''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (formerly known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American
stop motion
Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
animated
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language
** Gothic ( ...
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
fantasy film
Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...
directed by
Henry Selick
Charles Henry Selick Jr. (; born November 30, 1952) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his work in stop motion animation and for directing the films ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ''James and the Giant Peach (film) ...
in his feature directorial debut and produced and conceived by
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...
. It tells the story of
Jack Skellington
Jack Skellington is the protagonist of the 1993 film ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. He is a skeleton who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, a fantasy world based solely on the eponymous holiday. Jack is voiced by Chris Sarandon. Danny E ...
, the King of
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
Town, who stumbles upon
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
Town and schemes to take over the holiday.
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...
wrote the songs and score and provided the singing voice of Jack. The principal voice cast includes
Chris Sarandon
Christopher Sarandon (; born July 24, 1942) is an American actor. He is well known for playing Jerry Dandrige in '' Fright Night'' (1985), Prince Humperdinck in '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), Detective Mike Norris in '' Child's Play'' (1988), a ...
,
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She started her career in sketch comedy, sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dra ...
,
William Hickey,
Ken Page
Kenneth Page (January 20, 1954 – September 30, 2024) was an American actor and cabaret singer who created the part of Ken in the original Broadway production of '' Ain't Misbehavin and played Old Deuteronomy in the original Broadway and fi ...
,
Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens (; ; August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.
Born in Peekskill, New York and raised in both Oneonta, New York and Sarasota, Flo ...
,
Glenn Shadix
William Glenn Shadix (April 15, 1952 – September 7, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for his roles as Otho Fenlock in Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' and the Mayor of Halloween Town in ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. ...
and Ed Ivory.
''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' originated from a poem written by Burton in 1982 while he was working as an animator at
Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
. With the critical success of ''
Vincent
Vincent (Latin: ''Vincentius'') is a masculine given name originating from the Roman name ''Vincentius'', which itself comes from the Latin verb ''vincere'', meaning "to conquer."
People with the given name Artists
*Vincent Apap (1909–2003) ...
'' that same year, Burton began to consider developing the film as either a
short film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
or a half-hour television special, to no avail. Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project, and, in 1990, he made a development deal with
Walt Disney Studios. Production started in July 1991; Disney initially released the film through the
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...
label because the studio believed the film's
gothic tone would be "too dark and scary for kids".
''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' premiered at the
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...
on October 9, 1993, and was given a limited release on October 13, before its wide theatrical release on October 29. The film was met with commercial and critical success upon release, earning praise for its animation, particularly the innovation of stop-motion as an art form, as well as its characters, songs, and score. While initially a modest box-office hit, it has since garnered a large
cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
and is widely regarded as one of the greatest animated films
of all time. It was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creatin ...
, a first for an animated film; it lost to ''
Jurassic Park
''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...
''. Thirteen years after its initial release, the film was
reissue
In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions.
Reasons for reissue
New audio formats
Reco ...
d by
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...
and was re-released annually in
Disney Digital 3-D
Disney Digital 3-D is a brand name used by The Walt Disney Company to describe 3D films made and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures mostly under the Walt Disney Pictures label and shown exclusively using digital projection.
Disney ...
from 2006 until 2010.
In 2023, the film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...
by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."
Plot
Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
Town is a
fantasy world
A fantasy world or fictional world is a world created for fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds feature magical abilities. Some worlds may be a parallel world connected to Earth via magical portals or items ...
populated by various monsters and supernatural beings.
Jack Skellington
Jack Skellington is the protagonist of the 1993 film ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. He is a skeleton who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, a fantasy world based solely on the eponymous holiday. Jack is voiced by Chris Sarandon. Danny E ...
, the well-respected Pumpkin King, leads the town in organizing the annual Halloween celebrations. This year however, Jack grows tired of the same routine and longs for something new. Upon discovering trees containing doors to other holiday-themed worlds, Jack stumbles through the one leading to
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
Town and is fascinated by the unfamiliar holiday.
Jack returns home and shares his discovery with his friends and neighbors, but they struggle to grasp the concept of Christmas, although they can relate to
Santa Claus
Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...
, whom they name "Sandy Claws", mistaking him for a lobster king. After several futile attempts at finding a way to rationally explain Christmas, Jack decides to "improve" the holiday instead. He announces that Halloween Town will take over Christmas this year and assigns Christmas-themed jobs, such as singing carols, making presents and building a sleigh pulled by skeletal
reindeer
The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...
, to various residents.
Sally, the creation of local
mad scientist
The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...
Doctor Finkelstein, experiences a
vision
Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to:
Perception Optical perception
* Visual perception, the sense of sight
* Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight
* Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...
predicting that their efforts will end disastrously. Jack, whom she secretly loves, dismisses her warnings and instructs her to make a Santa Claus suit for him. He tasks mischievous
trick-or-treating
Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". Th ...
trio Lock, Shock and Barrel with abducting Santa; however, he orders them not to involve their superior Oogie Boogie, a
bogeyman
The bogeyman (; also spelled or known as bogyman, bogy, bogey, and, in US English, also boogeyman) is a mythical creature typically used to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearances, and conceptions vary drast ...
with a passion for
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...
, in their plot.
When Lock, Shock and Barrel bring Santa to Halloween Town, Jack, surprised that he is not the clawed man he expected, tells Santa that he will take care of Christmas this year and orders the trio to keep Santa safe. However, they disobey Jack's orders and bring Santa to Oogie, who plots to play a game with Santa's life at stake. As Jack departs to deliver presents in the real world, Sally (after failing to stop Jack from carrying out his plans) attempts to rescue Santa from Oogie, only to be captured herself.
Jack's presents terrify the real world's populace, who contact the local authorities and are instructed to lock down their homes for protection. The military is alerted and Jack is shot out of the sky, leading Halloween Town's populace to believe he is dead. It is revealed that he survived and has crashed into a cemetery. Bemoaning the trouble that he has caused, Jack realizes he nonetheless enjoyed the experience and that it gave him new ideas for celebrating Halloween, reigniting his love for the holiday.
