Surf Wiki
Save to docs
arts

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

The Nightmare Before Christmas

1993 film by Henry Selick

The Nightmare Before Christmas

1993 film by Henry Selick

FieldValue
imageThe nightmare before christmas poster.jpg
captionTheatrical release poster
directorHenry Selick
screenplayCaroline Thompson
{{Infoboxdecatyeschild=yeslabel1=Adaptation bydata1=Michael McDowell}}
based_on
producer{{Plainlist
starring{{Plainlist
cinematographyPete Kozachik
editingStan Webb
musicDanny Elfman
studio{{Plainlist
* Touchstone Pictures{{efnnameDisneyThe Nightmare Before Christmas was reissued through the Walt Disney Pictures banner in 2006 and in subsequent theatrical and home media re-releases since then.}}
* Skellington Productions<ref nameafi/
distributorBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
released
runtime76 minutes
countryUnited States
languageEnglish
budget$18 million
gross$109 million
Note

the film

  • Denise Di Novi
  • Tim Burton
  • Danny Elfman
  • Chris Sarandon
  • Catherine O'Hara
  • William Hickey
  • Glenn Shadix
  • Paul Reubens
  • Ken Page
  • Ed Ivory
  • Touchstone Pictures
  • Skellington Productions

The Nightmare Before Christmas (also known as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas) is a 1993 American stop-motion Gothic fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and written by Caroline Thompson. It tells the tale of Jack Skellington, King of Halloween Town, who stumbles upon Christmas Town and becomes obsessed with celebrating the holiday himself. Danny Elfman wrote the songs and score and provided the singing voice of Jack. The principal voice cast includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page, Paul Reubens, Glenn Shadix and Ed Ivory.

The Nightmare Before Christmas originated from a poem written by Tim Burton in 1982 while he was working as an animator at Walt Disney Productions. With the critical success of Vincent that same year, Burton began to consider developing the story as either a short film 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 the Walt Disney Studios. Production, under Burton and Denise Di Novi, started in July 1991. Disney initially released the film through the Touchstone Pictures 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 on October 9, 1993, and was given a limited release on October 13, before a wide theatrical release on October 29. The film was met with critical and commercial success upon release, and has since garnered a cult following. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, a first for an animated film. Thirteen years after its initial release, the film was reissued by Walt Disney Pictures and was re-released annually from 2006 until 2010.

In 2023, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."

Plot

Halloween Town is a fantasy world populated by various monsters and supernatural beings associated with the eponymous holiday. Jack Skellington, the well-respected Pumpkin King, leads the town in organizing its annual celebrations. This year however, Jack is weary 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 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 relate to its ruler, Santa Claus, or "Sandy Claws" as Jack mistakenly dubs him. 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, to various residents.

Sally, the feminine creation of local mad scientist Doctor Finkelstein, experiences a vision 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 trio Lock, Shock and Barrel with abducting Santa; however, he orders them not to involve their superior Oogie Boogie, a bogeyman with a passion for gambling and Jack's long-time rival, in their plot.

When Lock, Shock and Barrel bring Santa to Halloween Town, Jack tells him 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 him beforehand, attempts to rescue Santa from Oogie, only to be captured herself.

Jack's Halloween-themed 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 nearby cemetery. Bemoaning the trouble that he has caused, Jack realizes he nonetheless enjoyed the experience and that it gave him new ideas for celebrating next 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 insects 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 him and resumes his yearly duties, replacing Jack's presents with genuine ones and saving Christmas.

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.

Voice cast

Cast Main article: List of The Nightmare Before Christmas characters{{!}}List of ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' characters

  • Danny Elfman (singing voice) and Chris Sarandon (speaking voice) as Jack Skellington, a skeleton 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, an inhabitant of Halloween Town appearing as a unicycle-riding evil clown with a removable face.
  • Catherine O'Hara as:
    • Sally, a rag doll-like creation of Finkelstein and Jack's love interest. She is a toxicologist 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.
    • Shock, one of the trick-or-treaters working for Oogie Boogie.
  • William Hickey as Doctor Finkelstein, a mad scientist 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 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; whereas some career politicians are described as figuratively two-faced, the mayor is literally so. Shadix and Burton had previously worked on Beetlejuice.
  • Paul Reubens as Lock, one of the trick-or-treaters working for Oogie Boogie. Reubens and Burton had previously worked on Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Batman Returns.
  • Ken Page as Oogie Boogie, a villainous bogeyman in Halloween Town who has a passion for gambling and rivalry with Jack. Unlike the town's other citizens, who only scare for fun and are against causing harm, Oogie is ruthless and bitter about being treated as the town's outcast.
  • Ed Ivory as Santa Claus, 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 as Igor, one of Doctor Finkelstein's creations and his lab assistant.

