No matter your age, no matter your fear tolerance, there’s a moment in most every Henry Selick film you’re certain you’ll be devoured. Boogie men, nightmare rhinos, and button-eyed imposter moms leap toward the lens from the famous stop-motion animator’s menagerie of monsters. Even more, they appear just as lifelike as Selick’s beautifully anguished protagonists in “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” (1993), “James and the Giant Peach” (1996), and “Coraline” (2009).
On a new Be Reel, we look back at three decades of Henry Selick features in celebration of “James and the Giant Peach” turning 25. And to start the show, we’re joined by consummate Selick collaborator Damon Bard, a sculptor and visual effects artist who sheds light on the changing nature of his job, the depth of Selick’s visions, and the harrowing day that Disney shuttered production on “The Shadow King.”
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Diving into Selick’s filmography, we fully admire the craft and ingenuity, but there’s also plenty of praise and interrogation for how his work probes the alienating dimensions of childhood. These clay worlds of bug buddies, Halloween towns, and alternate Oregons are gorgeous, but they’re steeped in a repression-turned-projection that continues to enliven and imprint on our minds, even today. Curious for alleged children’s films, it doesn’t always feel good; it always feels powerful, though. And lest you think we don’t discuss (and almost reclaim) Selick’s infamous misfire “Monkeybone” (2001), eat your hearts out, libidinous monkey puppets.
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As always, Be Reel is part of The Playlist Podcast Network—which includes The Playlist Podcast, The Discourse, The Fourth Wall, and more—and can be heard on iTunes, AnchorFM, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and now on Spotify. To listen on this page, you can stream the podcast via the AnchorFM embed below or up top. Follow us on iTunes, and you’ll get this podcast as well as our other shows regularly. Be sure to subscribe, and drop us a comment or a rating as we do appreciate it. Thank you for listening.