The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) (Movie Review)

   Tim Burton is one of those filmmakers where … just saying his name instantly brings to mind classic movie titles like “Batman”, “Beetlejuice”, “Edward Scissorhands” and so forth. I’ve personally always connected his name to the Halloween season, as some of my favorite movies to watch around October are movies he directed, like 1999’s “Sleepy Hollow”. Perhaps the most famous title to be associated with Tim Burton is the 1993 holiday classic “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. 

Ironic as he only produced the picture, while it was directed by the equally talented Henry Selick, who would later go on to direct such stop-motion hits as “Coraline” and “James and the Giant Peach”. Regardless, the film was based on a hard-cover poem that Burton wrote prior, and thus his name remains above the title. To this day, it’s always the first movie that comes to my mind when I think of Tim Burton. More to the point, this film ranks among my top three absolute favorite movies to regularly watch during the Halloween season. It’s a film I instantly fell in love with as a kid, and it still carries a magic holiday touch even into my adult years. However, even though this movie means the world to me, I’m not going to pretend that it’s perfect either … being brutally honest, I actually have some reservations with the movie. That’s the odd thing about “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, as it’s a movie I have some issues with, yet still love and continue to re-watch to this day. "This movie just confuses me so ... confound it all ... I love it though". So, let’s take a look back at this iconic holiday classic to see why it still holds up … despite it’s short-comings.

   After a short narration of the different holidays, and their individual worlds, we begin our story in Halloween town. 

This leads into what I can only describe as … my all-time favorite song number from any Halloween special. It’s the witching hour, and the residents of Halloween town are throwing a celebration set to the song “This is Halloween”. The images, creatures, visuals, and variety of characters on display in this opening number just blew my mind as a child. We got ghosts, vampires, trees with skeletons, witches, shadows, Jack O’ lanterns, faceless clowns, black cat’s, a flaming scarecrow, and it all builds to that unforgettable final image of Jack Skellington rising up from the well. It’s simply the definitive opening for a Halloween movie. There’s also a relentless amount of energy to this scene, as the camera is constantly zooming through different rooms, interiors and landscapes. It’s almost like a simulated roller-coaster ride, but set in a highly decorative Halloween world. 

With all kinds of great designs and surreal images just flying out at the screen, it’s probably one of the most over the top and mind-blowing (or mind-numbing) scenes for a holiday special. It’s almost too good, because as a kid, I rarely continued the rest of the film ... truthfully, I just kept replaying this opening song. While there are obviously more terrific songs and highlights throughout, nothing as bonkers crazy as this opening ever happens again. It’s a musical number that lives up to its title 100%, and in my opinion deserves to be called the number one Halloween song of all time. This unfortunately brings me to my first critical observation of the film … just what dose Halloween mean for these guys anyway? Is it just a night for these monsters to sing about the holiday, dose this party have any barring on the human world … it’s really never explained.   

   Anyway, after that amazing intro, we learn that Jack Skellington is idolized by all the creatures of Halloween town as the greatest at scaring, and has taken the title of pumpkin-king. However, his ghostly highness is getting tied of his crown, has grown sick of screams, and so badly wants something new. One day, he’s magically whisked away to the enchanted realm of “Christmas Town”. Dazzled by the wonders all around him, Jack falls in love with this new holiday, and gets so obsessed that he not only wants to take the holiday for himself, but he especially wants to take on the role of Santa Claus. It’s an interesting contrast to characters like the Grinch or Mr. Scrooge who hate the holiday, and yet despite his joyful nature, Jack still brings an equal level of harm to the season. In the end, Jack has to learn to appreciate the simple joys of what he already has, and stop being so self-centered. The story all around is wonderful, but it’s also very simple, with no real twists, or deep emotional character arcs, it’s all very basic, yet wholesome in its simplicity. It’s really all about the experience of combining these two polar opposite holidays in one package, and bringing it to life through a unique vision, and laced with memorable songs. Also, while the characters in the movie aren’t exactly layered, there is something about them that sticks with me as memorable holiday figures.   