The cast also features Debi Durst, Greg Proops, Kerry Katz, Randy Crenshaw, Sherwood Ball, Carmen Twillie, Glenn Walters and John Morris handling additional character voices. Patrick Stewart recorded Santa Claus' narration for a prologue and epilogue. While not used in the final film, the narration is included on the soundtrack album.

Production

Development

As writer Tim Burton's upbringing in Burbank, California, 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 in 1982, Burton, who was then employed at Walt Disney Feature Animation, wrote a three-page poem titled The Nightmare Before Christmas, drawing inspiration from television specials of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! 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, but also considered other options such as a children's book. He created concept art and storyboards for the project in collaboration with Rick Heinrichs, who also sculpted character models; Burton later showed his and Heinrichs' works-in-progress to Henry Selick, 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 (1988) and Batman (1989) for Warner Bros. Pictures.

Over the years, Burton regularly thought about the project. In 1990, Burton found out that Disney still owned the film rights. 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 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, 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." Walt Disney Pictures president David Hoberman 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 (and was also in pre production on Ed Wood), and he did not want to be involved with "the painstakingly slow process of stop motion". To adapt his poem into a screenplay, Burton approached Michael McDowell, his collaborator on Beetlejuice. McDowell and Burton experienced creative differences, which convinced Burton to make the film as a musical with lyrics and compositions by frequent collaborator Danny Elfman. Elfman and Burton created a rough storyline and two-thirds of the film's songs. Elfman found writing Nightmares eleven songs to be "one of the easiest jobs I've ever had. I had a lot in common with Jack Skellington." Caroline Thompson 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 stages for filming. Joe Ranft 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, Ladislas Starevich, Edward Gorey, Étienne Delessert, Gahan Wilson, Charles Addams, Jan Lenica, Francis Bacon, and Wassily Kandinsky influenced the filmmakers. Selick described the production design as akin to a pop-up book. In addition, Selick stated, "When we reach Halloween Town, it's entirely German Expressionism. When Jack enters Christmas Town, it's an outrageous Dr. Seuss-esque setpiece. Finally, when Jack is delivering presents in the 'Real World', everything is plain, simple and perfectly aligned." Vincent Price, Don Ameche, and James Earl Jones 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 provided the prologue narration for the film's soundtrack.

On the direction of the film, Selick reflected, "It's as though [Burton] laid 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." 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 contributed with digital effects and some second-layering traditional animation. Burton found production somewhat difficult, because he was simultaneously filming Batman Returns and in pre-production for Ed Wood.

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 (also directed by Selick) as Captain Jack.

Soundtracks

Main article: The Nightmare Before Christmas (soundtrack){{!}}''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (soundtrack), Nightmare Revisited{{!}}''Nightmare Revisited''

Composer [[Danny Elfman

The film's soundtrack album was released in 1993 on Walt Disney Records. The film's soundtrack contains bonus tracks, including a longer prologue and an extra epilogue, both narrated by Patrick Stewart. For the film's 2006 re-release in Disney Digital 3-D, 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, Panic! at the Disco, Marilyn Manson, Fiona Apple, and She Wants Revenge. Four original demo tracks by Elfman were also included. On September 30, 2008, Disney released the cover album Nightmare Revisited, featuring artists such as Amy Lee, Flyleaf, Korn, Rise Against, Plain White T's, The All-American Rejects, and many more.

American gothic rock band London After Midnight featured a cover of "Sally's Song" on their 1998 album Oddities. Pentatonix released a cover of "Making Christmas" for their 2018 Christmas album Christmas Is Here!. In 2003, the Disneyland Haunted Mansion Holiday 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 ride.

Release

The Nightmare Before Christmas was originally going to be released under Walt Disney Pictures as part of the Walt Disney Feature Animation lineup, but Disney decided to release the film under the studio's adult-oriented Touchstone Pictures 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, [was] they 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 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 on October 9, 1993, and was given a limited release on October 13, 1993, before its wide theatrical release on October 29, 1993.

