Tim Burton predecessor. Burton produced, but did not direct, due to schedule constraints on "Batman Returns", "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993) for Disney, originally meant to be a children's book in rhyme. The film was directed by Henry Selick and written by Caroline Thompson, based on Burton's original story, world and characters. The film received positive reviews for the stop motion animation, musical score and original storyline. It was a box office success, grossing $50 million.Because of the ruling nature of the film, it was not produced under Disney's name, but rather Disney owned Touchstone Pictures. Disney also fought for the protagonist
Tim Burton's unrealized projects Miramax, which would have made it the first original animated film made by the company. However, Disney shut down the film's production, along with Skellington Productions, after the poor box office results of "James and the Giant Peach". After Kevin Smith had been hired to write a new "Superman" film, he suggested Burton to direct. Burton signed on with a pay-or-play contract of $5 million and Warner Bros. set a theatrical release date for the summer of 1998, the 60th anniversary of the character's debut in "Action Comics". Nicolas Cage was signed on to play Superman, with a $20 million