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House review of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Though it was directed by Henry Selick and written by Caroline Thompson, The Nightmare Before Christmas is Tim Burton and Danny Elfman through and through. It came about in a backwards sort of way; Burton and Elfman came up with characters and songs, then charged Thompson with creating a story that would pull them all together. Then, of course, Selick had to take all of it and pull it together into a coherent and compelling whole.
They did it. I first saw this film when it came out on screen in 1993, then I bought the VHS copy, then I bought the DVD. I’ve watched it alone, with my spouse and with my children, and I never get tired of it. The songs, the characters and the story are not only tight, they’re charming and entertaining. The animation is deeply layered; after 15 years, I still see things in many of the scenes that I’ve never seen before. It is without a doubt the best film that Henry Selick has ever done.
The story posits a fantasy world where every holiday has its own town. The story begins in Halloween Town, on the evening of the completion of another successful Halloween. The denizens of Halloween Town consists of the creatures you’d expect to see—witches, vampires, zombies, etc—but they are charming and funny despite their appearance. They even explain, “We’re scary, but we’re not mean.” There is a mayor of Halloween Town (who has literally two faces, a smiling one and a frowning one), but the real authority is Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King.
The townsfolk seem to want nothing more than to do their Halloween thing year after year, but we soon learn that Jack is discontent. He has “grown so tired of the same old thing,” and is experiencing the ennui of someone who is good at everything he does. He skips the post-holiday celebrations to go walking in the woods, and accidentally stumbles into Christmas Town.
Christmas Town is everything his restless heart has been seeking, and he returns to Halloween Town to try to communicate to the others what he has seen. He soon decides to take over Christmas, which he does with all due respect to Santa Claus. The townsfolk go along with his plans, but they don’t really understand the point of Christmas, so they prepare gifts and stockings as you might expect monsters to prepare them: with severed heads, toys that chase children, and stockings that still contain the original feet.
In the end, of course, Jack learns to embrace his role and Pumpkin King, Santa Claus sets Christmas right, and Jack and his friend Sally (an animated Bride-of-Frankenstein type rag doll) develop a fondness for each other, hinting that perhaps Sally will quell any future restlessness that Jack experiences.
Nightmare is almost an operetta, a la Pirates of Penzance, in that much of the dialogue is sung, sliding easily into proper songs, and pausing occasionally for a few spoken lines. Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon togher voice Jack with skill and believability (Elfman sings and Sarandon speaks); their Jack is someone we feel for even as he makes choices we know he’s going to regret. Jack doesn’t go far from the straight-and-narrow (however unique its Halloween expression), but we are pleased and satisfied by his return, and it feels good to have him back where he belongs.
| Title | The Nightmare Before Christmas |
|---|---|
| Director | Henry Selick |
| Genre | Family |
| UK Cert. |  |
| Spittin rating |
 9 |
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