Reissues and re-releases

The Nightmare Before Christmas was reissued under the Walt Disney Pictures label and re-released on October 20, 2006, with conversion to Disney Digital 3-D, and was accompanied by Pixar's short film Knick Knack. The reissues have led to a reemergence of 3-D films and advances in RealD Cinema.

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, 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 sales, The Nightmare Before Christmas later achieved the ranks of a cult film. The Nightmare Before Christmas was released on DVD a second time on October 3, 2000, as a special edition. The release included an audio commentary by Selick and cinematographer Pete Kozachik, a 28-minute making-of documentary, a gallery of concept art, storyboards, test footage and deleted scenes. Burton's Vincent (1982) and Frankenweenie (1984) were also included. Both DVDs were non-anamorphic widescreen releases. The film was released on UMD for PlayStation Portable on October 25, 2005.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment reissued the DVD (this time with an anamorphic transfer) and on Blu-ray Disc (for the first time) on August 26, 2008, as a two-disc digitally remastered "collector's edition", but still containing the same special features. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released The Nightmare Before Christmas on Blu-ray 3D 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. In 2018, a sing-along version, accompanied by the theatrical cut and a Movies Anywhere 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, Sally has been made into an action figure and a Halloween costume. Various Disneyland and the branching theme parks host attractions featuring Nightmare characters, particularly during Halloween and Christmas seasons. Since 2001, Disneyland has given its Haunted Mansion Holiday 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 and Mickey's Halloween Party featuring the film's characters. Additionally, Jack hosts the Halloween Screams and Not So Spooky Spectacular! fireworks shows at Magic Kingdom (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-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.

The Nightmare Before Christmas made an additional $11.1 million in box office gross in its 2006 reissue. The 2007, 2008, 2009, 2020, 2023, 2024, and 2025 reissues earned $15.9 million, $2.6 million, $2.6 million, $10.4 million, $6.1 million, and $966,637 respectively, increasing the film's total box office gross to $108.5 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, 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, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert 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, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Star Wars. 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. 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 of Rolling Stone 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 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 of The Washington Post enjoyed the film's similarities to the writings of Oscar Wilde and the Brothers Grimm, as well as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and other German Expressionist films.

Michael A. Morrison discusses the influence of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! on the film, writing that Jack parallels the Grinch and Zero parallels Max, the Grinch's dog. Philip Nel 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 [the] film 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 notes "the complex characterization seen in The Nightmare Before Christmas".

Accolades

The film was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Nightmare won the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, 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 film ranked #1 on Rotten Tomatoes' "Top 25 Best Christmas Movies" list.

Possible sequel

Sequel In 2001, Disney began to consider producing a sequel, but rather than using stop motion, they wanted to use computer animation. 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 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." 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 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 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 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 [the film] to death."

