The Nightmare Before Christmas at the El Capitan Theatre
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Thompson then turned to Henry Selick, asking about working with Tim Burton. Was it true, he said, that Nightmare Before Christmas started out as a TV special?
Selick’s first words were, “Tim is unstoppable.�? He mentioned that they had known each other years before creating Nightmare. While it was originally taken to Disney as a possible TV production in the early 80s, it was only after Tim’s feature film Batman was a success that the time was right. Burton, explained Selick, was then able to offer creative protection to make Nightmare into a feature film.
Thompson then asked if the two had worked together before. Selick recalled a Disney Channel project, Hansel and Gretel (1982). He looked into the audience and plaintively inquired, “Anyone seen it?�?
Mention of this early Burton project led Kathleen Gavin to observe that there was “an incredible group of people at Disney in the late 70s. Unfortunately, she said, the studio was waning, and Disney couldn’t utilize them.
Later, she said, when Burton went back to Disney to get the preliminary work he had done on Nightmare, Disney wanted him to make the film with them. All the work he had done had been carefully archived, making the task that much easier.
Thompson next turned to Ken Page, the inimitable voice of Jack’s nemesis, Oogie Boogie. He specifically asked how much direction he was given, and how much he brought to the role himself.
Page thought for a moment, then admitted with a laugh, “That’s a hard question. I don’t remember a lot.�? He did recall, “My take was, the voice I thought of doing was a cross between Mercedes McCambridge in The Exorcist [McCambridge provided the voice of the demon] and Bert Lahr [the Cowardly Lion] in the Wizard of Oz.�? He recalled that he had promised he would not go too far in his portrayal.
Kathleen Gavin broke in to say, “There was no ‘too far!’�? She complimented Page on his portrayal, pointing out how hard it is for an actor to create a role based only on storyboards.
When Thompson brought up composer Danny Elfman, Ken recalled some other influences. “Danny showed me Cab Calloway, Max Fleischer, and Betty Boop cartoons, he said. A particular title he recalled was St. James Infirmary. He said that while Elfman wanted that feeling, he was cautioned not to do Cab Calloway. A key, Page said, was that Calloway sang “a tad behind the beat.�?
Thompson asked director Selick if there was a little Cab Calloway in the animation. Selick replied that there had been a “lovely little shadow dance that was cut.�? Gavin interjected, “And he’s still bitter!�?
The next subject for discussion was the animation itself. Thompson marveled that the animators were able to get a real performance when creating only a few seconds of animation at a time. He told of watching one work on the little boy who opens a gift box and pulls out a shrunken head. Thompson said he saw no motion at all, concluding, “How did they do it?�?
Kathleen Gavin volunteered, “They’re just brilliant. They have to be both actors and mathematicians.�? She pointed out that at that time, they worked with only two “frame grabs�? at a time. Today, with computers, animators can review complete sequences from the beginning. But that luxury was not available for Nightmare Before Christmas. Gavin also concluded she didn’t know how they did it, “Except, she said, “they were all heavy smokers!�? She also mentioned that even minor accidents, like bumped studio lights, could cause havoc with a sequence. “There’s a lot of ways to go wrong with stop motion,�? she concluded.
Henry Selick then explained the series of steps that took place to hopefully avoid going wrong. Sessions and storyboards were translated into a script, which was then created by individual animators. “These guys are doing an actual performance,�? he said, “like ballet or dance. Just very slowly.�?
Gavin chimed in, “I never worked with a group that had more passion.�?
Thompson mentioned that to him the studio seemed like the happiest place. Selick laughed that the British animators got blasted every Monday night. He added that the American animators were all insecure about their masculinity, “’cause they were dolly pushers.�?
Ken Page added that his friends asked if the animators were all crazy, or Zen like.
A specific character intrigued moderator Thompson. “How did they do the melting man,�? he asked. Selick explained matter-of-factly that the figure was made of wax. The animator, who now works for Ardman (Wallace and Gromit) simply melted the character a little, frame by frame.
The panel discussion was drawing to a close, so Thompson asked Selick to talk a little about a bonus to be shown at the end of the film, Moon Girl. The short subject by Henry Selick was animated in CGI rather than his signature stop motion.
Selick started by exhorting the crowd, “Don’t hate me!�? He explained that the film had been made at Laika, formerly the Will Vinton Studio. “It’s my first all CGI experience,�? he said. He went on to say he was in pre-production on Coraline, a story about two versions of a girl’s life, one presented in CGI, the other in stop motion.
Before wrapping up, Thompson asked the panel to speak about Joe Ranft, the storyboard supervisor on Nightmare. Ranft, who had gone on to a highly influential creative position at Pixar, died earlier this year in a tragic automobile accident.
Henry Selick said quietly, “The average person on the street knows about Tim Burton and Danny Elfman.�? Joe Ranft, he said, had worked at Disney for many years. A gentle soul, Selick recalled going to dance clubs with the 6’6�? Ranft. After knocking people down in the mosh pits, he would help them back up afterward. Not only did Ranft storyboard a huge portion of the film himself, he also provided the voice of Igor, Dr. Finklestein’s hunchbacked assistant. Selick concluded that Joe Ranft was a phenomenal guy, and a good friend.
“It’s a loss to the industry over all,�? declared Kathleen Gavin. She recalled that Ranft would often provide “scratch tracks�? for the Pixar features, which were so good they were often kept in the film. This was true of Weezy in Toy Story 2 and Heimlich in A Bug’s Life. “He was always perfecting his work,�? she concluded.
Selick added one more thing—Ranft was also a fine, and funny magician. He assured the crowd that there was nothing to compare with Joe Ranft’s “Buttocks the Clown.�? Kathleen laughed, recalling, “He wasn’t an attractive clown by any means.�?
All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to these members of the creative team who brought Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas to the screen. It would have been pleasant to have lingered and eavesdropped on more of their memories. Thompson asked “Oogie Boogie�? to conclude. Ken Page lifted his microphone, and in a familiar, booming voice thanked everyone for joining them, concluding, “The movie is about to start… so you’d better pay attention now!�?
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-- Posted October 28, 2005
-- Text and Pictures by Doug Marsh