Henry Selick Quotes

When it comes to classic Disney, I've got it in my DNA. I mean, the guy who trained me, the man who mentored me when I first came to the Studio was Eric Larson, one of Walt's Nine Old Men.

What about Mickey Mouse? Disney tried very hard to make him a star. But Mickey Mouse is more of a symbol than a real character.

I was always into cartoons and animation.

I was mentored by great Disney animators at the end of their careers.

Of all studios that should be doing 2-D animation, it should be Disney.

There was a guy that I got to know pretty well - Joe Grant. He was one of the creators of Dumbo and worked side-by-side with Disney. Being a total Disney nerd, I was obsessed with asking him questions. He was 92 when I got to know him.

There are no more Walt Disneys anymore.

I started out as a producer. and I used to work at Disney. and I worked with a lot of the animators and went on to become great friends with a lot of these guys and worked on a lot of projects together.

When I first started working at Disney animation, I can't tell you how many people said to me, 'Oh, man, take a powder.' Nobody takes animated musicals seriously. I swear.

I'm a true fan of animation, and it's my livelihood.

My animation work is a major source of pride for me.

I watching this Disney documentary, and I'm not Disney, but I was thinking about Mickey Mouse and he became an icon. Walt moved onto other things but he made him exist. I was thinking, 'Wow, is 'Samurai Jack' my 'Mickey Mouse?' Am I stupid to stop working on it?'

The era of 'The Jungle Book' was when the animators were at the top of their game and their sense of character was great.

Back when I watched 'Future Boy Conan,' I thought I might like to try my hand at animation, but now, not at all.

I'm the biggest fan of animation. I love the history of animation, I know it well.

I did stand-up comedy for seventeen years. I need to explore other things.

I love animation, I really do, but I don't do it for the children.

I was influenced by Ray Harryhausen and Lotte Reiniger, with her twitchy, cutout animation, which I happened to see at a very young age, but also by the Warner Bros. cartoons, 'Tom and Jerry,' and of course Disney. And also by Fellini's 'Giulietta of the Spirits' and Kurosawa's 'Ran.' And by other American illustrators and painters.

I grew up, probably like a lot of people, on cartoons. And I never thought I would have the chance to be in an animated movie. It's good also to show the world my sweet side with them.

I think of Ray Harryhausen's work - I knew his name before I knew any actor or director's names. His films had an impact on me very early on, probably even more than Disney. I think that's what made me interested in animation: His work.

I grew up, obviously, watching tons of animation; Saturday morning cartoons or anything that we could get our hands on. And then when 'The Simpsons' premiered, that just kind of changed the landscape of everything. We hadn't had prime time animations since 'The Flintstones.'

I was an animator for a while early on, but a 2D animator.

When I was four years old, some friends of my family took me to see 'Fantasia' and I was totally blown away. From that minute on I wanted to be an animator.

At one point, I was hell-bent on being a Disney animator, and sort of got over that in college and wanted to do my own stuff. You know, towards the end of college I had actually planned to go to the Boston Conservatory of Music for musical theater.

The Boys and Girls club was basically a second home for me, and I always credit it with keeping me out of trouble. From the ages of 6 to 16, I was there nearly every day.