Notes

References

; Footnotes

References

  1. Mendelson, Scott. (October 15, 2013). "'Nightmare Before Christmas' Turns 20: From Shameful Spawn To Disney's Pride". Forbes.
  2. "The Nightmare Before Christmas". [[American Film Institute]].
  3. (March 18, 1994). "''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (PG)". [[British Board of Film Classification]].
  4. "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)". [[Box Office Mojo]].
  5. Saperstein, Pat. (December 13, 2023). "'Home Alone,' 'Terminator 2,' '12 Years a Slave' Among 25 Titles Joining National Film Registry".
  6. (October 29, 2013). "Sarandon remains proud of 'Nightmare Before Christmas' as film classic turns 20". Strictly Cinema.
  7. Ng, David. (October 24, 2015). "Danny Elfman can relate to 'Nightmare Before Christmas' hero Jack Skellington". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  8. "The Nightmare Before Christmas - Full Cast & Crew". [[TV Guide]].
  9. (October 27, 2023). "The Nightmare Before Christmas: All the Actors Behind Your Favorite Voices in the Movie". [[People (magazine).
  10. Busch, Jenna. (December 2, 2022). "Vincent Price Was Originally Cast To Play Santa Claus In The Nightmare Before Christmas".
  11. (December 16, 2013). "Patrick Stewart Reads The Nightmare Before Christmas Poem".
  12. Simpson, Blaise. (October 10, 1993). "The Concept: Jack-o'-Santa : Tim Burton's new movie for Disney isn't exactly a steal-Christmas-kind-of-thing. It's more like a borrow-it-and-give-it-a-weird-twist-kind-of-thing". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  13. (2000). "The Making of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas". [[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment]].
  14. Carr, Jay. (October 17, 1993). "Tim Burton's Big Adventure". [[The Boston Globe]].
  15. Thompson, Frank T.. (October 14, 1993). "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, The Art, The Vision". Disney Editions.
  16. Avins, Mimi (November 1993). "Ghoul World". ''[[Premiere (magazine). Premiere]]'': pp. 24–30. Retrieved on September 26, 2008.
  17. Topel, Fred. (August 25, 2008). "Director Henry Selick Interview – ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''". [[About.com]].
  18. Broeske, Pat H.. (January 20, 1991). "Dusting Off Burton". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  19. Colangelo, BJ. (November 1, 2022). "Henry Selick Is A Little Tired Of Audiences Associating Nightmare Before Christmas With Tim Burton".
  20. (February 18, 1993). "BV toons up down under". [[Variety (magazine).
  21. Starkey, Arun. (December 13, 2021). "The painstakingly long production of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'".
  22. Sarkisian, Jacob. (December 4, 2020). "Screaming, smashing editing machines and a 'snorted salary': Inside the tumultuous making of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'".
  23. Jones, Bill. (October 22, 1993). "He Kept His ''Nightmare'' Alive". [[The Phoenix Gazette]].
  24. Bartlett, Amanda. (December 23, 2022). "This legendary Christmas movie was filmed in an SF warehouse". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
  25. (December 1993). "Nightmare: Truly the Stuff of Dreams". EGM Media, LLC.
  26. (2000). "The Nightmare Before Christmas: audio commentary". [[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment]].
  27. Stern, Marlow. (October 29, 2013). "Henry Selick on Directing 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'". The Daily Beast.
  28. Rowney, Jo-Anne. (December 15, 2019). "17 The Nightmare Before Christmas facts".
  29. David Helpern (December 1994). "Animated Dreams", ''[[Sight & Sound]]'', pp. 33—37. Retrieved on September 26, 2008.
  30. link. (June 11, 2020 .)
  31. link. (June 24, 2013 .)
  32. (December 13, 2021). "The long production of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'".
  33. Montgomery, James. (August 28, 2006). "Fall Out Boy, Panic, Marilyn Manson Add To New 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Soundtrack". [[MTV News]].
  34. (September 26, 2008). "Marilyn Manson, Sparklehorse, KoRn on 'Nightmare' soundtrack".
  35. (November 9, 2022). "London After Midnight launches all new video, 'Better Off Dead (Be My Guest)'".
  36. Engelman, Nicole. (October 5, 2018). "Pentatonix Release 'Making Christmas' Video".
  37. (2017). "The Disneyland Encyclopedia". Santa Monica Press.
  38. Collura, Scott. (October 21, 2006). "The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D: 13 Years and Three Dimensions Later". [[IGN]].
  39. Ricci, Kimberly. (November 4, 2022). "Why Is Tim Burton's Name In 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Title?". [[Uproxx]].