   The same applies for classic stop-motion Christmas specials in the vain of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, but the one key difference is that “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is stretched out to a theatrical run time. 

In other words, there’s a lot of padding in this movie, and lengthy sequences that have no real bearing on the narrative. Personally, there’s a series of events set after Jack’s discovery of Christmas that just feels like aimless meandering, until the film finds it’s narrative focus again. This in turn could be boring for some viewers, while others can coast on its consistent holiday atmosphere, and presentation. Even when the narrative can get boring, the film continues to win me over as a visual experience, as the look and design of the production is a marvel to behold. So often kids films of this sort rely on CGI, but the majority of visuals on display here are real props, puppets, sets and animatronics performing in front of the camera, and it’s really an art-form to admire. While stop-motion had been utilized before, it had never been seen on this big a scale. The detailed set designs, the striking colors, the creative camera movement, the layered environments … it just creates a life of his own. The design borrows heavily from the German Expressionism look of 1920’s silent movies. Even Halloween town resembles an old Black and White picture, which is meant to contrast to the colorful and decorative Christmas town. Personally, while I love the setting of Halloween town, I wish it was set entirely at nighttime, which allows for more atmosphere and color, whereas the colorless day-time look of the town just kind of bums me out.

   Fans often debate whether or not this is more of a Halloween movie or a Christmas film, and my answer unfortunately ties into another one of my issues. I think that Halloween has too big a foot-hold on this film, as a good 85% is set in Halloween Town, with 10% set in the human world, and 5% set in Christmas Town. It’s a shame because, even though I like the former a pinch more than the ladder … I still love Christmas will all my heart, and I want to see it on display in more than just one terrific song number. Seriously, when Jack Skellington first arrives in Christmas Town, we get that outstanding musical number … “What’s This, What’s This” … and the detail of the setting is outstanding! It’s probably the greatest looking Christmas world I’ve ever seen in a movie, yet … once the song ends, we abruptly cut back to the joyless looking Halloween town, where we’re forced to spend the majority of the movie. Granted the story and the moral is more in tune with a Christmas movie, but the features on display constantly put me in the mood for Halloween. There are also too many Halloween characters, with Santa Claus being the only Christmas character, and he’s barley seen in the film.

   Personally, I think this could have been fixed if Jack Skellington’s love interest was a character from Christmas town, like something along the lines of a Christmas Angel. That would be so fitting for a movie about Halloween and Christmas coming together, with a relationship between two characters from opposing holidays at the center, and it would fit right in with Burton’s wheel house of odd romances. Heck, there could be some poetry in seeing a relation between a Halloween Skeleton and a Christmas Angel, as both are characters representing death, yet are still polar opposites. This brings me to the character Sally, who I find boring, and mostly useless in the grand scheme of things. Every one of her actions has no bearing on the narrative … as she warns Jack that his holiday will be a disaster, but that doesn’t help at all … she fogs the town to keep him from leaving on Christmas, but that doesn’t work at all … she tries to free Santa, only to get kidnapped herself … she’s really just there to be an observer of sorts. Think of her as an Avatar character that the audience can imagine themselves as, or put themselves in her place. Even her supposed romance with Jack is barley given any time to really set-in. She has that one song number where she wonders if they’ll be together, yet none of their previous scenes really justify any kind of emotional connection between these two. I will admit that, much like the simplistic appeal of the movie, both Jack and Sally share select moments that may not be that layered, but leave me feeling a warm connection all the same. 

   

  Let’s take a moment to talk about my absolute favorite character, the villainess Boogie Man, who’s keeping Santa prisoner in his basement of terrors. Once again, we have a character who’s added in just so the film could have a villain, as he’s got no real motivations, and he’s barley even in the movie until the third act, in which he suddenly becomes the main threat. Having said that, he is consistently the most entertaining presence in the film. He’s just bursting with a hammy personality, making his presence feel larger than life. I also love the simplicity of his design, as it’s very basic, and leaves more of an impression opposed to some kind of over the top, spooky monster design. His introduction number, “The Oogie -Boogi Song” is yet another highlight that’s very bouncy in tone, and shows off his colorful, black-lit environment. Unfortunately, the film just spends more time focusing on other less interesting side characters, like the towns mayor, or the nasty scientist that created Sally, or even the Boogie Mans evil trick r' treating henchman. I really can’t stand those nasty kids, as I feel they rob screen-time from the villain I actually want to see on screen. Heck, even the henchmen have their own song number, which is really annoying, and completely unnecessary, as the villain already has a big song number … we don’t need two villain songs.    

