It’s Christmas! Or, at least it was yesterday. Always one to be caught up in the festivities, I’m finding myself going through some sort of existential Christmas crisis. If you were to ask me even a year ago what type of holiday movie I preferred, Halloween or Christmas, my more paranoid brain would’ve quickly responded with the latter. This year, however, I’ve discovered a suppressed desire to watch as many Horror films as possible. When you sit back and think about it, Christmas movies are so specific to the holiday that it feels taboo to watch them at any other time of the year, but films centred around Halloween are universal. Obviously, this internal conflict is very relevant to the film I’m talking about this fine Boxing Day. Having finished a week of Christmassy movies, I knew I was going to end on one of my all-time favourites.
I’ve loved this particular film since I was a kid, having first watched it during the spookier season. I’ve only grown to love it more and more with sparse watches and have decided quite firmly that it is much more of a Christmas watch. A film that was riding high off the prolific career of Tim Burton, this film exploded in popularity after a mild cult success. In the era of stop-motion animation, this spindly looking film has remained fixated on the minds of goths and emos for years. I don’t fall into either category, never have, but I do have an obsession for animation of all kinds, and nothing impresses me more than stop-motion. This ghoulish in-between has seen quite the history and controversy to boot, for this is Henry Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Starting out in the horror-filled world of Halloweentown, the realm of which provides the regular scares and tricks of the holiday, we see another successful celebration. Standing atop the various ghouls and creatures of the town is Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon, with singing provided by Danny Elfman), the acclaimed “Pumpkin King.” Despite Jack’s reputation and ingenuity in the holiday, he feels hopelessly lost having to repeat the same thing every year. Lamenting the need for something different, he wanders into the forest where he discovers various doors to over realms. Landing in Christmastown, Jack falls in love with the contrasting world of festivity. With a newfound obsession, he decides to take over Christmas himself, getting the entire town involved. Worried for his safety, and having fallen in love with the living skeleton, is the newly-constructed monster, Sally (Catherine O’Hara), who sees a vision of Jack’s failure.
Things are put in grave danger when Jack foolishly kidnaps Father Christmas, believing he is some sort of horrifying monster by the name of ‘Sandy Claws’ and offers to take up his role, making toys and spreading his own warped view of Christmas, which Santa is forcibly against. Unbeknownst to Jack, Santa is delivered to the terrible Oogie Boogie (Ken Page), who plans to kill Jack and Santa so that he can rule over Halloween Town and let the world suffer without Santa. Lovably gullible and uneducated, Jack’s Christmas spirit is there, but his execution is rather poor.
There’s a simple ingenuity to the film’s plot. From an outside perspective, there appears to be a lot going on, but boiled down, it’s simply a tale of a living skeleton who takes over Christmas. As simple as that is, it was shockingly unique. There’s a macabre atmosphere that Burton had soaked himself in with his other films and this is no different.
There’s this brilliant clash of logic that comes from mixing the two holidays together. The bizarre, expressionist look of Halloweentown is immediately contradicted by Jack’s joyous attitude. Jack is such a relatable character with an infectious personality. You can’t help but feel a second-hand excitement. There’s this deconstruction of outside appearances, presenting the very real reality that visual darkness has a buried light deep within. While this isn’t exactly Burton’s vision, that love for the outcasts that he admires so much is still there. I think the reason this character resonates with so many people is just how fleshed out he is underneath that bony exterior.
Jack’s character is so beautifully complicated. Words are truly not enough to describe Jack’s actions in the film. On paper, it can make him sound like a destructive force that messes everything up, making you question why the characters love him so much. As incredibly flawed as he can be, it’s his ambition that makes him so likable. Even knowing he’s making massive mistakes and knowing he is so far over his own head, you still find yourself rooting for him. It’s so much fun seeing him rave about Christmas, seeing all this dedication to replicating Santa and even admiring the figure, despite him not matching up to his preconceived image. To have as much ambition as Jack is something to admire, even if he is a tad clueless.
Even aside from the more introspective analysis of the character, the strange imagery and haunting atmosphere are such a joy to watch. With jagged buildings and the clashing of darkness with bright colours embodies much of what this movie is trying to say. It’s already so visually striking that Christmastown looks like pure heaven when we finally see it. There isn’t a single frame of this film that isn’t immediately eye-catching. Even with the tired tropes of the holiday, this film manages to make it all feel so unique and special. That lack of Christmas spirit that I alluded to at the beginning was slightly more rejuvenated through the eyes of Jack. After movie after movie of the same spirited approach, to have one that imagery that clashes so nicely with each other, Christmas suddenly feels new again.