  40. Selick, Henry. (November 1, 2022). "The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick is humbly asking for a little bit of credit". [[The A.V. Club]].
  41. John Evan Prook. (August 18, 1993). "''Christmas'' comes to N.Y. Film Fest". [[Variety (magazine).
  42. Scott, Ryan. (October 23, 2023). "What's This? The Nightmare Before Christmas Re-Enters The Top 5 At The Box Office". [[/Film]].
  43. Andrew, Scottie. (October 31, 2023). "How 'Nightmare Before Christmas' went from cult classic to beloved Disney property". [[CNN]].
  44. Fadroski, Kelli. (October 26, 2010). "'The Nightmare Before Christmas' is even more fun in 4-D".
  45. Shea, Cam. (April 27, 2007). "Real D: The Future of Cinema". [[IGN]].
  46. (October 20, 2006). "How Burton's Fever Dream Spawned ''Nightmare Before Christmas''". [[MTV]].
  47. "Domestic 2020 Weekend 42".
  48. Bonomolo, Cameron. (October 2, 2023). "The Nightmare Before Christmas Returning to Theaters for 30th Anniversary".
  49. De Freitas, Thabata Nunes. (September 13, 2023). "Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' is returning to theaters next month".
  50. Nolfi, Joey. (October 1, 2024). "Where to see Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas in theaters and on TV this Halloween".
  51. Bedoya, Aaron A.. (October 10, 2024). "AMC to offer Jack Skellington popcorn bucket for 'Nightmare Before Christmas' in theaters". [[El Paso Times]].
  52. Pearson, Mike. (September 29, 1994). "'Nightmare' is bizarre, but fun". The Evening News.
  53. (September 30, 1994). "WHAT'S NEW". [[Orlando Sentinel]].
  54. (December 18, 1997). "and Disney favorites!". [[The Sacramento Bee]].
  55. (December 2, 1997). "We Are Family Every Tuesday". [[The Saginaw News]].
  56. A. Salas, Randy. (October 3, 2000). "Let's do the 'Time Warp' again with 'Rocky Horror'". [[Minnesota Star Tribune.
  57. (August 8, 2012). "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas UMD VIDEO". psp.ign.com.
  58. (August 26, 2008). "NEW RELEASES". [[Lexington Herald-Leader]].
  59. (August 26, 2008). "Take a Break". [[Orlando Sentinel]].
  60. Arrant, Chris. (June 4, 2011). "Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" 3D Coming To Disney Blue-ray & Movie Download". [[Cartoon Brew]].
  61. Kit, Borys. (June 10, 2011). "Blu-ray, DVD Releases: 'Nightmare Before Christmas' in 3D, 'Twilight Zone: Season Five' and More". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
  62. (August 20, 2018). "'The Nightmare Before Christmas' 25th Anniversary Edition Arrives on Blu-ray Sept. 2".
  63. Hoolihan, Hannah. (September 28, 2023). "The Nightmare Before Christmas on 4K UHD and Blu-ray is on Sale at Amazon".
  64. Fallon, Sean. (July 14, 2023). "The Nightmare Before Christmas Sally's Storage Jar Set is 30% off".
  65. Frederick J., Augustyn. (2004). "Dictionary of Toys and Games in American Popular Culture". Haworth Press.
  66. (October 31, 2008). "Halloween gives teens a chance to scare, be silly".
  67. Ramin Setoodeh, "Haunted Parks", ''[[Newsweek]]'' 144.16 (October 18, 2004): 73.
  68. MacDonald, Brady. (September 7, 2019). "Disneyland crowds return for 'Halloween Screams' fireworks show filling both parking garages to capacity". [[The Orange County Register]].
  69. Chen, Eve. (October 16, 2023). "It's party time at Disney World. What to do at Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween bash.". [[USA Today]].
  70. Quinn, Dave. (August 7, 2019). "Disneyland Is Throwing a Brand New After-Hours Halloween Party Inspired by Your Favorite Villains". [[People (magazine).
  71. Rubin, Rebecca. (October 22, 2023). "Box Office: Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' Impresses With $23 Million Debut, but Swift's 'Eras Tour' Remains No. 1". Variety.
  72. "Domestic 2024 Weekend 41". Box Office Mojo.
  73. "The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)". [[Fandango Media]].
  74. "The Nightmare Before Christmas Reviews". [[CBS Interactive]].
  75. "Cinemascore".
  76. Ebert, Roger. (October 22, 1993). "The Nightmare Before Christmas". RogerEbert.com.
  77. Travers, Peter. (April 11, 2001). "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
  78. Berardinelli, James. "The Nightmare Before Christmas". ReelViews.
  79. Thomson, Desson. (October 22, 1993). "The Nightmare Before Christmas". [[The Washington Post]].
  80. link. (September 14, 2023 .)
  81. link. (June 11, 2020 .)
  82. "Obsessive Fans of the Week!" in ''Entertainment Weekly'' 909 (12/1/2006): 6.
  83. link. (September 14, 2023 .)
  84. link. (June 11, 2020 .)
  85. (March 22, 1994). "'Jurassic Park,' another Spielberg movie, also has good night with 3 awards". [[The Orlando Sentinel]].