  Speaking of songs … let’s finally acknowledge arguably the most important contribution to this movies appeal and success … Danny Elfman, who both composed the music and wrote the songs. While Elfman has had a number of musical credits under his belt, like forming “Onigo Boingo” in 1979, or the iconic scores he’s composed for “The Simpsons”, “Spider-Man” and just about every other Tim Burton production … I’ll always look back on “The Nightmare Before Christmas” as his crowning achievement. 

He is the glue that holds this film together, as his music and songs carry so much of the film’s identity and lasting appeal. Unlike all the animated Disney movies of the time that contained at least five songs at most, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” was one of the first full-on animated musicals, in which most of the events are told through song and dance. The song “Making Christmas” ranks high among my favorites, with a catchy beat, and contains one of the best visual montages of the film. The singing voice of Jack Skellington is also provided by Danny Elfman himself, and his voice really fits with the character. Although, I must admit … I think Jack Skellington has too many solo song numbers. His first song is outstanding, as the cemetery setting is one of my all-time favorites, and the image of Jack on that strange hill-side is about as iconic as they get. However, the more solo songs he gets, the more repetitive they feel. I think that “Jack’s Obsession Song” should have been reconstructed into a duet between he and Sally, as that would have given the songs more variety, as well as given them more scenes together.   

   This leads me to Jack Skellington himself, and personally … he might just be my all-time favorite holiday character, as he’s a figurehead for both Christmas and Halloween ... which is awesome. I adore his design, as there’s more to him then just a basic skeleton. His skull looks more like a ghost face, and yet, despite not having any eyes, he still conveys a variety of expressions and emotions. 

His attire is like a cross between Beetlejuice and Dracula, with a nice little bat bowtie bringing it together. Of course, I love his ghost dog side-kick named Zero, who’s very cute. Zero actually represents a trend with Tim Burton’s spooky stop-motion films, as every one of them features a deceased, yet still adorable dog character. Back to Jack Skellington, he’s also kind of a fun Santa Claus in his own right. Even though he’s in the wrong, there’s something about his passion and joy on display that just makes him a delightful Santa … even if he’s unleashing all kids of spooky gifts on kids. Heck, even after he realizes the errors of his ways, I love that he still took pride in the experience as something life changing. If it weren’t for Jack Skellington, I don’t think this movie would have stuck with kids as well as it did. He’s an instantly recognizable holiday icon, and despite both his ghoulish demeanor and selfish interests, he’s still a very curious, soft spoken, and wide-eyed individual. Even if you don’t think he’s the absolute best, I feel Jack Skellington earns a badge as one of the all-time great holiday mascots.

    So, for all my reservations with “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, it still remains one of my all-time favorites. It’s simply a feast for the imagination, bonded with creative ideas, and still … I can’t think of any other movie that gets me in the holiday spirit more than this one. I’ve always regarded this film as the perfect holiday special ... why, because it’s both Halloween and Christmas rolled into one awesome package. Even though I still feel Halloween has more of a foot-hold then Christmas, the former is still the main focus of attention, and all the main events do still occur on Christmas Eve. Both holidays mean the world to me, and experiencing them both together in a movie that’s brought to life through stunning visuals, iconic characters, a wildly original premise, and unforgettable musical numbers make it an easy win for me. I still have issues with the pacing at times, and there are those narrative beats that I wish could have been changed around, but it never tarnishes either the appeal or simplicity of the experience. Two holidays are better than one, and this is that rare Halloween/Christmas film that you can watch twice in the holiday season.  

Thanks for reading my review of the 1993 animated holiday classic “The Nightmare Before Christmas” … and continue to make every day in October feel like Halloween.