Upon returning home, Jack rescues Santa and Sally, confronts Oogie and defeats him by unraveling a thread holding his cloth form together, causing all of the bugs inside Oogie to spill out and reduce him to nothing. Though displeased with Jack for his foolish actions and not listening to Sally earlier, Santa makes amends with Jack and resumes his yearly duties, replacing Jack's presents with genuine ones.
All of Halloween Town celebrates Jack's return. Santa brings a snowfall to the town, thereby bringing the Christmas spirit upon it, while Jack and Sally finally declare their love for each other on top of the Spiral Hill.
Voice cast
*
Chris Sarandon
Christopher Sarandon (; born July 24, 1942) is an American actor. He is well known for playing Jerry Dandrige in '' Fright Night'' (1985), Prince Humperdinck in '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), Detective Mike Norris in '' Child's Play'' (1988), a ...
(speaking voice) and
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...
(singing voice) as
Jack Skellington
Jack Skellington is the protagonist of the 1993 film ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. He is a skeleton who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, a fantasy world based solely on the eponymous holiday. Jack is voiced by Chris Sarandon. Danny E ...
, a
skeleton
A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...
known as the "Pumpkin King" of Halloween Town.
Elfman was initially cast as Jack's singing voice and, after the songs were recorded, Sarandon was cast to match Elfman's voice style.
[
** Elfman also voices:
*** Barrel, one of the trick-or-treaters working for Oogie Boogie.]
*** The Clown with the Tear-Away Face, a demonic entity disguised as a unicycle-riding clown.
* Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She started her career in sketch comedy, sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dra ...
as:
** Sally, a rag doll
A rag doll is a doll made from scraps of fabric. They are one of the oldest children's toys in existence. Today, many rag dolls are commercially produced to mimic aspects of the original home-made dolls, such as simple features, soft cloth bodies, ...
-like creation of Finkelstein and Jack's love interest. She is a toxicologist
Toxicology is a scientific discipline (academia), discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnos ...
who uses various types of poison to liberate herself from the captivity of her creator. She is psychic and has premonitions when something bad is about to happen. O'Hara had previously co-starred in Burton's ''Beetlejuice
''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American Gothic film, gothic dark fantasy comedy horror film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Michael McDowell (author), Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren based on a story by McDowell and Larry Wilson (sc ...
''.
** Shock, one of the trick-or-treaters working for Oogie Boogie.
* William Hickey as Doctor Finkelstein, a mad scientist
The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...
and the loving and overbearing creator of Sally. He is listed in the credits only as "Evil Scientist" and is only mentioned by name twice in the film.
* Glenn Shadix
William Glenn Shadix (April 15, 1952 – September 7, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for his roles as Otho Fenlock in Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' and the Mayor of Halloween Town in ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. ...
as the Mayor of Halloween Town, an enthusiastic leader who conducts town meetings. His double-sided head spins between a "happy" and "sad" face, mirroring his wild mood swings; where some career politicians are described as figuratively two-faced, the mayor is literally so. Shadix and Burton had previously worked on ''Beetlejuice''.
* Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens (; ; August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.
Born in Peekskill, New York and raised in both Oneonta, New York and Sarasota, Flo ...
as Lock, one of the trick-or-treaters working for Oogie Boogie. Reubens and Burton had previously worked on ''Pee-wee's Big Adventure
''Pee-wee's Big Adventure'' is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed by Tim Burton in his feature-film directing debut. The film stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman, along with Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger and Judd O ...
'' and ''Batman Returns
''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters (screenwriter), Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' (1989) and th ...
''.
* Ken Page
Kenneth Page (January 20, 1954 – September 30, 2024) was an American actor and cabaret singer who created the part of Ken in the original Broadway production of '' Ain't Misbehavin and played Old Deuteronomy in the original Broadway and fi ...
as Oogie Boogie
This article lists characters seen in the 1993 film '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' and the video games '' The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King'' and '' The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge''.
Design
The filmmakers c ...
, a villainous bogeyman
The bogeyman (; also spelled or known as bogyman, bogy, bogey, and, in US English, also boogeyman) is a mythical creature typically used to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearances, and conceptions vary drast ...
in Halloween Town, who has a passion for gambling and rivalry with Jack.
* Ed Ivory as Santa Claus
Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...
, the ruler of Christmas Town. Santa is responsible for the annual celebration of Christmas, in which he delivers presents to children in the real world. He is also referred to by Jack and Halloween Town's residents as "Sandy Claws". Ivory also provides the brief narration at the start of the film.
* Joe Ranft
Joseph Henry Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. His younger broth ...
as Igor (uncredited), one of Doctor Finkelstein's creations and his lab assistant.
The cast also features Debi Durst, Greg Proops
Gregory Everett Proops (born October 3, 1959) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work on the British and American versions of '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. He has also voiced the titular ch ...
, Kerry Katz, Randy Crenshaw, Sherwood Ball, Carmen Twillie, Glenn Walters, and John Morris voicing various characters. Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
recorded narration for a prologue and epilogue. While not used in the final film, the narration is included on the soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
.
Production
Development
As writer Tim Burton's upbringing in Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...
, was associated with the feeling of solitude, the filmmaker was largely fascinated by holidays during his childhood. "Anytime there was Christmas or Halloween, ��it was great. It gave you some sort of texture all of a sudden that wasn't there before," Burton would later recall. After completing his short film ''Vincent
Vincent (Latin: ''Vincentius'') is a masculine given name originating from the Roman name ''Vincentius'', which itself comes from the Latin verb ''vincere'', meaning "to conquer."
People with the given name Artists
*Vincent Apap (1909–2003) ...
'' in 1982, Burton, who was then employed at Walt Disney Feature Animation
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
, wrote a three-page poem titled ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'', drawing inspiration from television specials of ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on C ...
'', ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a children's Christmas book by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a green cranky, solitary creature who attempts to thwart the pu ...
'' and the poem '' A Visit from St. Nicholas''. Burton intended to adapt the poem into a television special with the narration spoken by his favorite actor, Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...
