The Nightmare Before Christmas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Nightmare Before Christmas |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Henry Selick |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Caroline Thompson |
| Adaptation by | Michael McDowell |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography | Pete Kozachik |
| Editing by | Stan Webb |
| Studio |
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| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
| Release date(s) | October 9, 1993 (New York Film Festival) October 29, 1993 (United States) |
| Running time | 76 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Money made | $107.8 million |
The Nightmare Before Christmas (also known as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas) is a cool stop motion animated musical fantasy film from 1993. It was directed by Henry Selick and thought up by Tim Burton. The movie tells the story of Jack Skellington, who is the "Pumpkin King" of Halloween Town. He finds Christmas Town and decides to take over the holiday!
Danny Elfman wrote all the songs and music for the movie. He also sang for Jack Skellington. Other main voices include Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page, Paul Reubens, Glenn Shadix, and Ed Ivory.
The idea for The Nightmare Before Christmas came from a poem Tim Burton wrote in 1982. Back then, he worked as an animator at Walt Disney Productions. After his short film Vincent did well, Burton thought about making this story into a short film or TV special. But it didn't happen right away. Years later, in 1990, Disney agreed to make the movie. Production started in July 1991 in San Francisco. Disney released the film through its Touchstone Pictures label. They thought it might be "too dark and scary for kids."
The Nightmare Before Christmas first showed at the New York Film Festival on October 9, 1993. It was a big hit with both audiences and critics. People loved its animation, especially the new ways it used stop-motion. They also praised the characters, songs, and music. Even though it wasn't a huge box office success at first, it became a cult classic. Many people now see it as one of the best animated films ever. It was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. This was the first time an animated film got that nomination!
In 2023, the movie was chosen for the United States National Film Registry. This means the Library of Congress decided it was "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."
Contents
What's the Story?
Halloween Town is a fantasy world full of monsters and spooky creatures. Jack Skellington, the "Pumpkin King," is very respected. He leads the town in planning the yearly Halloween parties. But this year, Jack is tired of the same old routine. He wants something new!
He finds trees with doors to other holiday worlds. Jack goes through the one that leads to Christmas Town. He is amazed by this new holiday!
Jack goes back home and tells his friends about Christmas. But they don't really understand it. They can only relate to one character: a big, lobster-like king called "Sandy Claws". Jack tries to explain Christmas, but it's hard. So, he decides Halloween Town will take over Christmas this year! He gives everyone Christmas-themed jobs. Some sing carols, others make presents, and some build a sleigh pulled by skeleton reindeer.
Sally, who was created by the local mad scientist Doctor Finkelstein, has a bad dream. She sees that their Christmas plans will go wrong. Sally secretly loves Jack, but he doesn't listen to her warnings. He tells her to make him a Santa Claus suit. He also tells the mischievous trick-or-treaters Lock, Shock, and Barrel to kidnap Santa. But he warns them not to involve Oogie Boogie, a bogeyman who loves to gamble.
Lock, Shock, and Barrel bring Santa to Halloween Town. Jack is surprised because Santa isn't the "Sandy Claws" he expected. Jack tells Santa he will deliver presents this year. He tells the trio to keep Santa safe. But they don't listen! They take Santa to Oogie Boogie. Oogie plans to play a dangerous game with Santa's life.
Jack leaves to deliver presents in the real world. But his presents scare people! The police tell everyone to lock their doors. The military shoots Jack out of the sky. Everyone in Halloween Town thinks he's gone. Jack feels bad about the trouble he caused. But he also realizes he loved the experience! It gave him new ideas for Halloween, and he loves his holiday again.
Jack goes home and saves Santa and Sally. He then faces Oogie Boogie. Jack defeats him by pulling a thread that unravels Oogie's cloth body. All the bugs inside Oogie spill out, and he disappears. Santa makes up with Jack and goes back to his job. He replaces Jack's scary presents with real ones. All of Halloween Town celebrates Jack's return. Santa brings snow to the town, bringing the Christmas spirit. Jack and Sally tell each other they are in love.
Who Are the Voices?
- Chris Sarandon (speaking voice) and Danny Elfman (singing voice) play Jack Skellington. He's a skeleton and the "Pumpkin King" of Halloween Town. Danny Elfman first sang for Jack. Then, Chris Sarandon was chosen to speak for Jack, matching Elfman's singing style.
- Elfman also voices:
- Barrel, one of the trick-or-treaters who works for Oogie Boogie.
- The Clown with the Tear-Away Face, a scary clown on a unicycle.
- Elfman also voices:
- Catherine O'Hara plays Sally. She's a rag doll created by Doctor Finkelstein and is Jack's love interest. Sally is smart and uses different poisons to escape her "father." She can also see things before they happen. O'Hara also voiced Shock, another trick-or-treater for Oogie Boogie.
- William Hickey plays Doctor Finkelstein. He's a mad scientist and Sally's "father." He cares about Sally but is very strict.
- Glenn Shadix plays the Mayor of Halloween Town. He's a very excited leader who runs town meetings. His head spins to show a "happy" or "sad" face, showing his quick mood changes.
