The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Director:

Henry Selick

Writers:

Tim Burton (based on a story and characters by)
Michael McDowell (adaptation)

Release Date:

29 October 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

Tim Burton's classic returns in 3-D so real, it's scary.

Plot:

Jack Skellington, king of Halloweentown, discovers Christmas Town, but doesn't quite understand the concept.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Halloween | Pumpkin | Woods | Christmas Tree

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Danny Elfman	...	Jack Skellington Sung By / Barrel / Clown with the Tear Away Face (voice)
Chris Sarandon	...	Jack - Speaking (voice)
Catherine O'Hara	...	Sally / Shock (voice)
William Hickey	...	Evil Scientist (voice)
Glenn Shadix	...	Mayor (voice)
Paul Reubens	...	Lock (voice)
Ken Page	...	Oogie Boogie (voice)
Edward Ivory	...	Santa (voice) (as Ed Ivory)
Susan McBride	...	Big Witch / WWD. (voice)
Debi Durst	...	Corpse Kid / Corpse Mom / Small Witch (voice)
Greg Proops	...	Harlequin Demon / Devil / Sax Player (voice) (as Gregory Proops)
Kerry Katz	...	Man Under Stairs / Vampire / Corpse Dad (voice)
Randy Crenshaw	...	Mr. Hyde / Behemoth / Vampire (voice)
Sherwood Ball	...	Mummy / Vampire (voice)
Carmen Twillie	...	Undersea Gal / Man Under the Stairs (voice)

Also Known As:

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (USA) (complete title)
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D (USA) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some scary images.

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 | Brazil:Livre | Netherlands:AL | Iceland:L | Spain:7 | Ireland:PG | South Korea:All (re-rating) (2006) | Hong Kong:IIA | South Korea:12 (original rating) | South Africa:10M | New Zealand:G | Peru:PT | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10/7 | Germany:6 | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Iceland:L (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG (PCA #32583)

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Burton wrote a three-page poem titled The Nightmare Before Christmas when he was a Disney animator in the early-1980s. Burton took inspiration from television specials of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) (TV), How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) (TV) and the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the song "Making Christmas", some of the characters are building a ramp on which the Mayor rides the snow-mobile that Jack brought. After the small hairy Cyclops puts his piece of the ramp into its place, the 'Clown with the Tear-away Face' does the same with another piece, and the Cyclops suddenly disappears at this point. He pops up again on the other side of the screen at the end of the shot.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Santa: 'Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems in a place perhaps you've seen in your dreams. For the story you're about to be told began with the holiday worlds of auld. Now you've probably wondered where holidays come from. If you haven't I'd say it's time you begun.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in MediEvil (1998) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Here Comes Santa Claus

Burton's "Nightmare" is a dream come true

By 1993, director Tim Burton was such a successful filmmaker in Hollywood that he was able to return to one of his most beloved early projects, "The Nightmare Before Christmas." It's certainly an inspired movie, as it is also very weird, and when I say "weird," I mean it's distinctly Burton.

Even though it was directed with enough competency by Henry Selick, this groundbreaking stop-motion animation film is Burton all the way, as it contains ample "esque" qualities that make this "Nightmare" uniquely his vision.

As the film opens in the twisted, "Burton"-esque village of "Halloweentown," Jack Skellington, who is dually voiced by Chris Sarandon and longtime Burton collaborator Danny Elfman, is celebrating another "horrible" Halloween. You'll be shocked and amazed at some of the town's inhabitants, who include jazz-playing zombies, Four Tenor-like vampires, a wolf man, and a wheelchair-bound scientist who occasionally opens up his cranium to (literally) scratch his brain; his creation, a Frankenstein-like scarecrow named Sally (Catherine O'Hara), yearns for contact with others and is quite fond of Jack Skellington.

But Jack's quickly growing tired of the same old routine year after year, and because he's so downtrodden with boredom, he ventures into the dark forest outside the town's borders, and accidentally stumbles onto the wondrous, jolly world of "Christmastown." Enticed by its splendor, he decides to bring back his discovery to the residents of Halloweentown, who of which are just as shocked by Christmas as he is. Jack gets the brilliant idea to pose as Santa Claus but hires three mischief-makers to kidnap the real Santa so he can share his own, misguided vision of Christmas with an unprepared world.

Painstakingly and meticulously crafted, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a beautiful and wonderful film from start to finish. The most famous image of this film is the cover art, which features Skellington eerily silhouetted against a full moon while he stands atop a coiled hill that overlooks a desolate graveyard.

Burton is such a wonderful director, who had already brought us one unique "esque" vision after the other, especially with the first two "Batman" films and "Edward Scissorhands" behind him as of '93 when "Nightmare" was made.

10/10