, but also considered other options such as a children's book. He created concept art
Concept art is a form of visual art used to convey an idea for use in film, video games, animation, comic books, television shows, or other media before it is put into the final product. The term was used by the Walt Disney Animation Studios ...
and storyboard
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding proce ...
s for the project in collaboration with Rick Heinrichs
Richard Heinrichs is an American production designer, visual effects, effects artist, art director and film producer. He is well known for his frequent collaborations with director Tim Burton and his work on the Pirates of the Caribbean (film ser ...
, who also sculpted
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
character models;[Avins, Mimi (November 1993). "Ghoul World". '']Premiere
A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work.
History
Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...
'': pp. 24–30. Retrieved on September 26, 2008. Burton later showed his and Heinrichs' works-in-progress to Henry Selick
Charles Henry Selick Jr. (; born November 30, 1952) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his work in stop motion animation and for directing the films ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ''James and the Giant Peach (film) ...
, also a Disney animator at the time. After the success of ''Vincent'' in 1982, Disney started to consider developing ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' as either a short film or 30-minute holiday television special. However, the project's development eventually stalled, as its tone seemed "too weird" to the company. As Disney was unable to "offer his nocturnal loners enough scope", Burton was fired from the studio in 1984 and went on to direct the commercially successful films ''Beetlejuice
''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American Gothic film, gothic dark fantasy comedy horror film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Michael McDowell (author), Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren based on a story by McDowell and Larry Wilson (sc ...
'' (1988) and ''Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
'' (1989) for Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...
.
Over the years, Burton regularly thought about the project. In 1990, Burton found out that Disney still owned the film rights
Film rights are rights under copyright law to produce a film as a derivative work of a given item of intellectual property. In US law, these rights belong to the holder of the copyright, who may sell (or " option") them to someone in the film indus ...
. He and Selick committed to produce a full-length film expanding on the poem's storyline with the latter as director. Selick chose not to work with MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
for a series based on his short film ''Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions'' to direct this film. Burton's own success with live-action films piqued the interest of Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...
, who saw the film as an opportunity to continue the studio's streak of recent successes in feature animation. Disney was looking forward to ''Nightmare'' "to show capabilities of technical and storytelling achievements that were present in ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...
''." Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...
president David Hoberman
David Elliot Hoberman (born September 19, 1952) is an American film and television producer, best known as the co-creator and executive producer of the USA Network television series ''Monk'', and the founder and co-owner of Mandeville Films. He ...
believed the film would prove to be a creative achievement for Disney's image, elaborating "we can think outside the envelope. We can do different and unusual things."
''Nightmare'' marked Burton's third consecutive film with a Christmas setting. Burton could not direct because of his commitment to ''Batman Returns
''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters (screenwriter), Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' (1989) and th ...
'', and he did not want to be involved with "the painstakingly slow process of stop motion
Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
". To adapt his poem into a screenplay, Burton approached Michael McDowell, his collaborator on ''Beetlejuice
''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American Gothic film, gothic dark fantasy comedy horror film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Michael McDowell (author), Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren based on a story by McDowell and Larry Wilson (sc ...
''. McDowell and Burton experienced creative differences, which convinced Burton to make the film as a musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
with lyrics and compositions by frequent collaborator Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...
. Elfman and Burton created a rough storyline and two-thirds of the film's songs. Elfman found writing ''Nightmare''s eleven songs to be "one of the easiest jobs I've ever had. I had a lot in common with Jack Skellington
Jack Skellington is the protagonist of the 1993 film ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. He is a skeleton who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, a fantasy world based solely on the eponymous holiday. Jack is voiced by Chris Sarandon. Danny E ...
." Caroline Thompson
Caroline Thompson (born April 23, 1956) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer. She wrote the screenplays for the Tim Burton-directed films '' Edward Scissorhands'' and '' Corpse Bride'' and the Burton-produced '' Th ...
had yet to be hired to write the screenplay. With Thompson's screenplay, Selick stated, "there are very few lines of dialogue that are Caroline's. She became busy on other films and we were constantly rewriting, re-configuring and developing the film visually." Thompson clashed with Burton and he also destroyed the editing machine after she said she wanted to redraft the film's ending.
Filming
Selick and his team of animators began production in July 1991 in San Francisco, California, with a crew of over 120 workers, utilizing 20 sound stage
A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a large, soundproof structure, building or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or te ...
s for filming. Joe Ranft
Joseph Henry Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. His younger broth ...
was hired from Disney as a storyboard supervisor, while Eric Leighton was hired to supervise animation. At the peak of production, 20 individual stages were simultaneously being used for filming. In total, there were 109,440 frames taken for the film. The work of Ray Harryhausen
Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 ...
, Ladislas Starevich
Ladislas Starevich (, ; August 8, 1882 – February 26, 1965) was a Polish-Russian stop-motion animator notable as the author of the first puppet-animated film '' The Beautiful Leukanida'' (1912). He also used dead insects and other animals as p ...
, Edward Gorey
Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an Americans, American writer, Tony Awards, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for book ...
, Étienne Delessert, Gahan Wilson
Gahan Allen Wilson (February 18, 1930 – November 21, 2019) was an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations.
Biography
Wilson was born in Evanston, Illinois, and was inspired by th ...
, Charles Addams
Charles Samuel Addams (January 7, 1912 – September 29, 1988) was an American cartoonist known for his darkly humorous and macabre characters. Some of his recurring characters became known as the Addams Family, and were subsequently populari ...
, Jan Lenica
Jan Lenica (4 January 1928, Poznań, Poland – 5 October 2001, Berlin) was a Polish graphic designer and cartoonist.
A graduate of the Architecture Department of Warsaw Polytechnic, Lenica became a poster illustrator and a collaborator on the e ...
, Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
, and Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...
influenced the filmmakers. Selick described the production design
In film industry, film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and ...
as akin to a pop-up book
A pop-up book is any book with three-dimensional space, three-dimensional pages, often with elements that ''pop up'' as a page is turned. The terminology serves as an umbrella term for movable book, pop-ups, tunnel books, transformations, volvel ...
. In addition, Selick stated, "When we reach Halloween Town, it's entirely German Expressionism
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...
. When Jack enters Christmas Town, it's an outrageous Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel ( ;["Seuss"](_blank)
'' Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...