- Paul Reubens plays Lock, one of the trick-or-treaters working for Oogie Boogie.
- Ken Page plays Oogie Boogie. He's a bad bogeyman in Halloween Town who loves to gamble and is Jack's rival.
- Ed Ivory plays Santa Claus, the leader of Christmas Town. He delivers presents to kids in the real world every Christmas. Jack and the Halloween Town residents call him "Sandy Claws." Ed Ivory also narrates the beginning of the film.
- Joe Ranft plays Igor (uncredited), Doctor Finkelstein's lab assistant.
Other voices in the film include Debi Durst, Gregory Proops, Kerry Katz, Randy Crenshaw, Sherwood Ball, Carmen Twillie, Glenn Walters, and John Morris. Patrick Stewart recorded a narration for the start and end of the film, but it wasn't used in the final movie. You can find it on the soundtrack album.
How the Movie Was Made
Getting Started
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Tim Burton grew up in Burbank, California, and often felt lonely. He loved holidays because they brought a special feeling. After making his short film Vincent in 1982, Burton wrote a three-page poem called The Nightmare Before Christmas. He got ideas from TV specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
Burton wanted to make his poem into a TV special. He even thought about making it a children's book. He created concept art and storyboards with Rick Heinrichs. They also made character models. Burton showed his work to Henry Selick, who was also a Disney animator. After Vincent did well, Disney thought about making The Nightmare Before Christmas into a short film or TV special. But Disney thought the story was "too weird." Burton was later fired from Disney in 1984. He then directed successful movies like Beetlejuice (1988) and Batman (1989).
Years later, Burton still thought about the project. In 1990, he found out Disney still owned the rights to his story. He and Selick decided to make it into a full-length movie. Burton's success with live-action films made Disney interested. They wanted Nightmare to show off their animation skills.
Burton couldn't direct the movie himself because he was busy with Batman Returns. He also didn't want to deal with the slow process of stop motion. To turn his poem into a movie script, Burton asked Michael McDowell for help. They had some disagreements. So, Burton decided to make the film a musical instead. He worked with Danny Elfman on the songs. Elfman and Burton created a basic story and most of the songs. Elfman said writing the songs was "one of the easiest jobs I've ever had." He felt he had a lot in common with Jack Skellington. Caroline Thompson later wrote the screenplay. Selick said that most of the dialogue was rewritten during the visual development of the film.
Filming the Magic
Henry Selick and his team started making the movie in July 1991 in San Francisco, California. Over 120 people worked on it. They used 20 different sound stages for filming. At its busiest, 20 stages were being used at the same time! In total, they took 109,440 pictures for the movie.
The filmmakers were inspired by artists like Ray Harryhausen and Dr. Seuss. Selick said the movie's look was like a pop-up book. He also explained that Halloween Town looked like German Expressionism. Christmas Town looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. And the "Real World" was plain and simple.
They made 227 puppets for the characters. Jack Skellington alone had "around four hundred heads"! This allowed him to show every possible feeling. Sally's mouth movements were made by changing her face masks. This helped keep her long, red hair in place. Sally had ten types of faces, each with eleven expressions.
Music from the Movie
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The movie's soundtrack album came out in 1993. It has extra songs, including a longer start and end narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart. When the film was re-released in 2006, a special soundtrack came out. It had a bonus disc with covers of five songs by bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco. It also had four original demo songs by Elfman. In 2008, Disney released Nightmare Revisited, an album with more cover songs by different artists.
Many artists have covered songs from the movie. For example, London After Midnight covered "Sally's Song" in 1998. Pentatonix covered "Making Christmas" for their 2018 Christmas album.
The Disneyland Haunted Mansion Holiday ride also has a soundtrack. It includes a mix of "Making Christmas," "What's This?", and "Kidnap the Sandy Claws."
Movie Release and Re-releases
The Nightmare Before Christmas was first going to be released by Walt Disney Pictures. But Disney decided to release it under their Touchstone Pictures label. They thought the movie would be "too dark and scary for kids." To show that Tim Burton was involved and to get more people to see it, Disney marketed the film as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. The movie first showed at the New York Film Festival on October 9, 1993. It was released in more theaters on October 29, 1993.
Re-releases
The movie was re-released in theaters on October 20, 2006, in Disney Digital 3-D. It came with Pixar's short film Knick Knack. It was re-released every October until 2010. The El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California, has shown the film in 4-D screenings every October since 2010. These re-releases helped bring back 3-D movies.
In October 2020, The Nightmare Before Christmas was re-released in over 2,000 theaters. For its 30th anniversary in 2023, it was re-released again in theaters across the United States and Canada. It was also shown in 4DX. The film was re-released again on October 11, 2024, in RealD 3D and Disney Digital 3-D.
Watching at Home
Over the years, The Nightmare Before Christmas became a cult film thanks to its successful home video sales. It was first released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1994, and on DVD in 1997. A special edition DVD came out in 2000. It included comments from the director, a documentary about how the movie was made, and deleted scenes. Tim Burton's short films Vincent and Frankenweenie were also on it.
