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 Shadows", Burton's next project would be "Maleficent", a ""-like film that showed the origin and the past of "Sleeping Beauty"s antagonist Maleficent. In an interview with Fandango published February 23, 2010, however, he denied he was directing any upcoming "Sleeping Beauty" film. However, on November 23, 2010, in an interview with MTV, Burton confirmed that he was indeed putting together a script for "Maleficent". It was announced by "The Hollywood Reporter" on May 16, 2011, that Burton was no longer attached to "Maleficent". It was reported that Burton would direct a 3D stop motion animation adaptation of "The Addams Family",