[citation needed] After Tim Burton directed his directorial debut, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, he and Henry Selick formed the company in 1985 as Selick/Burton Projects, where Burton could direct episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre, while Henry Selick could focus on doing animation.

In September 1992, Tim Burton returned to Selick's studio, renamed it Skellington Productions, and sold it to Disney.

The first film produced by Skellington Productions (which gave the company its namesake), The Nightmare Before Christmas, was released theatrically in 1993 under Disney's Touchstone Pictures banner to a positive reception and a successful box office, becoming a sleeper hit.

Three months later, Disney released Skellington's second feature, Cabin Boy, starring Chris Elliott and directed by screenwriter, Adam Resnick.

Skellington's third and final film, James and the Giant Peach, based on the classic children's novel by Roald Dahl, was released to theaters in 1996.