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| Nightmare Before Christmas, The |
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  (8/10)
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Runtime: 76 |
| Public Rating: 8.33 (336 votes) |
Director: Henry Selick |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Animation, Comedy, Fantasy, Horr |
Year: 1993 |
| Writer(s): Tim Burton, Michael McDowell, Caroline Thompson |
| Distributor: Touchstone Pictures |
| Reviewed by: The Moose |
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Tim Burton is not the first person that comes to mind when you think of children’s entertainment but he has a closer connection with that film genre then most would think. Tim Burton attended the California Institute of the Arts, also known as “Mickey Mouse University for its ties to Disney animation, and later worked for the Walt Disney Company on such animated films as The Fox and the House and The Black Cauldron early in his entertainment career. It wasn’t until his work on short films like Vincent and Frankenweenie that his directing talent was fully recognized. Burton went on to work on such favorites as Beetlejuice, Batman, and Edward Scissorhands but found time to write a poem entitled “The Nightmare Before Christmas” which became the inspiration for this feature. Being unable to direct the project due to his commitment to Batman Returns, Burton choose Henry Selick while both decided that stop motion was the best medium to bring Halloweentown to life. But would Burton’s twisted take on the favorite “Night Before Christmas” tale be accepted by the general public or would it be too weird even for the hardcore Burton fans?
The story centers on the exploits of the pumpkin king of Halloweentown as he tries to spread his own bit of Christmas cheer. Jack Skellington lives in the area known as Halloweentown where scary monsters and ghouls live year around always preparing for next Halloween. But Jack has lost the spark of excitement he once had for the holiday and falls into deep seclusion. Upon stumbling onto a secret door that leads to Christmastown, the home of Santa and his elves, Jack finds a new calling in life. Why should Christmas be restricted to Christmastown? Why can’t everybody be allowed to celebrate this joyous holiday? So with this in mind the pumpkin king decides to give old Saint Nick a vacation and helms the sleigh spreading joy to all girls and boys. But when his plan backfires, it is up to Jack to save Christmas. The story of The Nightmare Before Christmas is pretty good despite several plot holes. Why does it take Lock, Jock, and Barrel almost a month to capture Santa Clause when it only took them less then a day to capture the Easter Bunny? Why is the military brought in to stop a Santa imposter? Granted the film is not to be taken seriously but there are some things that are just too over the top.
Since the Nightmare Before Christmas is presented mostly in song (ten songs total in the one hour and sixteen minute feature), perhaps it is better to discuss about each character rather then the voices behind them. Jack Skellington is a perfect lovable yet confused character. A character that only wants to do good things but those good actions come off as being bad to others outside of Halloweentown. One can sympathize with Jack over his feelings of depression and seclusion over the lack of excitement he once had for his calling in life. More then a few people who see this can relate to this character more then once their lives. Jack’s love interest, Sally, is another interesting and perplexing character. For most of her life she has dreamt of going out into the world and escape the seclusion her creator, the doctor, has kept her in. The ironic situation is that when she does go into the world, she sends herself into seclusion and isolation when she is the only one who does follow along with Jack’s plans. The only character that seems to be a problem for the film is Oogie Boogie. We really don’t learn that much about the character as he isn’t featured that much in the film and he doesn’t really do anything outside of creating slight tension for the plot.
Overall, The Nightmare Before Christmas, despite several problems, is still a decent effort. The stop motion animated special effects of Nightmare are still pretty impressive but were probably more impressive at the time it was released. The film’s effects fail to hold up like traditional animated films and the feature really shows its age in a couple of scenes. Though the film is intended for children and is not to be taken too seriously, there are several moments where the creators are asking too much believability from the audience especially a scene where the military gets involved in shooting down the Santa imposter. With the idea that this is a children’s film in mind, why are there so many moments in the film that would probably scare the living Hell out of a four or five year old? The feature tries to be children friendly but as soon as it attempts to it slips right back into the dark and scary moments again. Either this film is intended for children or for adults; it would be a lot more consistent if the filmmakers made up their minds. Outside of those problems, the amazing songs by Danny Elfman (including Jack’s Lament) and several beautiful sets make the film worth at least one viewing. Nightmare Before Christmas is a decent experiment that, despite showing some age, can still delight certain audiences.
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 Printable Version
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Commentary by director Henry Selick
Making of Documentary
Gallery of Concept Art, Character Design and Animation Tests
Deleted Footage - Animated Sequences and Storyboards Not Used In The Final Film
Tim Burton's Short Films Vincent and Frankenweenie
Widescreen letterbox format
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