The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Genre

Animation | Fantasy | Musical

Director

Henry Selick

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Ken Page, Ed Ivory, Paul Reubens, Kerry Katz, June Foray, Randy Crenshaw, Debi Durst, Rob Paulsen, Sherwood Ball, Greg Proops, Patrick Stewart

Storyline

Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon) is in a dark Halloweentown all of the time and wants something a little more cheery to balance his life experience. He stumbles upon Christmas town and this is just what the doctor ordered. He is so elated with his new feelings that he tries to share them with his Halloweentown citizens. But the atmosphere is not conducive to Jack's newfound sensibility.

Opinion

Like I said yesterday I'm no big fan of Christmas. Same goes with Christmas movies that tend to be too sugary or filled with slapstick comedy: they usually go to one side or the other. But this is Tim Burton's, needles to say it is not your typical Christmas flick.

Visually spectacular, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a delightful musical that tells a children's tale in a Gothic style.

Twenty-two years later, the film, created by creative genius Tim Burton and directed to perfection by Henry Sellick, still has that charm that has assured it a special place among the Christmas classics.

Seemingly quite simple, the story turns out to be very complex and deals with themes such as identity crisis, and, most important, the value of your background. It makes us realize that the things we have are far better than we think, and that sometimes we think something is better than what we have just because it's different.

The characters are extraordinary rich in characteristics - after all Tim Burton created them - and, despite the look, there are no evil monsters in the film - maybe Oogie Boogie man is an exception -, but only "people" with feelings, capable of helping other and loving.

The stop-motion animation is both captivating and sinister: the background landscape seems one of a fairy tale, and the character are horrifically stunning; the original soundtrack is spectacular: animated films can rarely claim such beautiful and captivating songs; and the vocal cast is excellent.

Definitely worth watching. If you have kids, just make sure they are not too young or they may be disturbed by some scenes like Santa Claus being tortured by the Oogie Boogie Man. Or children having a frightening experience with Christmas presents.