If you are a fan of animation or of quirky gothic films, it’s more than likely that you’re familiar with the works of Tim Burton. However, this time of year always calls to mind one of his most outstanding cinematic achievements. In today’s society, The Nightmare Before Christmas seems jarringly prophetic of the current commercial standard, in which the Christmas season mingles with (and encroaches on) the Halloween season. So this Halloween weekend, during which you’ll be able to see Christmas decorations everywhere, is a perfect time look back to the film that Rolling Stone accurately called “….74 minutes of timeless movie magic.”
The Nightmare Before Christmas transports the audience to a world where everything originates from Halloween. Halloween Town stunningly reflects Tim Burton’s weird and beautiful imagination. From the landscape to the characters, everything is dramatic angles, bold graphic warped lines, and intense dark tones that saturate every frame. The setting highlights the dramatic Halloween colors of orange, green, and even a sickly blue. The eyes and bodies of Halloween Town’s inhabitants are elongated, bloated, disfigured, and twisted to reflect their own character traits.
Burton, in his role as writer/producer, and director Henry Selick remain true to each holiday theme. Once Jack Skellington goes through the portal to Christmas Town, Burton and Selick depict this new setting to be as beautifully different to Halloween Town as possible. Christmas Town is brightly lit. Its atmosphere is cheery and joyous. Its sky is starry and beautiful. Its citizens are clean and untroubled. Jack touches on many of these differences in one of the film’s amazing songs. The entire tone of this world is very Whoville-esque. Audiences can very easily draw parallels between Dr. Seuss’s imagery for How The Grinch Stole Christmas and the landscape for Christmas Town.
Jack’s somewhat hostile takeover of another holiday is endearing because he has no bad intentions. He exudes the air of a child discovering something he loves very much for the first time and exploring all aspects in every way possible. How could he know any better? Being “The Pumpkin King,” he attempts to enlist the aid of his fellow Halloween Town residents in bringing Christmas to his home, but it soon becomes clear that he must tweak the truth in order to gain everyone’s participation. Everyone that is, except Sally. Sally, the rag-doll creation of Dr. Finklestein (the town’s mad scientist) develops a romantic interest in Jack, being a bit of a misanthrope herself. Sally is the only member of Halloween Town that goes to extreme lengths to help Jack because she, like Jack, has the ability to think outside the constraints of their world. In their world of chaos and darkness, they are each other’s spirit.
The original story for the film came from a three page poem written by Tim Burton back in 1982. This poem was inspired by various holiday stories, all containing the common thread of the spirit of Christmas. Along with Selick, Danny Elfman, Rick Heinrichs, and over 120 workers on 20 sound stages, Burton was able to create the 109,440 frames that make up this stop-motion masterpiece. Stop-motion animation is a tedious, frustrating, and painstakingly long process, and the film included 227 puppets that had to be accounted for. Jack’s puppet had around 400 different heads so that he could express every emotion. Sally’s puppet had 10 faces, which were used interchangeably on a single head so that her hair would not be disturbed.
The process of stop-motion animation used in The Nightmare Before Christmas has been slowly overtaken by the ever-growing popularity of 3D animation. Disney’s 2006 re-release of The Nightmare Before Christmas in its new 3D format helped spearhead the 3D revival, and Disney were even interested in doing a 3D animated sequel to the film at one point, though thankfully Burton vetoed the idea. Since this film, Burton has gone on to produce other stop-motion films with his signature look (Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie, etc). However none can compare to his original cinematic classic. So this holiday season, take a moment to travel the route of nostalgia. Pay a visit to Halloween and Christmas Town, and say hi to your old friend Jack.
