Moongirl: The Return of Henry Selick, Famed Stop-Motion Animation Director

Moongirl has a significant built-in curiosity factor due to the involvement of its creator, Henry Selick. As animation buffs know, Selick gained permanent fame as the director of the stop-motion classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas, as well as the less successful James and the Giant Peach and box office bomb Monkeybone. In recent years, he seemed to drop from sight except for his involvement in creating the animated sea creatures used in The Life Aquatic. Now he has resurfaced with a unique project combining an original DVD animated short with a lavishly illustrated children’s book.

Selick originally developed Moongirl as the animated short presented here, and the big surprise is that it’s entirely computer-generated, not stop-motion. He’s worked in CGI before, but he’ll always be most closely associated with stop-motion animation, so Selick fans might be thrown for a loop at first. The initial surprise quickly gives way to wonder as the story takes over, leading viewers on an enchanting tale.

The short recounts the story of a young country boy spending an idyllic evening fishing on his lake until the moon suddenly goes dark. He’s magically whisked away on a fantastic trip to the moon, where he meets a mysterious young girl and learns the secret of how the moon gets its light. Along the way, he battles an evil force with the help of his pet squirrel and learns that he has a greater role in life than he ever expected.

While the short tells the simple tale well, its presentation is underwhelming coming from such a noted creator. The CGI is passable, but there’s nothing special to set it apart from the works of any other competent animator. It seems like little more than a trial run of his production team’s abilities, although it has garnered a sizeable list of film festival awards. Selick has moved on from this to a full-length adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, so it’s hopeful that his team gained valuable insight during the short’s production. Luckily, the accompanying book makes up for the shortcomings of the film.