The Nightmare Before Christmas
The film initially received positive reviews from critics; it has since gone on to receive widespread critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 95%, based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's consensus reads, ""The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a stunningly original and visually delightful work of stop-motion animation." On Metacritic the film has a score of 82 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
List of stop motion artists
Director Henry Selick is a well-known force in the world of stop motion animation, with "Coraline" – based on Neil Gaiman's best-selling novella and released in 2009 – being his most recent and successful work. "Coraline", the first stop motion animated feature to be shot entirely in stereoscopic 3-D, received lavish critical praise and became the second highest grossing stop motion feature in history. Kenneth Turan, writing for the Los Angeles Times, said, "The third dimension comes of age with 'Coraline.' The first contemporary film in which the 3-D experience feels intrinsic to the story instead of a Godforsaken gimmick, 'Coraline' is a remarkable feat of imagination, a magical tale with a genuinely sinister edge." "Coraline", released by Focus Features, is the first feature film made by LAIKA, an animation company based in Portland, Oregon and headed up by Travis Knight. Selick made his feature film directing debut in 1993 with "The Nightmare Before Christmas", the first full-length, stop motion feature from a major studio. An instant holiday classic based on producer Tim Burton's story, "Nightmare" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and Selick won the International Animated Film Society's Annie Award for Best Creative Supervision. In 1996, Selick followed with a second feature, "James and the Giant Peach", again produced by Burton, which combined stop motion animation with live-action. The film received widespread critical acclaim and won first prize at the world-renowned Annecy Film Festival in 1997.