, Don Ameche
Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, repertory theatre, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 19 ...
, and James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...
were considered to provide the narration for the film's prologue; however, all proved difficult to cast, and the producers instead hired local voice artist Ed Ivory. Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
provided the prologue narration for the film's soundtrack.
On the direction of the film, Selick reflected, "It's as though urtonlaid the egg, and I sat on it and hatched it. He wasn't involved in a hands-on way, but his hand is in it. It was my job to make it look like 'a Tim Burton film', which is not so different from my own films."[David Helpern (December 1994). "Animated Dreams", '']Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'', pp. 33—37. Retrieved on September 26, 2008. When asked about Burton's involvement, Selick claimed, "I don't want to take away from Tim, but he was not in San Francisco when we made it. He came up five times over two years, and spent no more than eight or ten days in total."[ ]Walt Disney Feature Animation
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
contributed with digital effects and some second-layering traditional animation
Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawing, drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation of the 20th century, until there wa ...
. Burton found production somewhat difficult, because he was simultaneously filming ''Batman Returns
''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters (screenwriter), Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' (1989) and th ...
'' and in pre-production
Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, video game, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the co ...
for ''Ed Wood
Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novelist.
In the 1950s, Wood directed several B movie, low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult c ...
''.
The filmmakers constructed 227 puppets to represent the characters in the movie, with Jack Skellington having "around four hundred heads", allowing the expression of every possible emotion. Sally's mouth movements "were animated through the replacement method. During the animation process, ��only Sally's face 'mask' was removed in order to preserve the order of her long, red hair. Sally had ten types of faces, each made with a series of eleven expressions (e.g. eyes open and closed, and various facial poses) and synchronized mouth movements." The stop-motion figurine of Jack was reused in ''James and the Giant Peach
''James and the Giant Peach'' is a children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of it over ...
'' (also directed by Selick) as Captain Jack.
Soundtracks
The film's soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
was released in 1993 on Walt Disney Records
Walt Disney Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from the Walt Disney Company's Walt Disney Studios (division), motion picture studios, television shows, Disney Experiences, them ...
. The film's soundtrack contains bonus tracks, including a longer prologue and an extra epilogue, both narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of stage and screen, he has received various accolades, including two Olivier Awards and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for a Tony ...
. For the film's 2006 re-release in Disney Digital 3-D
Disney Digital 3-D is a brand name used by The Walt Disney Company to describe 3D films made and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures mostly under the Walt Disney Pictures label and shown exclusively using digital projection.
Disney ...
, a special edition of the soundtrack was released, featuring a bonus disc that contained covers of five of the film's songs by Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...
, Panic! at the Disco
Panic! at the Disco was an American pop rock band formed in Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2004 by high school friends Ryan Ross (guitar) and Spencer Smith (musician), Spencer Smith (drums), who recruited classmates Brendon Urie (vocals and ...
, Marilyn Manson
Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...
, Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She released five albums from 1996 to 2020, all of which reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart. As of 2021, she has sold over ...
, and She Wants Revenge
She Wants Revenge is an American rock band, based in San Fernando Valley, California. Formed in 2004, the band is a duo of singer and guitarist Justin Warfield and multi-instrumentalist Adam Bravin. Their music has been influenced by post-pun ...
. Four original demo tracks by Elfman were also included. On September 30, 2008, Disney released the cover album ''Nightmare Revisited
''Nightmare Revisited'' is a cover album of songs and score from the 1993 Disney animated film ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. It was released on September 30, 2008 by Walt Disney Records to commemorate the film's 15th anniversary of its the ...
'', featuring artists such as Amy Lee
Amy Lynn Lee (born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, lead songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Evanescence. A classically trained pianist, Lee began writing music at ...
, Flyleaf, Korn
Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...
, Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...
, Plain White T's
The Plain White T's are an American pop rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground followin ...
, The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects (often abbreviated as AAR) are an American rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1999.[gothic rock
Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...]
band London After Midnight featured a cover of "Sally's Song" on their 1998 album '' Oddities''. Pentatonix
Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) are an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements wit ...
released a cover of "Making Christmas" for their 2018 Christmas album '' Christmas Is Here!''. In 2003, the Disneyland ''Haunted Mansion Holiday
Haunted Mansion Holiday is a seasonal overlay of The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland that blends the settings and characters of the original Haunted Mansion with those of the 1993 film '' The Nightmare Before Chri ...
'' soundtrack CD was released. Although most of the album's songs are not original ones from the film, one song is a medley of "Making Christmas", "What's This?", and "Kidnap the Sandy Claws". Other songs included are original holiday songs changed to incorporate the theme of the film. However, the last song is the soundtrack for the Disneyland Haunted Mansion Holiday
Haunted Mansion Holiday is a seasonal overlay of The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland that blends the settings and characters of the original Haunted Mansion with those of the 1993 film '' The Nightmare Before Chri ...
ride.
Release
''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' was originally going to be released under Walt Disney Pictures as part of the Walt Disney Feature Animation
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
lineup, but Disney decided to release the film under the studio's adult-oriented Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...
banner, because the studio thought the film would be "too dark and scary for kids," Selick remembered. "Their biggest fear, and why it was kind of a stepchild project, asthey were afraid of their core audience hating the film and not coming." To convey Burton's involvement and attract a wider audience, Disney marketed the film as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.'' According to Selick, the decision was made approximately three weeks before the film went into wide release. Burton explained that, "…it turned more into more of a brand-name
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
thing, it turned into something else, which I'm not quite sure about." The film made its world premiere on the opening day celebration of the New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...
on October 9, 1993, and was given a limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on October 13, 1993, before its wide theatrical release on October 29, 1993.
Reissues and re-releases
''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' was reissue
In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions.
Reasons for reissue
New audio formats
Reco ...
d under the Walt Disney Pictures label and re-released on October 20, 2006, with conversion to Disney Digital 3-D
Disney Digital 3-D is a brand name used by The Walt Disney Company to describe 3D films made and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures mostly under the Walt Disney Pictures label and shown exclusively using digital projection.
Disney ...
