It should come as no surprise that a stop-motion savant would also be an expert in the art of multitasking. Henry Selick is not only lining up his next feature film with “The Ocean at the End of the Lane,” but he’s also revealed that a canceled production he spent years trying to get off the ground, “The Shadow King,” might have a comeback for the ages in store. Animation fans have long dreamed about the potential of the original story that was never to be, described as:
[…] A deliciously magical tale about nine-year-old New York orphan Hap who hides his fantastically weird hands with long fingers from a cruel world. But when a living shadow girl teaches him to make amazing hand shadows that come to life, his hands become incredible weapons in a shadow war against a ravenous monster bent on killing Hap’s brother Richard and ultimately destroying New York.
Disney infamously bailed on the production in 2012 and, despite some promising updates over the years (even going so far as to begin voice casting), the film never quite came together. But even as the most loyal of fans may have given up on “The Shadow King” ever seeing the light of day, Selick apparently never stopped trying to make it happen. According to Variety, he appeared at this year’s ongoing Annecy Animation Festival and mentioned his plans to release the story as an original graphic novel. Should this garner enough interest in a film adaptation, he’d potentially hand it off to a new director.
A full five minutes of the unfinished movie are actually available for anyone to watch online, but hopefully this time, Selick is given the resources to finish the job.
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