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 to have eyes, which was a fight they did not win in the end. There were over 100 people working on this movie just to create the characters. Along with the 3 years of work it took to produce the movie. Burton collaborated with Selick again for "James and the Giant Peach" (1996), which Burton co-produced. Jack Skellington, the protagonist of the film, was so popular that it later resurfaced in Selick's film "James and the Giant Peach," and then again in a small scene in "Coraline" where the Other Mother is cooking, viewers are able to see Jack's familiar