, and was accompanied by Pixar
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
's short film ''Knick Knack
''Knick Knack'' is a 1989 American animated short film produced by Pixar that was written and directed by John Lasseter. The short is about a snow globe snowman who wants to join the other travel souvenirs in a summer-themed party. However, the ...
''.[ ]Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...
assisted in the process. It subsequently re-released on October 19, 2007, October 24, 2008, and October 23, 2009. The El Capitan Theatre
El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple (now known as the El Capitan Entert ...
in Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
, California, has been showing the film in 4-D screenings annually in October, ending on Halloween, since 2010. The reissues have led to a reemergence of 3-D films
3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema and later experienced a worldwide re ...
and advances in RealD Cinema
RealD 3D is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3D films in theaters. Worldwide, RealD 3D is installed in more than 26,500 auditoriums by approximately 1 ...
.
In October 2020, ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' was re-released in 2,194 theaters. It grossed $1.3 million over the weekend, finishing fourth behind ''Tenet''. For the film's 30th anniversary and in commemoration of The Walt Disney Company's centennial
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include:
* Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
, it was re-released in theaters across the United States and Canada on October 20, 2023, including engagements in 4DX. The film was once again theatrically re-released on October 11, 2024.
Home media
With years of successful home video
Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...
sales, ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' later achieved the ranks of a cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...
.[ Touchstone Home Video first released the film on ]VHS
VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s.
Ma ...
and LaserDisc
LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...
(in both deluxe CAV and widescreen editions) on September 30, 1994, and on DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on December 2, 1997. ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' was released on DVD a second time on October 3, 2000, as a special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...
. The release included an audio commentary
An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
by Selick and cinematographer Pete Kozachik, a 28-minute making-of https://www Googlefinans.co=
In filmmaking, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK ( ...
documentary, a gallery of concept art, storyboards, test footage and deleted scene
A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread, and can al ...
s. Burton's ''Vincent
Vincent (Latin: ''Vincentius'') is a masculine given name originating from the Roman name ''Vincentius'', which itself comes from the Latin verb ''vincere'', meaning "to conquer."
People with the given name Artists
*Vincent Apap (1909–2003) ...
'' (1982) and '' Frankenweenie'' (1984) were also included. Both DVDs were non-anamorphic widescreen releases. The film was released on UMD for PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
on October 25, 2005.
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment reissued the DVD (this time with an anamorphic transfer) and on Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...
(for the first time) on August 26, 2008, as a two-disc digitally remastered
A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastere ...
"collector's edition", but still containing the same special features. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' on Blu-ray 3D
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-definition ...
on August 30, 2011. The release included a Blu-ray 3D disc, Blu-ray disc and a DVD that includes both a DVD and digital copy
A digital copy is a commercially distributed computer file containing a media product such as a film or music album. The term contrasts this computer file with the physical copy (typically a DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, or Ultra HD Blu-ray disc) wit ...
. In 2018, a sing-along version, accompanied by the theatrical cut and a Movies Anywhere
Movies Anywhere (MA) is a cloud-based digital rights locker and over-the-top streaming platform that allows users to stream and download purchased films, including digital copies redeemed from codes found in home video releases as well as d ...
copy, as a single-disc version for the film's 25th anniversary. In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the film was remastered in 4K and was released on 4K Blu-ray, including extra content, on August 22, 2023.
Marketing
Disney has extensively marketed the film and its characters across many forms of media and memorabilia, including action figures, books, games, art crafts, and fashion products. Jack Skellington, Sally, Pajama Jack, and the Mayor have been made into bendable figures, while Jack and Sally even appear in fine art. Sally has been made into an action figure and a Halloween costume.
Various Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
and the branching theme parks host attractions featuring ''Nightmare'' characters, particularly during Halloween and Christmas seasons. Since 2001, Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
has given its Haunted Mansion Holiday
Haunted Mansion Holiday is a seasonal overlay of The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland that blends the settings and characters of the original Haunted Mansion with those of the 1993 film '' The Nightmare Before Chri ...
attraction a ''Nightmare Before Christmas'' theme for the holiday season. It features characters, decorations and music from the film, in addition to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) is a separate-admission Halloween-themed event held annually during the months of August, September, October, and November at the Magic Kingdom theme park of the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake ...
and Mickey's Halloween Party featuring the film's characters. Additionally, Jack hosts the ''Halloween Screams
''Halloween Screams: A Villainous Surprise in the Skies'' is a Halloween-themed fireworks show that is presented at Disneyland during the seasonal Mickey's Halloween Party event. Based on the similarly themed, former fireworks show '' HalloWish ...
'' and '' Not So Spooky Spectacular!'' fireworks shows at Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is a Amusement park, theme park at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Expe ...
(where the host is Ghost Host) and Disneyland (where the host is Jack himself), as well as the Frightfully Fun Parade.
Reception
Box office
Around the release of the film, Hoberman was quoted, "I hope ''Nightmare'' goes out and makes a fortune. If it does, great. If it doesn't, that doesn't negate the validity of the process. The budget was less than any Disney blockbuster so it doesn't have to earn ''Aladdin
Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
''-sized grosses to satisfy us." The film earned $50 million in the United States in its initial theatrical run and was regarded as a moderate sleeper hit
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...
.
''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' made an additional $11.1 million in box office gross in its 2006 reissue. The 2007, 2008, 2009, 2020, and 2023 reissues earned $15.8 million, $2.5 million, $2.3 million, and $10 million, respectively, increasing the film's total box office gross to $107.8 million. It would also finish in top 10 during the first three-day weekend of its 2024 re-release, grossing $2.4 million.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' holds a rating of 95% based on 106 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' is a stunningly original and visually delightful work of stop-motion animation." On Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
praised the film's visual inventiveness: "One of the many pleasures of ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'' is that there is not a single recognizable landscape in it. Everything looks strange and haunting. Even Santa Claus would be difficult to recognize without his red-and-white uniform." He wrote that it presented a world "that is as completely new as the worlds we saw for the first time in such films as ''Metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big city b ...
'', ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' () is a 1920 German silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. The quintessential work of early German Expressionist cinema, it tells the story of an insane hypno ...
