The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Plot of The Nightmare Before Christmas

The creatures of Holloweentown plan to steal Christmas and create their own holiday.

Review of The Nightmare Before Christmas

I’m not going to go too deep into a review of the actual movie because it’s 13 years old. If you haven’t seen it by now, you probably won’t. Anyway, for the uninitiated, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is about Jack Skellington’s (voiced by Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon) plot to steal Christmas and make it his own Holiday. He then kidnaps Santa Claus and enlists the aid of Halloweentown’s residents to help with his plan. Sally (voiced by Catherine O’Hara) has a terrible vision of how Jacks plans will fall apart and tries to convince him to stop. 

The movie is just as good as it ever was but the 3-D is lacking. Now to be honest, I arrived late and got stuck on the far left side of the theater so it could’ve just been the angle. If that was the case then that lowers my already low opinion even more because Disney should have made the effort to make it look good from every seat in the house. The backgrounds lacked any real depth. It was like Grover’s bit on Sesame Street. All you had was near and far. Any quick movement such as Jack running or the sleigh flying quickly across the screen seemed to become a jumble of images that my eyes couldn’t quite keep up with. Jacks legs became rubbery and almost looked like the tentacles of an octopus or something. And, some of the wide panning shots actually made my eyes water and want to cross, which is definitely not what I want to happen while trying to enjoy a movie. The only thing that really stood out (pun intended) was the snow at the very end of the film. 

In Disney’s defense, I was on the far side of the theater and The Nightmare Before Christmas wasn’t intended to be a 3-D film. But, if this is what Disney has to offer, I’ll stick with the IMAX.  

Final thought- Good movie, bad execution. So, unless you are a die-hard fan I would skip this and watch it at home. 

On a side note, this may be the last “kid’s” movie I see at the theater. I had a kid sitting behind me that wouldn’t shut up for anything AND he kept kicking the back of my seat. Lady if that was your kid – Control him or get the hell out of the theater! Trust me, that kid’s behavior was utterly unacceptable. He wouldn’t stay in his seat at all. They actually left halfway through the movie.  

Well, this turned into more of a rant than a review. Sorry about that. 

Until Jack Skellington actually jumps out of the screen,

Keep reading. 

Mitch Emerson

Best Lines: 

Mayor: Jack, please, I'm only an elected official here, I can't make decisions by myself! 

[pushing Sandy down the pipe]
Shock: I think he might be too big.
Lock: No he's not, if he can go down a chimney he can fit down here.

The Cast

Director

Producer

Danny Elfman

Jack Skellington

Catherine O'Hara

Sally

William Hickey

Dr. Finkelstein

Glenn Shadix

Mayor

Paul Ruebens

Lock

Rating

Length

Production Co.

Year

Awards

Nominated - 1994 Academy Award for Best Effects, Visual Effects

Won - 1994 Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film

Won - 1994 Saturn Award for Best Music

Won - 1994 Annie Award for Best Individual Achievement for Artistic Excellence in the Field of Animation
Deane Taylor (art director)

Won - 1994 Annie Award for Best Individual Achievement for Creative Supervision in the Field of Animation
Henry Selick (director)

Related Links

Click Above to Purchase The Nightmare Before Christmas

This review was written by Mitch E. Copyright 2007, All Rights Reserved.