The Nightmare Before Christmas

Released: 1994
Director: Henry Selick
Writers: Tim Burton/Michael McDowell

The Nightmare before Christmas was an early project of Tim Burtons that was revisited by him after he had found success in Hollywood. It was released in 1994 and was nominated for 4 Oscars.
The Nightmare before Christmas is the story of Jack Skellington ‘ The Pumpkin King’ of Halloween town, he becomes bored of his job and decides its time for a change. with the help of the inhabitants of Halloween town he kidnaps Santa who he refers to as ‘Sandy claws’ and goes about creating the scariest Christmas possible. On realising his mistake jack must rescue Santa from the evil ‘Oogie Boogie ’ and correct his mistakes in order to save Christmas.
The film is composed of a strange mixture of themes and techniques, it is set in a horror themed environment with the characters strongly fitting the horror stereotype. The soundtrack is that of a musical with outbreaks of song being a regular occurrence. The plot although basic makes good use of suspense and to top it all off there is countless aspect of comedy throughout. The combination of horror in what is essentially a children’s production gives the film an edge that does not treat the child audience as being stupid, while at the same time makes the film watchable by an adult audience.
Although Tim Burton doesn’t direct the nightmare before Christmas he was the producer, and his style is clear throughout the movie. The stop motion animation style that the film is done in is typical of Burton, the over exaggerated movements and a strange idea of space that at times mirrors 2d animation. The character design was done in a great amount of detail, all the characters from jack Skellington to the Jazz playing zombies have both a creepy dark side as well as a comic effect, for instance the character of Dr. Finkelstine has many connotations’ of being an evil scientist, such as his arched posture and lab coat, but he will also open his head to literally scratch his brain for comic effect. The same level of detail goes into all the props and sets of the film. The cast consists of mostly unknown voice actors, who do an amazing job and all give their characters life. This strange artistic combination of so many styles and themes can be seen as too weird or stylish, but it has earned the film the following of a cult audience Over the years and is still seen as one of burtons finest creations.
As an animator I have never been a fan of stop frame animation but despite my biest view I have come to respect the nightmare before Christmas. its crazy twist of horror and comedy with a captivating soundtrack makes it appeal to Children and adults alike. Plus the pain staking detail put into every aspect of the film shows through so clearly that you have to marvel at it.