The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick set me the challenge of finding a hidden Jack Skellington in Coraline: “There’s some image of Jack in every film I’ve made”

The Nightmare Before Christmas fans will know that Jack Skellington has popped up in a few of Tim Burton’s films over the years, from Edward Scissorhands to Beetlejuice. But director Henry Selick says he includes The Pumpkin King in his own movies too, including Coraline. 

“If you look very, very carefully, you might find that there’s some image of Jack in every other film I’ve made. But I can’t legally say that’s true, but it might be true,” says Selick in an exclusive interview with GamesRadar+. The stop motion animator then set me my own personal challenge, “Yeah, I’d say, look at breakfast in Coraline, you might find something in the breakfast.”

Looking back at the breakfast scene in the 2009 movie Coraline, you can see when The Other Mother cracks an egg into a bowl, the yolk resembles Jack’s face. The scene in question takes place when Coraline goes to the other world one last time to challenge The Beldam to a game in which if she wins she gets to go free with her real parents, but if she loses she will stay in the other world and let The Other Mother sew buttons into her eyes.

(Image credit: Laika)

But it’s not just Coraline, as upon closer inspection fans have spotted the character in some of Selick’s other movies. For example, in James and the Giant Peach the captain of a gang of skeletal pirates highly resembles Jack and is even referred to as ‘Skellington’, and he also appears during the credits of Selick’s 2022 movie Wendell and Wild.

Cameos aside, The Nightmare Before Christmas, which hit its 30th anniversary last year, and Coraline, which has just turned 15, share some other similarities. Both Jack and Coraline leave their own realities in search of alternate worlds where things are not all as they appear to be, a theme that Selick says he has always been intrigued by. “I’m always drawn to the idea of going to other worlds. I can’t explain where that comes from. Maybe seeing The Wizard of Oz for the first time as a very young child, or The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.”

Not only this, but both movies’ villains, The Other Mother and Oogie Boogie, have a knack for luring victims to their lairs for consumption of some kind. When asked who would win if the two baddies were to face off, Selcik replied, “Boogies got more power but I think The Other Mother is more clever. But neither of them could defeat Coraline with the help of Jack and Sally.”

Coraline remastered in 3D hits theaters for a limited time from August 15, get tickets here. The Nightmare Before Christmas is available to stream on Disney Plus. For more, see our list of the best animated movies, or keep up with upcoming movies.