Following the success of The Nightmare Before Christmas , Wild and Selick continued to collaborate on various projects. One of their most notable collaborations was the 2009 film Coraline , an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novella of the same name. Wild designed the characters and served as co-director on the film, which went on to receive widespread critical acclaim. The film's dark fantasy world and memorable characters were a testament to the enduring partnership between Wild and Selick.
In the early 1980s, Wendell Wild met Henry Selick, a fellow animator and director who would become his long-time collaborator. The two artists quickly discovered a shared love for dark fantasy and humor, which would serve as the foundation for their future projects. Selick, who had previously worked on The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock , was immediately impressed by Wild's talent and creativity. The two began working together on various projects, including commercials, music videos, and short films. Wendell Wild
In an era of AI-generated storyboards and digital compositing, Wild is a Luddite with a glue gun. His studio, based in a converted funeral home in rural Vermont, has a strict "No Undo" policy. Following the success of The Nightmare Before Christmas
He is the patron saint of the broken, the patched-up, and the weird kids who never grew out of playing with dolls—they just gave the dolls existential crises. The film's dark fantasy world and memorable characters
In a landscape dominated by safe, IP-driven sequels and perfectly rendered digital worlds, Wild’s messy, handmade, ugly-beautiful art feels like a rebellion. He reminds us that animation is not just for children. It is a medium for trauma, for the absurd, and for felt-based existentialism.