  86. (July 28, 2007). "1994 Hugo Awards". Thehugoawards.org.
  87. "Past Award Winners".
  88. (December 22, 1993). "Golden Globe nominations".
  89. Fox, David. (December 23, 1993). "'Schindler,' 'Piano' Head Globe List".
  90. "The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): Rank 1". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
  91. Topel, Fred. (August 25, 2008). "Director Henry Selick Interview – ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''". [[About.com]].
  92. (October 7, 2005). "CYNAMATIC: EXCLUSIVE: Masato Yoshino Gets Oogie's Revenge". MovieWeb.
  93. (September 19, 2005). "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge – Deane Taylor Interview". TeamXbox.
  94. Otto, Jack. (February 1, 2009). "How possible is a sequel to Nightmare Before Christmas?". [[Blastr]].
  95. (December 5, 2020). "'The Nightmare Before Christmas' writer says a Disney live-action remake would be 'greedy and stupid'".
  96. Cavanaugh, Patrick. (October 10, 2019). "The Nightmare Before Christmas Star Would Crawl Across the Country to Play Jack Skellington in a Sequel". ComicBook.com.
  97. Whitbrook, James. (February 16, 2021). "Nightmare Before Christmas' Sally Gets to Shine in a New YA Novel From Shea Ernshaw". Gizmodo.
  98. "Long Live the Pumpkin Queen". Disney Books | Disney Publishing Worldwide.
  99. Thomas, Carly. (October 14, 2023). "'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Director on His Idea for a Potential Prequel".
  100. Haring, Bruce. (October 14, 2023). "'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Prequel Is Batted Around By Director Henry Selick".
  101. (November 21, 2023). "Tim Burton Doesn't Want Sequels Or A Reboot For The Nightmare Before Christmas: 'Get Off Of My Land!' – Exclusive". [[Bauer Publishing]].
  102. (August 14, 2024). "Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick says it's "incredibly rewarding" seeing them celebrate major anniversaries, but they probably won't get sequels anytime soon".
  103. "The Nightmare Before Christmas". [[Bloomsbury Academic]].
  104. "The Nightmare Before Christmas". [[Bloomsbury Academic]].
  105. Plowman, Alec. "The Nightmare Before Christmas". [[Bloomsbury Academic]].
  106. Plowman, Alec. "The Nightmare Before Christmas". [[Bloomsbury Academic]].
  107. "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Bloomsbury Academic.
  108. "Quixotic Games - About Quixotic". quixoticgames.com.
  109. "Quixotic Games - Ludography". quixoticgames.com.
  110. Cudmore, Libby. (October 31, 2023). "How Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Became a Holiday Classic".
  111. Coyle, Deirdre. (October 24, 2023). "10 Tarot Decks for Fantasy Lovers". [[Publishers Weekly]].
  112. Johnston, Rylee. (October 31, 2023). "Mattel Creations Releases 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Monster High Dolls: Where to Buy".
  113. Roberts, Tyler. (October 26, 2023). "Mattel Announces Monster High x The Nightmare Before Christmas Collab".
  114. Sussman, Hillary. (August 26, 2020). "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Gets a Ghoulish Pop-Up Advent Calendar". CBR.
  115. "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Party Cookbook: Recipes and Crafts for the Perfect Spooky Party (B&N Exclusive)".
  116. "The Nightmare Before Christmas (B&N Exclusive Edition)".
  117. "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Book & CD".
  118. "Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas Cinestory Comic: Collector's Edition".
  119. "Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Story of the Movie in Comics HC".
  120. "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (B&N Exclusive Edition): Disney Animated Classics".
  121. "''Nightmare Before Christmas 13 Days of Christmas''".
  122. Allen, Todd. (August 1, 2017). "A Nightmare Before Christmas Sequel: TokyoPop Re-Emerges With Disney Licenses".
  123. Holub, Christian. (October 31, 2017). "Jack and Zero get redesigned for Nightmare Before Christmas sequel comic".
  124. "Zero's Journey".
  125. Diaz, Eric. (September 20, 2018). "The Nightmare Before Christmas Gets A Sequel Comic (Exclusive Preview)".
  126. Jewell, Sara. (March 9, 2021). "NYCC '21: I Didn't Know That Had a Manga!".
  127. "Disney Manga: The Nightmare Before Christmas — Mirror Moon, Issue #1 — TOKYOPOP".
  128. "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
  129. Diaz, Eric. (March 9, 2021). "Nightmare Before Christmas Sequel Novel Focuses on Sally".
  130. (May 5, 2023). "Jack Skellington's Pumpkin King Origin for Free Comic Book Day".
  131. Sheperd, Megan. "BIG NEWS! Today at Comic Con...".