'' and ''Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
''. What all of these films have in common is a visual richness, so abundant they deserve more than one viewing." He wrote that "The songs by Danny Elfman are fun too, a couple of them using lyrics so clever they could be updated from Gilbert & Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic ...
. And the choreography, liberated from gravity and reality, has an energy of its own, as when the furniture, the architecture, and the very landscape itself gets in on the act." He notes that "some of the Halloween creatures might be a tad scary for smaller children, but this is the kind of movie older kids will eat up; it has the kind of offbeat, subversive energy that tells them wonderful things are likely to happen."
Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film i ...
of ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' called it a restoration of "originality and daring to the Halloween genre. This dazzling mix of fun and fright also explodes the notion that animation is kid stuff. … It's 74 minutes of timeless movie magic." James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...
stated "''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' has something to offer just about everyone. For the kids, it's a fantasy celebrating two holidays. For the adults, it's an opportunity to experience some light entertainment while marveling at how adept Hollywood has become at these techniques. There are songs, laughs, and a little romance. In short, ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' does what it intends to: entertain." Desson Thomson
Desson Patrick Thomson is a speechwriter, journalist and film critic. He was a speechwriter for the Obama administration and film critic for ''The Washington Post''. He was known as Desson Howe until 2003 when he changed his name after reunitin ...
of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' enjoyed the film's similarities to the writings of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
and the Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...
, as well as ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' () is a 1920 German silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. The quintessential work of early German Expressionist cinema, it tells the story of an insane hypno ...
'' and other German Expressionist
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
films.
Michael A. Morrison discusses the influence of Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel ( ;["Seuss"](_blank)
'' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a children's Christmas book by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a green cranky, solitary creature who attempts to thwart the pu ...
'' on the film, writing that Jack parallels the Grinch and Zero parallels Max, the Grinch's dog.[Michael A. Morrison, ''Trajectories of the Fantastic: Selected Essays from the Fourteenth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts'' (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997)]
154
. Philip Nel
Philip W. Nel (born March 29, 1969) is an American scholar of children's literature and University Distinguished Professor of English at Kansas State University. He is best known for his work on Dr. Seuss and ''Harry Potter'', which has led to h ...
writes that the film "challenges the wisdom of adults through its trickster characters", contrasting Jack as a "good trickster" with Oogie Boogie, whom he also compares with Seuss' Dr. Terwilliker as a bad trickster. ''Entertainment Weekly'' reports that fan reception of these characters borders on obsession, profiling Laurie and Myk Rudnick, a couple whose "degree of obsession with hefilm is so great that … they named their son after the real-life person that a character in the film is based on." This enthusiasm for the characters has also been profiled as having spread beyond North America to Japan. Yvonne Tasker
Yvonne Tasker (born 1964) is an English scholar in the field of film studies, gender and the media. She co-authored ''Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture'' which has become a foundational text of postfeminism an ...
notes "the complex characterization seen in ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''".
Accolades
The film was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creatin ...
and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...
.[ ] ''Nightmare'' won the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film
The Saturn Awards for Best Fantasy Film is an award presented to the best film in the fantasy genre by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.
Winners and nominees
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
External links ...
, while Elfman won Best Music. Selick and the animators were also nominated for their work. Elfman was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications out ...
. The film ranked #1 on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
' "Top 25 Best Christmas Movies" list.
Possible sequel
In 2001, Disney began to consider producing a sequel, but rather than using stop motion
Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
, they wanted to use computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...
. Burton convinced Disney to drop the idea. "I was always very protective of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'' not to do sequels or things of that kind," Burton explained. "You know, Jack visits Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...
world or other kinds of things just because I felt the movie had a purity to it and the people that like it, because it's a mass-market kind of thing, it was important to kind of keep that purity of it."[ The 2004 video game '' The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge'' did serve as a sequel of the film, with ]Capcom
is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
's crew of developers going after Burton for advice and having the collaboration of the film's art director, Deane Taylor. In 2009, Selick said he would do a film sequel if he and Burton could create a good story for it.
In February 2019, it was reported that a new ''Nightmare Before Christmas'' film was in the works with Disney considering either a stop-motion sequel or live-action remake. In October 2019, Chris Sarandon
Christopher Sarandon (; born July 24, 1942) is an American actor. He is well known for playing Jerry Dandrige in '' Fright Night'' (1985), Prince Humperdinck in '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), Detective Mike Norris in '' Child's Play'' (1988), a ...
expressed interest on reprising his role as Jack Skellington if a sequel film ever materializes.
On February 22, 2021, Disney Publishing announced that a sequel was given to the 1993 film in the form of a young adult
In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...
novel, released as ''Long Live the Pumpkin Queen''. It was written by Shea Ernshaw and features Sally as the main character, told through her point-of-view, with events taking place after the film. The book was released on August 2, 2022.
In October 2023, Selick stated that he would like to do a prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term ...
film about how Jack became king of Halloween Town. The following month, however, Burton said that he did not want to see any further projects in that universe. In August 2024, Selick expressed doubt that a sequel would ever materialize, not wanting to "beat he film
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
to death."
Related media
In the book ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (2025), the authors note the films long-standing fandom and presence within popular culture.
This includes a proliferation of merchandise surrounding it ranging from action figures, clothing, board games, novels, comics, and jewelry.
Toys and games
Various action figures were released since the films released, including ten from Hasbro in 1993. Alec Plowman in ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (2025) found these action figures "uncharacteristically detailed" for figures of the era with an emphasis on screen accuracy of the characters and being released with display stands. Plowman said this was due to rise of the nascant adult collector market for toys that was emerging in the 1990s. Other brands would release toys for the film in the 21st century including NECA and Funko
Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures Brand licensing, licensed and limited popular culture, pop culture collectibles, known for its licensed Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces li ...
.
A collectible card game
A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. The genre was introduced with ''Magic: The G ...
based on the film called ''The Nightmare Before Christmas TCG'' was released in 2005 by NECA. The game was designed by Quixotic Games founder Andrew Parks Quixotic Games also developed ''The Nightmare Before Christmas Party Game'' that was released in 2007 by NECA. A ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''-themed Jenga
''Jenga'' is a Game of skill, game of physical skill created by British board game designer and author Leslie Scott (game designer), Leslie Scott and marketed by Hasbro. The name comes from the Swahili language, Swahili word "" which means 'to bu ...
game was issued with orange, purple and black blocks with Jack Skellington heads on them. The set comes in a coffin-shaped box instead of the normal rectangular box.
