31 Days of Halloween Films #16: The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Lowdown: Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, is getting a little tired of doing the same thing every year. Longing to experience more of life, he discovers a door to Christmas Town, a place of happiness, snow and Santa. Wishing to bring Christmas to Halloween Town, Jack leads a misguided attempt to abduct Santa and have a Christmas celebration of his own, not realizing the impact it would have on his town and the world around them.
The Breakdown: Yeah, I went there. The Nightmare Before Christmas gets a bum rap for being the hipster/goth kid wet dream, combining the with and art style of Tim Burton with the flawless technical direction of Henry Selick and some good ol’ Disney money to make one of the greatest animated films of all time. TNBC sticks to its’ guns right from the get-go, keeping the content light enough for kids but also dark enough for adults to really sink their teeth into. The use of stop-motion famously delayed production on the film for a few years, but the end result is so smooth and good looking that you’d be hard pressed to find the medium utilized this well anywhere else.
If I could rate just the creativity here I’d give it a full 10/10 as every bit of the film is interesting a well thought out. From giving vampires umbrellas to keep them out of the sun to the sinister Oogie Boogie being nothing more than a bag full of maggots and worms, the true wonder and imagination shown here is outstanding. Often, animated or childrens’ films suffer from having to cater primarily to kids and they back off from anything that may be considered too heavy for a child’s mind. Here, Burton has no problem showing his twisted versions of plenty of movie monsters, from an undead maniac with an axe through his head to the classic werewolf. Somehow, through Burton’s filter, all of these elements become somehow innocent and endearing, creating a bonafide Halloween AND Christmas season classic that has teeth and heart.
Of course, being of a certain era, this film has plenty of musical numbers that work beautifully for it. Danny Elfman, formerly of Oingo Boingo and the voice of Jack’s singing voice in the film, provides one of his better scores here as well as the songs sung throughout. From “What’s This?” to “This Is Halloween”, the energy and fun permeating every song is infectious. Often, music in these films can be grating. Disney has had its’ success in this department for sure, from Phil Collins on Tarzan to Elton John with The Lion King and, of course, Randy Newman with Toy Story. The music here seems to combine the more bombastic choral stuff heard in “This Is Halloween” with elements of an almost New Orleans’ style on songs like Oogie Boogie’s “Nightcore”. The music is varied enough where each song, even the sentimental and schmaltzy ones, work well and keep the momentum going throughout.
The Comedown: I’m super biased in reviewing this movie since it is one of my all time favorites. It has got a simple but compelling story about relationships, a misguided but overall morally good hero, and it combines my two favorite holidays into one story. Nothing gets me in the Halloween mood more than this Tim Burton joint, a cocktail of all things spooky, funny and fun. I don’t know of any other film that so tangibly combines all the greatest elements of Halloween into one singular vision, and I’d be surprised if we ever get another animated film with such balls as this one.
Jim Law
October 16, 2013 @ 5:30 pm
Seriously might be one of my favorite films ever. Seriously. So drunk.
peter
October 16, 2013 @ 7:59 pm
haha