  132. Gooden, Tai. (March 10, 2025). "We Reveal the Time-Bending Cover for HOUR OF THE PUMPKIN QUEEN".
  133. (July 19, 2023). "Dynamite to Publish Nightmare Before Christmas Comics".
  134. (July 19, 2023). "Disney Announces the Nightmare Before Christmas Comics, Writer Revealed".
  135. (August 22, 2023). "Take a Look at a New Book About the Nightmare Before Christmas".
  136. https://www.dynamite.com/disney/viewProduct.html?PRO=C72513036048901011
  137. Harris, Craig. (October 31, 2005). "The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King". [[IGN]].
  138. Sulic, Ivan. (October 6, 2005). "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge". IGN.
  139. McWhertor, Michael. (October 13, 2023). "The Nightmare Before Christmas Sequel was a Musical, Watered-down Devil May Cry Game". [[Polygon (website).
  140. "8 games to play for Halloween".
  141. (September 4, 2018). "'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Getting 25th Anniversary Concert at Hollywood Bowl". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
  142. Evans, Greg. (October 7, 2020). "'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Benefit Concert Draws Broadway Voices: James Monroe Iglehart, Adrienne Warren, Danny Burstein, More". Deadline.
  143. Jones, Marcus. (October 7, 2020). "Broadway is coming together for virtual The Nightmare Before Christmas Halloween benefit concert".
  144. "Billie Eilish to Perform as Sally in 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Live-to-Film Concert: Details".
  145. (October 1, 2021). "Billie Eilish to Play Sally at 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Concert Event, Because of Course".
  146. (October 1, 2021). "Billie Eilish to Join 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Shows in L.A. Alongside Danny Elfman".
  147. Lash, Jolie. "Billie Eilish joins 'Nightmare Before Christmas' concerts film as Sally".
  148. (October 17, 2022). "Phoebe Bridgers Joins Danny Elfman's The Nightmare Before Christmas Concerts".
  149. "DISNEY Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas IN CONCERT".
  150. Willman, Chris. (October 9, 2023). "Halsey and Catherine O'Hara to Alternate as Sally in 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Production at Hollywood Bowl".
  151. Kaufman, Gil. (October 30, 2023). "Halsey Quietly Dropped Out of Live 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Performances Due to 'Scheduling Conflict'".
  152. Kreps, Daniel. (October 28, 2023). "Halsey Drops Out of Danny Elfman's 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Concerts".
  153. Ragusa, Paolo [https://consequence.net/2025/09/the-nightmare-before-christmas-danny-elfman-2025-concert-halloween/ Danny Elfman's The Nightmare Before Christmas Live Concert Returns for Halloween 2025] Consequence, September 2, 2025
  154. Grobar, Matt. (June 17, 2017). "'As Told By Emoji': Disney EVP Andrew Sugerman On Pairing Universal Language Of Emojis With Universal Storytelling".
  155. Bonthuys, Darryn. (September 3, 2024). "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Lego Set Is Available Now". [[GameSpot]].
  156. Miller, Ross. (September 6, 2024). "What's this? What's this?! The Lego Nightmare Before Christmas set is now available". [[Polygon (website).
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

the-nightmare-before-christmas 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 1993-american-animated-films 1993-children's-films 1993-comedy-horror-films 1993-directorial-debut-films 1993-fantasy-films 1993-films 1993-musical-films 3d-re-releases american-3d-films american-4dx-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-films-about-halloween american-ghost-films american-gothic-horror-films american-monster-movies american-musical-fantasy-films animated-films-about-demons animated-films-about-halloween animated-films-about-kings animated-films-about-parallel-universes animated-films-about-witchcraft animated-films-based-on-poems animated-films-based-on-works-by-american-writers children's-horror-films christmas-adventure-films disney-controversies english-language-animated-christmas-films english-language-comedy-horror-films english-language-musical-fantasy-films films-about-bogeymen films-directed-by-henry-selick films-produced-by-denise-di-novi films-produced-by-tim-burton films-scored-by-danny-elfman films-with-screenplays-by-caroline-thompson halloween-adventure-films halloween-horror-films 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 animated-films-about-zombies films-based-on-works-by-tim-burton
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about The Nightmare Before Christmas — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report