The Nightmare Before Christmas: Tim Burton's Spooky Delight

 


As it is nearing the end of October, I feel it appropriate to discuss a Halloween classic.

 The Nightmare Before Christmas is a stop motion animated movie from 1993. Directed by Henry Selick and produced by Tim Burton. Their wonderfully eerie style emanates from the screen.

The film follows Jack Skellington the ‘Pumpkin King’ of Halloween Town. We find that Jack has become jaded with Halloween, sick of doing the same thing every year. While wandering through the woods Jack finds a tree with a door on it. After entering, he finds himself enamoured within a world of Christmas Joy. Jack gleefully tells the townsfolk all about Christmas. Eventually Jack and the Halloween Town residents decide to take Santa’s place and deliver their own spooky version of Christmas which ends up failing hilariously.

 

I love this movie, it’s such a pleasure to put on every year between October and December.

The film is full of iconic character designs such as Oogie Boogie and Jack Skellington who are wonderfully animated using stop motion puppetry. The design of Halloween town is one of my favourite aspects of the film. I love the aesthetic of the ash black hills swirling in on themselves, illuminated by a moonlit sky. It’s reminiscent of Starry Night by Van Gogh if it were mixed with the creepy edge of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki.

The soundtrack is great. Written Danny Elfman each song does a great job of conveying the feelings and emotions of the characters throughout the story. The characters are interesting and engaging thanks to the voice talents of Chris Sarandon as Jack who is a joy to watch, as well as Catherine O’Hara as Sally who does a good job playing the voice of reason throughout the film as Jack learns to accept who he is.

This movie is just pain fun. If you are looking for something good to watch this Halloween (or Christmas) season I believe this film to be a solid choice.

 


If you are a fan of stop motion animation, then check out my review of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

 

Have you seen this film? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments below.

If you liked this review, then don’t forget to share it with someone else.

Comments

  1. Aidan MccaugheyOctober 27, 2023 at 5:05 AM

    Hello

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JamesOctober 27, 2023 at 5:05 AM

      Great read. Will definitely have to give it a watch after this insightful review.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: Review an Analysis

Image
  Nausicaa of the valley of the wind is an awesome animated movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Nausicaa is a post-apocalyptic fantasy film set 1000 years after the unleashing of the God Warriors. Weapons of mass destruction which wiped out most of humanity and left behind the Toxic Jungle which is home to giant insects and deadly spores which have been spreading throughout the world. The film follows Princess Nausicaa a kind-hearted woman whose kingdom in the Valley of The Wind is invaded by the neighbouring Tolmekian army who wish to use the valley as a launching ground for their ultimate weapon to destroy the Toxic Jungle believing this will prevent its spread. Nausicaa must find a way to stop this before her kingdom is destroyed in the process. Miyazaki’s dedication to world-building is shown through the three main kingdoms which all have their own unique fashion, architecture, and aircraft design. This succeeds in providing aesthetic personality to the different factions from the
Read more

Princess Mononoke: Film Review and Analysis

Image
  Created by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Princess Mononoke is a historical fantasy epic set in a mythical interpretation of 14th century Japan. The story follows Ashitaka, prince of the Emishi tribe. After being forced to kill a demon boar Ashitaka is left with a cursed wound. The curse grants Ashitaka strength when angry; but using this strength exacerbates the curse. Ashitaka is informed that he is fated to die from the curse unless he travels west to investigate the wrongs that led to the demon’s creation. Out west, Ashitaka discovers a violent struggle between the gods of the forest and the humans of Irontown who are destroying the forest to mine iron. Fighting alongside the gods is San, a human girl raised by the wolf god Moro. She personifies the god’s hatred of humanity’s greed. Ashitaka hates this war and wishes to end it peacefully. He must resist his anger, or the curse will spread. Similarly, San must learn to overcome her hatred of humanity to work alo
Read more