dragonfire88's Full Review: Nightmare Before Christmas
It seems like every year at least one new holiday movie is released. I've seen and enjoyed several of them while others haven’t been as good. I do tend to watch the ones I like over and over. There have been many movies made connected to Christmas or Halloween. As far as I know, The Nightmare Before Christmas is the only movie that has blended Halloween and Christmas.
The residents of Halloweentown were pleased with how their annual Halloween celebration had gone. Jack Skellington had been in charge of things for years and he was feeling a bit bored with planning the celebration. He wondered off and eventually ended up in Christmas Town, a very different place than he was use to. Everything there was focused on Christmas and Jack was very intrigued by all the new and different things he saw. When he returned to Halloweentown, Jack announced that he was going to plan a celebration for Christmas.
Noone else in Halloweentown knew anything about Christmas and they didn’t seem to understand very well when Jack explained things. That didn’t stop them from being excited about taking part in the celebration. Only Sally, who had feelings for Jack, felt that Jack taking over Christmas was a bad idea. He put his plans into motion and then had to deal with several unexpected consequences, including Oogie Boogie.
I have seen several movies that were focused on either Halloween or Christmas. I’ve seen other movies that have covered longer periods of time and included a few holidays, though I can’t remember for sure if I have seen one that had Halloween and Christmas. I know I have never seen another movies that combined the two very different holidays the way that The Nightmare Before Christmas did. There was more emphasis on Christmas since Jack came up with his plan to take over the holiday, but his version of Christmas was very different and included things more fitting for Halloween. I thought this was a very interesting, unique idea for the plot and think it worked very well.
I do feel that The Nightmare Before Christmas works as both a Halloween and Christmas movie even though I think of it more as a Christmas movie. This isn’t a normal, tradition, cutesy Christmas movie, so anyone wanting that type of movie should look elsewhere. There were several dark elements that could be too dark for younger children. A few things might even scare younger children even though I don’t think of this as a scary movie. This is one of the more unique, and twisted, Christmas movies that I’ve ever seen even though there were a few traditional things, like Santa Claus, included. I really enjoy this movie even though I also like many of the more traditional Christmas movies as well. This is a wonderful choice for people in the mood for something a bit different in a holiday movie.
The Nightmare Before Christmas featured several original songs written by Danny Elfman. He also provided the singing voice for Jack. Elfman has written the score for many of Tim Burton’s movies. The music fit in perfectly with what was going on and helped add to the spooky, somewhat creepy atmosphere. One or two of the songs were a bit more happy sounding, but the majority of them had a darker tone that was needed to compliment the movie’s darker tone. Jack sang several of the songs and I believe he sang more than any of the other characters. Most of the other characters did sing at least a little bit.
Stop motion animation was used to create The Nightmare Before Christmas. That is a form of animation that isn’t used very much. I think the fact that it is a very slow process is the major reason why it isn’t done more. The popularity of computer animation probably contributes to that as well. Since the puppets are moved by the animators one small movement at a time, some animation created this way can have a slightly jerky look. That didn’t happen with this movie. The animation was very well done and had a smooth flow for all of the movements. Some of the characters, especially Jack, had a more lanky appearance, but they still moved smoothly and realistically. A few things, like smoke or transparent ghosts, were added with computers once the scenes were filmed with the puppets. The computer created images blended in flawlessly with the rest of the movie and just enhanced what was happening instead of taking over.
Jack was very well liked around Halloweentown and everyone looked to him to make the annual Halloween celebration a success. Jack was feeling a bit bored with doing basically the same thing each year when he discovered Christmas Town and got his idea to do Christmas. Jack meant well, but he really didn’t fully understand what he was doing. The voice that Chris Sarandon did for Jack matched the character well. Zero was Jack’s ghost dog who was trying to help when he could.
Sally had been created by Dr. Finkelstein, the town’s mad scientist. Her limbs were just sewn on, and they sometimes fell off. She could also detach and still have control over them. Sally was treated badly by Dr. Finkelstein most of the time. She did have feelings for Jack that she didn’t seem to know how to express. Catherine O’Hara did a good job with her voice. O’Hara also did a voice for Shock, one of three trouble making children. Dr. Finkelstein was grumpy and didn’t really like Sally much even though he had created her. William Hickney’s voice was perfect for the character.
The Mayor didn’t seem to do much of anything, so he really wasn’t that important. Lock and Barrel were the two other trouble making children. They tended to hang around Oogie Boogie, a nasty sort of monster who most people in Halloweentown were afraid of. Oogie Boogie enjoyed stirring up trouble. Santa Claus was only shown in a few scenes. His look was sort of like how Santa has been depicted in other movies, though certain things were a bit exaggerated.
Voice Talent
Danny Elfman - Singing voice of Jack Skellington/Barrel William Hickney - Dr. Finkelstein Edward Ivory - Santa Catherine O’Hara - Sally/Shock Ken Page - Oogie Boogie Paul Reubens - Lock Glenn Shadix - Mayor
Henry Selick - Director
DVD Information
I picked up The Nightmare Before Christmas on DVD a few years for under $10. My copy has the widescreen version of the movie. I have no idea if there is a full screen version available as well. There are several special features included. There were some deleted scenes and animated sequences, storyboard to film comparisons, still frame gallery of the concept art and character designs, original theatrical trailers and posters. Director Henry Selick did a commentary that I haven’t listened to yet. Two of Burton’s early movies, Vincent and an uncut version of Frankenweenie, were also included.
I really enjoyed watching the behind the scenes look at the making of the movie and have actually watched it a few times since I got the DVD. Tim Burton, Henry Selick, and many other people involved in the making of the movie were featured talking about working on the movie. I had just thought that Tim Burton had directed the movie until I watched this behind the scenes featurette and discovered that Selick was actually the director. Burton came up with the original story idea, served as a producer, and was involved in the making of the movie. It was explained how the sets and puppets were created and it was demonstrated how a scene would be filmed. It was really interesting to see how the animation was created.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is a wonderful, unique holiday movie. It could be a bit too dark or twisted for some viewers, especially younger children, but it very entertaining and worth seeing. For the last few years, the movie has been released for a limited time in a 3-D version to theaters. I haven’t been able to see that version, but I think this would be a good movie to see in 3-D.
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