Disney Marathon: 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'
The last entry was an outlier in the Disney canon for being an indistinct and forgettable film. Now we've got another outlier for its unique style and being a cult favourite. It's also a personal favourite, and I enjoy obnoxiously telling people it's directed by Henry Selick and not Tim Burton. This is Halloween!
For those just joining us, this is a movie marathon with a twist. Myself (cranky 30s blogger), my son Josh (stoic 10 year old Nintendo obsessive) and my daughter Amelia (drama llama 7 year old princess wannabe) are watching Disney movies in a random order and ranking them. We hope to see interesting differences in how we organise our lists.
Film: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Released: 1993
Director: Henry Selick
Cast: Chris Sarandon, Danny Elfman, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Ken Page, Ed Ivory, Paul Ruebens
Plot: Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, home to the monsters who come out for their annual holiday. He's grown disillusioned with his role and, after discovering Chritmastown, he decides to take over the festive season for himself.
Review: I can say without a doubt that even if you haven't seen this movie you recognise Jack (Sarandon and Elfman). Tim Burton caught lightning in a bottle when he sketched out Jack Skellington, as he's become a pop culture icon. The movie didn't do especially well on release, but over the years (and with the emergence of mainstream goth culture) it's become a favourite to many. Not that Burton's concepts and characters are alone in driving this cult success, as Henry Selick's phenomenal stop-motion animation brings it to life in an extraordinary way.
The movie sets the scene with the immediately catching Danny Elfman number 'This is Halloween'. In the first scene we learn about Halloweentown, the role it plays in Halloween lore, meet almost all the denizens and establish the tone of the story. Jack Skellington is the local celebrity, but he yearns for something more. While exploring the woods he finds and become entranced by Christmastown. He sets his people to work taking over the holiday, right down to abducting Santa Claus (Ivory) in order to take his place. Jack ignores the portents from Sally Ragdoll and pushes ahead with his version of Christmas, only to be met with disaster. Upon realising the error of his endeavour, Jack rescues Santa from Oogie the Boogie Man and begs forgiveness for his misdeeds.
There's not much to the story, instead the movie is propped up on style and the music. Tim Burton's characters practically created their own fashion craze and firmly established his unique visual style of spirals and pinstripes. Even though Selick did the hard work on the production, this is Burton's creation. It wouldn't be anything without the songs written and (when it comes to Jack) performed by Danny Elfman. If you don't already have 'This is Halloween' or 'Jack's Lament' stuck in your head than you somehow haven't seen the movie yet.
As mentioned, there's some flabbiness to the story. Oogie Boogie is forcibly inserted into the story with no explanation or motivation. Jack tasks three monsters - Lock, Shock and Barrell - with kidnapping Santa, and they leave him in the hands of their boss Oogie Boogie. The Boogie man likes to gamble and is...bad? Jack doesn't like him and that's all we get on the character. Why Jack entrusted Oogie Boogie's minions with a key part of his plan is also unclear and makes no logical sense, even in this universe. Send the witches, or the vampires. The ONLY reason Oogie Boogie gets involved is because Jack opens the door for him.
There's also at least three back-to-back scenes, each involving musical numbers, about Jack trying to explain Christmas to us, his people and then himself. The script writer explains with pride that Burton green lit her first draft into production. She did an amazing job, and the movie is endlessly quotable, but it could have used another one or two runs to tighten it up.
Best Song: There are so many bangers in this movie. We can't even shortlist things because that would just be the track list. So we'll take the easy route and land on the iconic 'Jack's Lament'. It's got the bit where Jack walks down Spiral Hill.
Coolest Easter Egg: Jack Skellington made his film debut several years before Nightmare in Tim Burton's classic Beetlejuice. He appears on top of the title character's carousel costume.
Weirdest Trivia: Disney censored one scene for horror elements. During the end montage we see the vampires playing ice hockey with a pumpkin. It was originally a severed head that flies face first at the camera. The head was modelled after Tim Burton.
Rating: SEVEN out of TEN
THE RANKING MEWe don't do Elf on the Shelf here. In our house there's Jack Skellington who gets about at night. That should be a clue as to how much I love this movie. As to the 'Halloween or Christmas' debate...why not both?
Click those titles if you want to see what we said about the other movies.
AMELIAAmelia has always taken a liking to this one, although some of the characters are a bit spooky. I think Ragdoll Sally's rebellious tendencies appeal to her.
- Frozen
- Emperor's New Groove
- Zootopia
- Moana
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Mulan
- Hercules
- Alice in Wonderland
- Wreck-It Ralph
- Tangled
- Dinosaur
- The Aristocats
- The Princess and the Frog
- Robin Hood
- Beauty and the Beast
- The Three Caballeros
- The Fox and the Hound
- Oliver & Company
- The Sword in the Stone
- Aladdin
- Treasure Planet
- Big Hero 6
- A Goofy Movie
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
- Chicken Little
- Fantasia
Joshua did not have a strong emotional response to the movie...he considered the characters to be badly behaved.
- Zootopia
- Big Hero 6
- Aladdin
- Emperor's New Groove
- Treasure Planet
- Moana
- Ralph Breaks the Internet
- The Three Caballeros
- Wreck-It Ralph
- Frozen
- Mulan
- The Princess and the Frog
- Robin Hood
- The Sword in the Stone
- Beauty and the Beast
- Oliver & Company
- Tangled
- A Goofy Movie
- The Aristocats
- Fantasia
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
- The Fox and the Hound
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Dinosaur
- Hercules
- Alice in Wonderland
- Chicken Little
