Stop-motion animation directing icon Henry Selick (of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “James and the Giant Peach”) is back with his first new feature since 2009’s “Coraline”. A teen girl meets demon brothers in Wendell & Wild, co-written by Selick and Jordan Peele. It opens in select theaters this Friday Oct. 21st and is on Netflix Oct. 28th. Selick is quite proud of the picture, and he shares some behind the scenes details about the look, the feel… and the reunion of Key & Peele. Plus, he’s got a spooktacular “Nightmare” story. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: What were you really able to do on this movie that you maybe wanted to do on some of your older films, but the technology just wasn’t there at the time?

Henry Selick: Not so much development and technology. More story — taking chances on the look of characters [and] going into dangerous territory. Playing around with some serious subjects but also mixing in more interesting types of humor by working with Key & Peele. So maybe it’s not so much about technological breakthroughs as it was about story and tone breakthroughs.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is one of the most anticipated animated movies of the rest of 2022. The Academy Award-winning director of The Shape of Water presents a new stop-motion feature film version of the classic story with an all-star voice cast and breathtaking visuals. It opens in select theaters this November and debuts on Netflix December 9th. I recently spoke with Georgina Hayns, Director of Character Fabrication, on bringing the puppets to life, working with del Toro, and some of her other stop-motion career highlights. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: When did you first learn of the Pinocchio story?

Georgina Hayns: I’ve known about Pinocchio as long as I can remember. I think I saw the Disney animated version when I was about three years old. And growing up in Europe, because Pinocchio is such a known image in Italy, you get a lot of wooden carved dolls of Pinocchio. There’s even Christmas decorations that are inspired by Pinocchio. Pinocchio’s always been around me, but it’s funny because… I still didn’t really know the story until I started working on this Pinocchio.

Karissa Valencia is the creator, showrunner and EP of new Netflix family animated series Spirit Rangers, which premieres this Monday October 10th (Indigeneous Peoples’ Day). Three special kids become junior park rangers. Valencia is a Chumash tribal member. She celebrates Native American storytelling through the delightful characters, gorgeous visuals and effective themes of Spirit Rangers. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: You’ve been a part of a number of animated series, including Dora, The Chicken Squad and Vampirina. But Spirit Rangers is YOURS. It is your show. When did that opportunity open up for you to share this passion project with the world?

Karissa Valencia: It’s so funny looking back at my career and it’s all pre-school because I never expected to land in preschool. I really had my nose in the air about it, just thinking “That’s just for babies. That’s not good stuff.” I feel so fortunate for the career that I’ve had because it has definitely made me a stronger writer — approaching the preschool space and learning how to tap into the more emotional side and earnest side of preschoolers. It’s been really fun. Once I got over my nose in the air about it was when I first started with Chris [Nee], working on Doc McStuffins. One of the first scripts I read was called “Hannah the Brave”, and it was about this little girl who had cancer. I was floored that we could tell these types of stories to this audience. I was ravenous to learn more from Chris and how she approaches her preschoolers.