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Thirteen years ago, producer/creator Tim Burton released his ground-breaking animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, which combined Burton’s dark sense of humor with stop-motion animation (which was then directed by Henry Selick). Yet, somehow, despite all the hype, I never saw it. Nightmare was one of those movies that I always wanted to see, but I never got around to it—until now. This holiday season (and by “holiday” I mean Halloween), Disney is re-releasing the Nightmare in all-new 3-D. So, being a sucker for 3-D animation—and having always wanted to see Nightmare anyway—I couldn’t wait to check it out.
Nightmare tells the story of Jack Skellington (voiced by Chris Sarandon and Danny Elfman), the Pumpkin King of Halloween, who, after yet another particularly frightful Halloween, realizes that his job satisfaction levels are lower than low. He’s tired of scaring people—no matter how good he is at it—and he wants something more.
Jack wanders off and finds a door that leads him to Christmas Town, a joyous place filled with presents and snowmen and laughter. No one’s scared in Christmas Town. Everyone’s happy. And Jack decides that what he wants is Christmas. He returns to Halloween and decides that it’s time for something new. He and the people of Halloween will take over Christmas.
As the people of Halloween set out in their attempt to fulfill Jack’s wishes (even though they can’t quite seem to get it right, since, in Halloween, they know nothing about joy and happiness—only horror and fear), only one ghoul in Halloween realizes that it’s not going to work. Sally (Catherine O’Hara) has a vision of what’s to come—and she knows it’s not going to be pretty. But she can’t seem to talk Jack out of going through with his plan, either. He’s determined to take over Christmas—even if it means kidnapping Christmas Town’s beloved Sandy Claws.
The Nightmare Before Christmas offers a unique twist on the typical holiday movie. The story and characters have Tim Burton’s name written all over them (which could be good or bad, depending on your feelings about Tim Burton)—and though I’ve found Burton to be hit-or-miss, this is definitely one of his better productions. I found, however, that the film wasn’t as spectacular and breath-taking as I expected it to be, after 13 years of hype. But that’s to be expected, really. Back in 1993, this was truly ground-breaking. It was something no one had seen before—but we’ve seen it several times since. As for the 3-D animation, I was disappointed. The animation in the short introduction was much more impressive. You won’t find anything jumping out at you or floating in front of your face during the movie itself—and, really, what’s the point of wearing the silly glasses if you’re not going to have anything jump out at you? And while Disney’s attempt to re-engineer a 13-year-old film in 3-D is impressive, the result really isn’t.
If you haven’t already seen Nightmare, it’s definitely worth checking out. In fact, it’s good enough to make it an annual Halloween tradition. But unless you’re a huge fan of the movie, it’s not worth paying the extra money to see the 3-D version. Pick it up on DVD instead.
DVD Review:
When Disney decided to release the new collector’s edition DVD set of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, they wisely chose not to release it in the 3-D format that’s been re-released in theaters each October for the past couple of years. Instead, they’ve included all kinds of extras that are sure to thrill fans of the movie—and of Burton and Selick’s dark and quirky work.
The two-disc set is actually a three-disc set—if you count the bonus disc with a digital copy of the movie for use on your computer or PlaysForSure-compatible MP3 player. On the other two discs, you’ll find all kinds of fun stuff. The extra features take you behind the scenes for the making of The Nightmare Before Christmas. You’ll see storyboards and concepts, and you’ll get to walk through the entire animation process. You’ll also get to hear the original poem on which the movie was based—accompanied by original artwork and perfectly narrated by Christopher Lee.
In addition to The Nightmare Before Christmas content, the DVD set also includes two of Burton’s earlier short films: the Poe-inspired animated short, Vincent, and the live-action Frankenweenie, which is currently being made into a feature-length animated film.
Packed with a plethora of fun extras, the collector’s edition of The Nightmare Before Christmas is a must-have for fans of Tim Burton’s eerie animated musical. Pick up a copy and start a new holiday tradition with the whole family.
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