The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas

89% Liked It
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The Nightmare Before Christmas

Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix

In Halloween Town, Jack Skellington is bored and unhappy with the life of being "The Pumpkin King". He sets out to find something exciting and discovers Christmas Town. He takes it upon himself to tak...( read more  read more... )e over the duties of Santa to deliver toys to children across the world. The film was converted to Disney Digital 3-D and re-released in October 2007.

Id: 3727603

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Recent Reviews


  • May 9, 2009
    I LOVE Tim Burton's work, Im his greatest fan, this movie is fantastic, so imaginative and dark, a truely gothic fairytale dream come to life. There is nothing much more to say here, its a near perfect film in every aspect and every field.
  • March 19, 2009
    The pefect film for Halloween of Christmas. It has stood the test of time.
  • January 24, 2009
    Jack Skellington: [singing] "What's this? What's this? There's color everywhere! What's this? There's white things in the air! What's this? I can't believe my eyes, I must be dreaming; wake up, Jack, this isn't fair! What's this?&...( read more)#034;



    In Halloween Town, Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king, succeeds in overseeing another highly successful Halloween. But Jack is tired of receiving merely these accolades and wants more. In the woods he discovers a door in a tree and falls through into Christmas Land. He returns to Halloween Town all enthused about Christmas and marshals the creepy-crawly denizens of Halloween Town into building toys and skeletal reindeer. They then abduct Santa so that Jack can take his place on Christmas Eve. But Jack's girlfriend Sally has a precognitive dream, one that Jack seems oblivious to, that Christmas will end in disaster this year. The stop motion animated special effects of Nightmare are still pretty impressive but were probably more impressive at the time it was released. The voice talent for The Nightmare Before Christmas is a splendid bunch, taken from the stable of Tim Burton regulars and sketch comedy geniuses. The music and the visuals are inseparable. The songs are at once morbid and joyous, breathing life into characters who are at home with their dark, sinister nature.
  • December 10, 2008
    "Tim Burton's classic returns in 3-D so real, it's scary."

    Jack Skellington (voice of Chris Sarandon) is the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, a realm of reality where the inhabitants make it their life's work to scare humans on Halloween. He's good at his work, and is very ...( read more)popular around town, but it all bores him. In a funk one day, he wanders into a wood where every tree is the doorway to realms serving one or another human holiday, and falls through the doorway into Christmas. There, he sees scenes of such glee and good will that he is overwhelmed. He returns to Halloweentown with the inspiration to persuade his fellow citizens to kidnap Santa and do Christmas in their own Halloweentown way -- complete with snakes and shrunken heads. Despite strong arguments against this project by Jack's otherwise loyal girlfriend, Sally (voice of Catherine O'Hara), Santa (voice of Edward Ivory) is duly captured, and the townspeople prepare a very special Christmas for everyone. Jack is excited about the new plan, and at first doesn't notice that Sally isn't around much anymore. Meanwhile, Oogie Boogie (voice of Ken Page), a sinister opponent of Jack's, has re-kidnapped Santa and has captured Sally as well. Since Sally is the true love of Jack's life and (he eventually realizes) the only one who can be relied upon to tell him the truth in every circumstance, a confrontation with Oogie Boogie becomes inevitable.

    Review
    This is a film defined by its style (both narrative and aesthetic). And Burton's style--as always--is remarkable: sometimes cute, sometimes twisted, always nothing short of amazing. The abundance of campy humor and an innocent journey of personal discovery for the protagonist, Jack Skellington, make the film entertaining for younger viewers, while sometimes-unnerving visuals and dark motifs appeal to an older audience as well; truly a masterful blending of themes. The Nightmare Before Christmas is ranked high up there as one of the best musicals ever. Truly memorable classic.
  • October 18, 2008
    The imagery definitely outweighs the story, but since its also geared towards kids, that's no surprise. Still a classic, I'm sure this will be one of the last movies of its kind. It manages to enthrall the young and old(er) alike and manages to work its way into the obligatory ho...( read more)liday category.
  • November 9, 2009
    enjoyed it 2nd time round
  • November 8, 2009
    Completely charming in a serial killer meets Romper Room kind of way. Yeah, I know it's art and Tim Burton is an artistic director, but, geez, what a wacked out acid trip this film was AND on top of it being a musical. Worth a viewing if you're in the mood to be awed by the art, ...( read more)but also in the mood for going "What the hell am I watching?"
  • November 6, 2009
    who dosen't like this movie?
  • November 6, 2009
    I don't think it gets any better in 3D... it was already a great movie... though, at least it's a good chance to finally watch it on a movie teather instead of the usual repetitions on a tv.
    I still want to see it on the big screen but in english.
  • November 5, 2009
    "This was good, would like to see it again"

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