There’s a great message about learning to love yourself for who you are. It doesn’t tell us that we need to stifle our own creativities for the sake of comfortability, but more to find solace in the good things within our lives. Jack’s ambition outweighs his actual abilities, but the fact that he can set out to do what he does is admirable all the same. Having come to my own realisations about appreciating what I have and even setting out to create this very blog all those years ago, I find myself relating to this plasticine skeleton more than most other characters I’ve seen.
I don’t think there’s a single character in this film that isn’t remotely enjoyable. Sally was a surprise standout. Typically in these types of films, where the romance is more of a side story with little expansion, the female lead can feel more submissive. Sally is such a strong presence in the film that she stole every scene she was in. Counteracting that preconception of submissive gender stereotypes, her constant defiance of her creator and her tendency to poison him made her an essential piece in this macabre picture.
Her admiration for Jack is so natural, both being these hopeless romantics, but for different things. Sally uses her own ingenuity by dismembering her corpse limbs to get her out of situations or to help Jack. Besides being incredibly creative on the writers’ side of things, it matches so nicely with Jack’s witless ambition. Her timid nature compliments Jack’s impassioned one so delicately, leaning more on that inwards perspective. Even in this world of similarly odd-looking monsters, they all have their own quirks and distinctions. Genius in execution, you’ve unknowingly become one of the monsters.
Oogie Boogie is such a brilliant villain. While perhaps not a necessary addition to the cast, he works nicely as this stark contrast. In a world full of monsters, there was bound to be one that fits the cliché of evil and mean-spiritedness. I love how wonderfully chaotic he is; his goal is just to shake things up with the desire to kill. Having scenes with him propped up against Santa Claus provides a wonderful image of tonal contrast. Both so jovial in what they do, but one is clearly more maniacal than the other. Part of what makes this villain so sinister is how they hold him off till the final act. We get hints of his existence from the very beginning, but the film prefers to lean on the legend of the Boogie Man to make him that much more of a threat.
As if this movie couldn’t feel as perfect as possible already, the animation and music feel the need to up the quality to ungodly heights. If there’s anything this film is universally recognised for, it’s the stellar presentation.
It’s been mentioned exhaustingly how this film isn’t really a Tim Burton film as the advertising suggests. For those who are unaware, Burton did create the characters and concept but was not involved much with the actual production; that goes to Henry Sellick. That said, Burton’s DNA is all over this. The jagged, spindly look of the world and, not the least of which, Jack are machinations that only Burton could’ve envisioned. Every monster has a standout design, almost entirely unique from anything else you’ve seen. Jack’s look is simple on a base level, but heighten his structure and add a spiffy looking suit and you have a design that screams unique.
These designs are brought to life with some of the greatest stop-motion animation you’ll ever see. Even with the original non-Disney DVD, the animation is spectacular. The motions are fluid and are blended nicely with moments of traditional 2D animation. There’s also this natural uncanniness to stop-motion, so the film doubles down on this with its horror-filled animation. I’ve never seen a film of this kind that so cleverly abuses its reputation while also providing a social commentary on how we shouldn’t judge others for the way they look.
The music is mesmerizing. Danny Elfman has always managed to elevate most Burton films with his distinct scores, but they take on an entire life of their own in this film. Elfman provides Jack’s singing voice (he was originally going to do the speaking parts as well) and he nails the personality of the character so well. Elfman is clearly just as passionate about the character’s love of Christmas that you can’t help but hum along to the tunes. The “What’s This?” number is a beautiful display of that love that Jack has for Christmas and only Elfman could’ve pulled this off. Even aside from his lyrical masterclass, the instrumentals find that balance between whimsical and darkly twisted. I can’t think of a more perfect musical accompaniment to a film’s identity.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is underrated. Many will look at that statement and think: “what does he mean? Everyone loves this one.” But what I mean is that this film is worthy to be considered one of the greatest films of all time. I was honestly shocked by just how much I loved this film upon another rewatch. I’ve always loved it, but I had found myself criticising small things here and there. Perhaps it’s the blending of holidays, or the way it looks, or just the way it takes advantage of every possibility it has at its disposal, but I think this film is damn near perfect.
Whether you’re a cynic towards the holiday or not, there is so much to love with this film. For me, it’s a complete package. Though the holidays may be ending, this is one you could watch at anytime; Halloween, Christmas, any public holiday, it’s perfect. Happy Holidays, everyone!
Side note: Oogie Boogie has a foot fetish. That scene was more graphic than any scene in a Tarantino film.
Written review by Conor Johnson.