks to a collaboration with its real director.
Tim Burton and Henry Selick Made ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Together
Several years after reaching stardom with 1988’s Beetlejuice, Tim Burton turned to the animation which would later become his own feature, coming on board for 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, often considered one of the best animation films to be made.
Even though this time Burton wasn’t directing, he was still an important figure on the set — apart from producing the movie, the director also wrote the poem that The Nightmare Before Christmas is based on.
Eventually, the cartoon had a wild success, grossing more than $100 million against its $18 million budget and receiving numerous accolades, including a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 1994 Oscars ceremony.
Years later, The Nightmare Before Christmas’ director Henry Selick created Coraline, though this time Burton wasn’t involved in the production in any way.
Henry Selick Says Tim Burton Had “Very Little to Do” with ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’
Despite the entire idea for the movie belonging to Burton, in the end he wasn’t attached to the production process, though still got several mentions across The Nightmare Before Christmas’ credits.
Back in 2022, decades after the cartoon was released, Selick dropped a bombshell in an interview saying he practically doesn’t get any credit for directing The Nightmare Before Christmas, with all the accolades always going to Burton.
“Tim Burton had very little to do with the making of Nightmare Before Christmas. But it was his idea. It was his character designs”, Selick told AV Club in 2022, adding that Burton “wasn’t really there” when the movie was being made.
With Coraline, however, things were entirely under Selick’s control, which is why he still doesn’t understand how exactly people are led to believe it’s a Tim Burton movie.
“Coraline, that’s all me. I wrote the screenplay. I found a distributor for the movie. I mean, I had a lot on my shoulders. These are my movies and other people have contributed, in some cases more than a similar person on something else”, the director concluded.
