Stop-Motion Director Henry Selick Highlights His Work With Jordan Peele On Wendell & Wild - Exclusive Interview

Nearly 30 years after the release of the landmark stop-motion animated film "The Nightmare Before Christmas," director Henry Selick is directing another stop-motion wonder that's destined to become a classic with "Wendell & Wild." Selick, who collaborated with producer and "Nightmare" poem author Tim Burton on the film, is a name synonymous with stop-motion animation. After "Nightmare," Selick directed the classic stop-motion and live-action hybrid "James and the Giant Peach" in 1996, as well as the best animated film Oscar nominee "Coraline" in 2009. 

For "Wendell & Wild," Selick is collaborating with Oscar-winning "Get Out" filmmaker Jordan Peele, who in 2012 created the hit Comedy Central sketch series "Key and Peele" with Keegan-Michael Key. Luckily for Selick, he pitched Peele the idea for "Wendell & Wild" around the time of the series and got the actor-filmmaker aboard the project before "Get Out" launched his career into the stratosphere. Originally, the director was hoping to get Key and Peele to voice Wendell and Wild, but since Peele wanted to be more creatively involved in the film, he also signed on as a co-writer and producer.

New on Netflix, "Wendell & Wild" follows the antics of Wendell (Key) and Wild (Peele), a pair of demon brothers imprisoned in a hell-like underworld who are looking to make an escape. They find their ticket to the Land of the Living with Kat (voiced by Lyric Ross), an orphaned, guilt-ridden 13-year-old who is still reeling after the tragic loss of her mom and dad years earlier. The trade-off is huge if Kat can summon Wendell and Wild to the Land of the Living, where she resides in a Catholic boarding school headed by Father Bests (James Hong). Not only will it give the young teen a chance to find peace with herself over the loss of her parents, but Wendell and Wild will also be free to pursue their dreams. The problem is, the demon brothers tend to create mischief wherever they go, and the Land of the Living provides them the opportunity to make more.

In an exclusive interview, Selick recalled for Looper his work with Peele on "Wendell & Wild," the interesting creative decisions behind the look of the characters in the film, and the big question of what kind of holiday movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas" really is.

I love how Wendell and Wild in both demon and Land of the Living forms resemble Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele and how Father Bests looks like James Hong. To put personal characteristics into the designs of characters like that, does that help you as a director connect with the material a little bit more or help the actors better connect with their roles? These characters, whether they're demons or not, resemble the actors, which is remarkable.

Initially, I always imagined that — at least starting with the demons — I wanted them to resemble the voice actors, Key and Peele. They were pretty resistant because a caricature can go sideways. It could be corny, kind of bad, but I felt strongly that a lot of the magic of Key and Peele, in their show, is their ability to transform themselves into all sorts of different characters, genders, ages. I wanted this to feel like another transformation, but they were very resistant. They thought it could be stupid, but I had a secret weapon. I didn't have him yet, but I knew of Pablo Lobato, who does gorgeous artistic caricatures.

I told Keegan-Michael and Jordan, "No, no, it's going to be great. Wait and I'll show you." Then I connected with Pablo Lobato. He did his first designs and caricatures of them, and they were happy [and] said, "Oh, yeah, this could be okay. Maybe my neck's a little too long!" [Keegan-Michael] said to me. There were a few fussy moments, and Jordan had to remind Keegan-Michael, "Well, we are demons. I think we can go with this."