Watch it twice a year. For this month, I am reviewing the animated musical fantasy movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, released on October 29, 1993. Starring Chris Sarandon, Danny Elfman, and Catherine O’Hara, it is directed by Henry Selick. Taking place in Halloween Town and Christmas Town, it is rated PG.
Every year, the Pumpkin King Jack Skellington puts out Halloween for the human world from his home in Halloween Town. Having done this for so many years in a row, he has become tired of it and longs for something new. After discovering Christmas Town, he is intrigued by it and wants to put it out his own way. After kidnapping “Sandy Claws” and taking over the holiday, he is set to make it great. Nothing can go wrong. Right?
Despite being one of the most popular staples of both Halloween and Christmas, I never actually saw this movie until now. Having finally gotten around to it, I can say that it deserves all the praise and attention it gets. There is plenty I can talk about. Let us start with the creepy atmosphere. While Tim Burton is not the director as so many seem to think, he was still the writer, and his spooky yet fun style can be found throughout the movie. Halloween Town is filled with creepy monsters, dark lighting, and a world that physically looks like it is falling apart. Despite this, it is not to the point that it is too scary for kids. This is helped by the fact that apart from the main antagonist, the residents of Halloween Town are all nice people whose goal is to entertain, not to harm. I gave credit to Tim Burton, but the actual director Henry Selick deserves respect too. He was the director of Coraline, and sadly is not too well known even with directing such a famous holiday classic. His style for creepiness matches well with Burton and the two together craft something incredible. With all that, it is a perfect watch for Halloween.
The story is interesting to watch. It teaches an important lesson that sometimes sticking to what your best at is the way to go. When Jack tries his hand at Christmas, something he thinks he understands but really does not, it backfires spectacularly. This helps the audience learn about boundaries. It is a departure from the classic follow your dreams message found in so many kids’ movies, but that is the way of life. Some dreams were not meant to be. They also throw in some clever worldbuilding. Each holiday is represented by an entire town that can be found inside of a tree. Not only does the movie show us the trees for Halloween and Christmas, but they also show us trees for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving. They easily could have just showed the trees that were relevant to the movie’s plot, but they went above and beyond to excite our imaginations with the possibility of this world. Now that’s dedication. The final thing about the story I will say is how it mixes the Halloween and Christmas feels in effectively. There is enough creepy imagery and ideas to satisfy Halloween fans, but there is also heartfelt themes and sweeter moments to satisfy Christmas fans. I mentioned this being a perfect watch for Halloween, but it is also a perfect watch for Christmas. An important lesson, worldbuilding, and mixing Halloween and Christmas make the story interesting to watch.
No matter how interesting your world is, the characters must be even more interesting to make it work. These characters pull that off. Jack Skellington is an inventive idea for a character. He is a living skeleton that is supposed to be the symbol of Halloween like how Santa Claus is for Christmas. Given the lack of a symbolic character for such an awesome holiday, he fills that gap. Jack works as a character because his overtaking of Christmas is done not out of maliciousness, but out of good intentions. He is also a nice guy who cares about the residents of Halloween Town, so he is easy to root for even with his bad actions. They also succeed in having two different people play him – Chris Sarandon for the speaking voice and Danny Elfman for the singing voice – and have them match perfectly. Catherine O’Hara plays Sally, a ragdoll who has feelings for Jack. While not as interesting as Jack, she leaves an impression by sneaking away from her mad scientist creator constantly, being the only one to oppose the Christmas plan, and having feelings for Jack. Finally, the main antagonist Oogie Boogie is interesting. Being the only bad resident of Halloween Town, he goes even further into capturing Santa and trying to harm him. Looking creepy, having an entertaining voice delivered by Ken Page, and having a final scene that leaves you wondering his origins, he makes for a good villain. These characters end up being more interesting than the world they are in.
Overall, I recommend this movie. It is fun to watch with its creepy mood that never goes too far, it makes you think harder about the world and characters it created, and it has a unique lesson on top of all that. Being a fan of Tim Burton, I can safely say this is one of his best movies, which led the way for his other great animated movies Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie. Check it out if you want to see a movie that is one of the best you could watch for either Halloween or Christmas.
This month’s topic is gun violence. America has sadly become the scariest place when it comes to people being shot to death. So many innocent kids and teenagers have passed as a result. In fact, gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in America. I say this is the time for action. I support stricter gun laws, banning of unnecessary guns, and refusal to sell guns to repeat offenders. We can make the country a safer place to live, if we all band together for it.
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