The Nightmare Before Christmas is DEFINITELY NOT a Nightmare

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! (Also Happy Halloween!)

When Halloween comes, so do our favorite Halloween movies like; It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Friday the 13th, and well…Halloween. But the movie we’re taking a look at combines both Halloween and Christmas.

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas  is a Halloween/Christmas Disney musical that came out on October 13, 1993. The movie follows the story of Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween, who is tired of doing Halloween year after year. So in his boredom, he travels through the woods and finds a doorway to the North Pole (or Christmas Town) where he finds out what Christmas is.

Now that Jack has discovered Christmas, he wants to hijack the holiday to satisfy his hunger for something new. However, he only ends up doing more bad than good. So now it’s up to Jack to save the holiday season.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is probably the farthest thing from a nightmare. If there’s one thing the movie does well, it has to be advancing the plot through song. The opening song, This is Halloween, does an amazing job at creatively introducing Halloweentown and all of its citizens. The song also creates a vibe of zany and spooky fun that hypes you up for the Halloween season.

When Jack get’s transported to Christmas Town, the song What’s This makes you feel as mesmerized as Jack is. You have to keep in mind that it’s the first time that he’s experiencing Christmas time. And the song does a tremendous job at capturing the feelings and sense of amazement that comes with the holiday.

Each and every song whether it be This is Halloween, What’s This, or my personal favorite: The Oogie Boogie Song, are all incredibly catchy, easily recognizable, and I always find myself singing along to all of them.

Another great aspect of The Nightmare Before Christmas are the character designs. Each character design is incredibly creative and unique. Jack’s slim figure and swift movements really do make him seem like a skeleton. Especially during the ending of the movie when he confronts Oogie Boogie (voiced by Ken Page) and has to dodge all of his traps.

Sally, who is Jack’s love interest, is basically a female version of Frankenstein’s monster. Her design is basically a bunch of discarded body parts sewn together. And throughout the movie, Sally uses this to her advantage. She’s able to detach and reattach certain parts of her body. Whether she’s escaping from her creator or trying to save Santa Claus (or Sandy Claws), her character design helps advance the plot.

But the one character whose design I really love is Oogie Boogie. In real life, the Bogeyman or Sack Man legend says that he would stuff naughty children in a sack and kidnap them. In the movie, Oogie Boogie is literally a giant sack with insects inside. I love this design because of how creative it is, and how accurate it is to the legend. And speaking of Oogie Boogie, I just love his character in general. He’s very energetic, animated, and he has the best song in the movie.

If The Nightmare Before Christmas was in another animation style, it just wouldn’t work. The way the characters move, the background, the whole spirit of the film is only possible with stop motion animation. Stop motion makes the movie look old, like the events of the story took place a long time ago. Which is kind of reminiscent of all the old stories we were told as children. No other animation style could make this work.

But probably the one thing I adore the most about this Halloween classic is the story. The Nightmare Before Christmas is simplistic and easy to follow. Plus it’s not TOO childish; so anyone of any age can enjoy this work of art. It has a creative premise, memorable songs, and characters, and its near impossible to confuse it for another Tim Burton film.

If you’re looking for a classic Halloween movie to watch, I’d most DEFINITELY recommend The Nightmare Before Christmas. The film is only $2.99 on most streaming services; so put it on and enjoy one of Tim Burton’s best works.