A 168-card ''Munchkin Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas''-themed ''Munchkin
A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. Although a common fixture in Germanic fairy tales, they are introduced to modern audiences with the first appearance in the classic c ...
'' was developed by USAopoly featuring the citizens of Halloween Town such as Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie, Doctor Finkelstein, and Lock, Shock and Barrel. The game comes with a custom die similar to the ones used by Oogie Boogie in the film. On September 15, 2020, a ''Nightmare Before Christmas''-themed tarot
Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...
card deck and guidebook was released and the illustration was done by Abigail Larson. On October 27, 2023, Disney partnered with Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...
to produce a Jack and Sally doll under their ''Monster High
Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010. Aimed at children ages 7–14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi ...
'' toyline.
Books, comics, and manga
In 1993, a pop-up book
A pop-up book is any book with three-dimensional space, three-dimensional pages, often with elements that ''pop up'' as a page is turned. The terminology serves as an umbrella term for movable book, pop-ups, tunnel books, transformations, volvel ...
based on the film was released on October 1. Another pop-up book calendar titled ''Nightmare Before Christmas Pop-Up Book and Advent Calendar'' was released September 29, 2020. Disney Press
Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Experiences, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints include Disney Edition ...
released a ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Party Cookbook: Recipes and Crafts for the Perfect Spooky Party'' on August 21, 2017. A behind-the-scenes art book titled ''Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, the Art, the Vision'' was released on October 14, 1993, and a Disney Editions Deluxe edition was published July 28, 2009.
In 2006, a picture book containing the poem Tim Burton wrote that originated the film was released on August 15. In celebration of the film's 20th anniversary, the poem was re-released with a hardcover edition in 2013. On July 20, 2009, an illustrated book covering the ''Haunted Mansion Holiday
Haunted Mansion Holiday is a seasonal overlay of The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland that blends the settings and characters of the original Haunted Mansion with those of the 1993 film '' The Nightmare Before Chri ...
'' attraction's rendition of " The Twelve Days of Christmas" song titled ''Nightmare Before Christmas: The 13 Days of Christmas'' was published. In celebration of the film's 25th anniversary, a book and CD, featuring narration and sound effects, was released on July 3, 2018.
In honor of the film's 25th anniversary, a Cinestory Comic made by Disney and published by Joe Books LTD was released on September 26, 2017. A graphic novel
A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
retelling of the film by Joe Books LTD was released on July 31, 2018, and digital and hardcover versions were released August 25, 2020. On November 26, 2020, a novel retelling of the film version was released as part of the Disney Animated Classics series. In 2021, another version of ''Nightmare Before Christmas 13 Days of Christmas'' came out on July 6 and was soon followed by Little Golden Books
The Little Golden Books is an American series of children's books, published since 1942. '' The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden ...
's release of their adaptation of ''Nightmare Before Christmas'' on July 13, 2021.
In 2017, Tokyopop
Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...
secured exclusive licensing for two manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
adaptions for ''Nightmare Before Christmas'', with the first manga being an adaptation of the film's plot line, with art by Jun Asuka, released October 17. The second manga, a fully colored series illustrated by Kei Ishiyama and titled ''Zero's Journey'', chronicles the adventures of Jack's dog, Zero, in his experiences beginning in Christmas Town after accidentally getting separated from Jack, who tries to find him, and acts as a sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to the film, with Tim Burton's story approval. The 20 issues were first published monthly, starting on October 2, and then collected into four full-color graphic novels, with a black-and-white collector's edition manga edition as well. Starting on July 21, 2021, Tokyopop released another sequel manga centered around Sally, titled ''The Nightmare Before Christmas: Mirror Moon'', written by Mallory Reaves and fully-colored series illustrated by Gabriella Chianello, and Nataliya Torretta. The first two issues will be collected into a graphic novel that is slated to be released on October 26.
A novelization of the film written by Daphne Skinner was published on January 1, 1994. On August 2, 2022, a young adult novel titled ''Long Live the Pumpkin Queen'' by Shea Ernshaw was released. With Sally as the protagonist, with the premise described as "...takes place shortly after the movie ends. It's the yet-to-be-told love story of Sally and Jack. But it's also a coming-of-age story for Sally, as we see her navigate her new royal title as the Pumpkin Queen of Halloween Town". The novel introduced new characters and explored Sally's past, as well as exploring other holiday worlds as Sally and Jack tackle a mysterious villain Sally has accidentally unleashed. On November 1, 2022, Tokyopop announced a full-colored graphic novel
A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
series titled ''Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Battle for Pumpkin King'', which centers around the friendship and rivalry between a young Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie. The graphic novel consisted of five issues, starting with the first release in May 2023, and the full graphic novel edition is available in September 2023.
A novelization for ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'', written by Megan Shepherd was released on July 4, 2023, to celebrate the 30th anniversary. On July 20, 2023, Shepherd also revealed that she will be writing a sequel to Ernshaw's ''Pumpkin Queen'' book and was expected for release in 2024. On July 19, 2023, Disney announced that it is partnering with Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as ''Army of Darkness'', '' Terminator ...
to publish new comics based on the film, with the first project being written by Torunn Grønbekk. On August 22, 2023, Epic Ink published a cultural book titled "''Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Beyond Halloween Town: The Story, the Characters, and the Legacy" by writer Emily Zemler.
Video games
Two ''Nightmare Before Christmas'' video games were released in the 2000s: '' The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge'' (2004) and '' The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King'' (2005). ''Ooogie's Revenge'' was released first in Japan, with IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
editor Ivan Sulic noting that was due to the film being far more popular in that country than it was in North America. The game acts as a direct narrative sequel set one year after the events of the film. It includes contributions of voice actors and some crew of the film, including the art director.
Concerts
A live concert, produced by Disney Concerts, was held at the Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...
in October 2015 and was followed by subsequent performances in 2016 and 2018. The shows featured Elfman, O'Hara, and Page reprising their roles from the film. In December 2019, this show came to Europe, with dates in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Dublin.
A one-night-only virtual benefit concert presentation of the film, presented by The Actors Fund
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...
and produced by with the cooperation of Burton, Elfman, Disney and Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American trade union, labor union representing those who work in Theatre, live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions w ...
, streamed on October 31, 2020. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Lymphoma Research Foundation, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and its impact on the performing arts. The cast included Iglehart as Oogie Boogie, along with Rafael Casal
Rafael Santiago Casal (born August 8, 1985) is an American writer, rapper, producer, director, actor, musician, and showrunner originally from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Early life
Casal grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California. He was expell ...
as Jack Skellington, Adrienne Warren
Adrienne Warren is an American actress, singer and dancer. She made her Broadway debut in the 2012 musical '' Bring It On'', and in 2016 received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical nomination for her performance in '' Shuffle Alo ...
as Sally, Danny Burstein
Danny Burstein (born June 16, 1964) is an American actor and singer. Known for his work on Broadway theatre, Broadway stage, he's received numerous accolades including a Tony Awards, Tony Award, a Drama League Award and two Drama Desk Award, Dram ...
as Santa Claus and the Narrator, Nik Walker as Lock, Lesli Margherita
Lesli Margherita is an American stage and screen actress. She is best known for originating the roles of Inez in the musical ''Zorro,'' for which she won a Laurence Olivier Award (for Best Supporting Role in a Musical), and Mrs. Wormwood in the B ...
as Shock and Rob McClure
Rob McClure (born June 15, 1982) is an American actor and singer, best known for his work on the Broadway stage.
McClure made his Broadway debut in 2002 as an understudy in '' I'm Not Rappaport''. From 2006 to 2009, he went on to play severa ...
as Barrel. Rounding out the cast were Kathryn Allison, Jenni Barber
Jenni Barber (born July 22, 1983) is an American actress and singer best known for her performances in musical theatre and for her role as Lisa Heffenbacher on ''The Electric Company'' (2009 - 2011).
Early life
Barber was born in Mansfield, O ...
, Erin Elizabeth Clemons, Fergie L. Phillipe, Jawan M. Jackson and Brian Gonzalez.
In October 2021, Disney hosted a live-to-film concert of Tim Burton's ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' for two nights at LA's Banc of California Stadium
BMO Stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC and the National Women's S ...
on October 29 and 31. The show featured Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes (song), Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her broth ...
singing as Sally and Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...
reprising his role as Jack. Ken Page
Kenneth Page (January 20, 1954 – September 30, 2024) was an American actor and cabaret singer who created the part of Ken in the original Broadway production of '' Ain't Misbehavin and played Old Deuteronomy in the original Broadway and fi ...
reprised the role of Oogie Boogie, while "Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
sang as Shock. The concert included a full orchestra led by acclaimed conductor John Mauceri
John Francis Mauceri (born September 12, 1945) is an American conductor, actor, producer, arranger, voice actor, educator, writer and music composer. Since making his professional conducting debut almost half a century ago, he has appeared with ...
to perform the film's score and songs live.
In October 2021, Disney announced that they were hosting another live-to-film concert at the OVO Arena Wembley
Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater London's second ...
in London on December 9 and 10, 2022. The show featured Elfman and Page reprising their respective roles, while John Mauceri returned as conductor alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...
. Acclaimed singer and songwriter Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter. Her indie folk music typically centers on acoustic guitar and Electronic music, electronic production, with melancholic lyrical themes. She has won four Grammy Aw ...
took on the role of Sally.
In October 2023, Disney hosted another concert from October 27–29 at the Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...
. Elfman, Page, Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She started her career in sketch comedy, sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dra ...
, and other guest stars are set to appear, including Halsey, who is sharing the role of Sally with O'Hara. However, days before the concert, Halsey dropped out from her role due to a "scheduling conflict".
Other media
Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher owned by The Walt Disney Company through Disney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed and distributed multi-platform video games and inter ...
released an ''As Told by Emoji'' animated adaptation of ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' in 2016, which can be found on their official YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. In 2024, Lego released a two-thousand-piece set, which includes three locations from the film: Spiral Hill, Jack Skellington's house, and Halloween Town Hall.
See also
*List of cult films
*List of ghost films
*List of films set around Halloween
*List of Christmas films
*Santa Claus in film
Notes
References
; Footnotes
Further reading
*
*
* Manga adaptation of the film.
External links
*
*
*
*
*
''The Nightmare Before Christmas''
at The Tim Burton Collective
*
''Nightmare Before Christmas Behind the Scenes''
A time lapse of the stop-motion animation process.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nightmare Before Christmas, The
The Nightmare Before Christmas,
1993 films
1993 American animated films
1993 children's films
1993 comedy horror films
1993 directorial debut films
1993 fantasy films
1990s children's fantasy films
1990s Christmas horror films
1990s dark fantasy films
1990s English-language films
1990s ghost films
1990s monster movies
1990s musical fantasy films
1990s stop-motion animated films
3D re-releases
4DX films
American 3D films
American animated horror films
American children's animated comedy films
American children's animated fantasy films
American children's animated musical films
American Christmas horror films
American comedy horror films
American dark fantasy films
American ghost films
American monster movies
American musical fantasy films
American films about Halloween
Animated films about Halloween
Animated Christmas films
Animated films about demons
Animated films about kings
Animated films about witchcraft
Animated films based on poems
Animated films based on works by American writers
Children's horror films
Christmas adventure films
Halloween adventure films
Halloween horror films
English-language Christmas films
English-language comedy horror films
English-language musical fantasy films
Films about Bogeymen
Films about parallel universes
Films directed by Henry Selick
Films produced by Tim Burton
Films produced by Denise Di Novi
Films scored by Danny Elfman
Films with screenplays by Caroline Thompson
Santa Claus in film
Saturn Award–winning films
Supernatural fantasy films
Touchstone Pictures animated films
Touchstone Pictures films
United States National Film Registry films
Walt Disney Pictures animated films
1993 musical films