The movie was re-released on Blu-ray Disc in 2008 as a "collector's edition." In 2011, it came out on Blu-ray 3D. For its 25th anniversary in 2018, a sing-along version was released. This version also came to Disney+ in 2022. In 2023, for its 30th anniversary, the film was updated to 4K and released on 4K Blu-ray.
Fun Stuff and Merchandise
Disney has made many products based on the movie and its characters. These include action figures, books, games, and clothes. Jack Skellington, Sally, and the Mayor have all been made into toys.
Many Disneyland theme parks have attractions with Nightmare characters, especially during Halloween and Christmas. Since 2001, Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Holiday ride gets a Nightmare Before Christmas theme for the holidays. It has characters, decorations, and music from the movie. Jack also hosts fireworks shows at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland.
What's Next for the Story?
In 2003, Disney thought about making a sequel. But they wanted to use computer animation instead of stop motion. Tim Burton convinced Disney not to do it. He felt the movie had a special "purity" and didn't want to make sequels just for money.
The 2004 video game The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge acted as a sequel to the film. The game developers worked with Tim Burton and the film's art director. In 2009, Henry Selick said he would make a sequel if they could find a good story.
In 2019, there were reports that a new Nightmare Before Christmas film was being planned. It could be a stop-motion sequel or a live-action remake. Chris Sarandon said he would love to play Jack Skellington again if a sequel happened.
In 2021, Disney Publishing announced a sequel in the form of a young adult novel. It's called Long Live the Pumpkin Queen and was released in 2022. It's told from Sally's point of view and happens after the movie ends.
In 2023, Selick said he would like to make a prequel film about how Jack became king of Halloween Town. However, Tim Burton said he didn't want any more projects in that world. In 2024, Selick also said he doubted a sequel would happen.
Other Cool Media
Toys and Games
A collectible card game based on the film was released in 2005. It had cards for characters like Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie. A Nightmare Before Christmas Party Game also came out in 2007.
There's a special The Nightmare Before Christmas-themed Jenga game. It has orange, purple, and black blocks with Jack Skellington heads. The game box looks like a coffin! A Munchkin Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas card game was also made. It features characters from Halloween Town.
In 2020, a Nightmare Before Christmas-themed tarot card deck was released. In 2023, Disney and Mattel made Jack and Sally dolls for their Monster High toy line.
Books, Comics, and Manga
A pop-up book based on the film was released in 1993. A cookbook with recipes and crafts for a spooky party came out in 2017. There's also an art book about the film's making.
In 2006, a picture book with Tim Burton's original poem was released. For the film's 20th anniversary, the poem was re-released in a hardcover edition. A book about the Haunted Mansion Holiday attraction's version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" came out in 2009.
In 2017, Tokyopop released two manga versions of Nightmare Before Christmas. One was an adaptation of the film's story. The second, called Zero's Journey, follows Jack's dog, Zero, in Christmas Town. It's a sequel to the film and was approved by Tim Burton. Another sequel manga about Sally, called The Nightmare Before Christmas: Mirror Moon, started in 2021.
A novelization of the film was published in 1994. The young adult novel Long Live the Pumpkin Queen came out in 2022. It focuses on Sally as the main character after the movie ends.
In 2022, Tokyopop announced a graphic novel series called Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Battle for Pumpkin King. It's about the friendship and rivalry between a young Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie.
A new novelization of the film was released in 2023 for its 30th anniversary. A sequel to the Pumpkin Queen book is also expected in 2024. In 2023, Disney partnered with Dynamite Entertainment to publish new comics based on the film.
Video Games
The Nightmare Before Christmas has inspired video games like Oogie's Revenge and The Pumpkin King.
The Kingdom Hearts series features Halloween Town as a world. Jack Skellington can join your team in these games. The games use parts of the movie's story.
A Jack Skellington toy is available for the Disney Infinity video game. This lets you play as him in the game's "Toy Box Mode." Many characters from the film also appear in the mobile game Disney Magic Kingdoms. Jack and Oogie Boogie are playable in other Disney mobile games like Disney Heroes: Battle Mode.
In December 2021, Fall Guys had a special challenge based on The Nightmare Before Christmas. In September 2023, Disney Dreamlight Valley added furniture and clothes inspired by the film. In October 2023, Fortnite added a Jack Skellington costume and other items for its Halloween event. Rocket League also released The Nightmare Before Christmas-themed items in 2023.
Concerts
A live concert of the film's music has been held at the Hollywood Bowl in October since 2015. Danny Elfman, Catherine O'Hara, and Ken Page have performed their roles from the movie. In 2019, this show came to Europe.
In 2020, a special online concert was held to raise money for charity. The cast included James Monroe Iglehart as Oogie Boogie and Rafael Casal as Jack Skellington.
In October 2021, Disney hosted another live concert at the Banc of California Stadium. Billie Eilish sang as Sally, and Danny Elfman returned as Jack. Ken Page was Oogie Boogie, and "Weird Al" Yankovic sang as Shock. A full orchestra played the film's music live.
In 2022, Disney hosted a concert in London with Elfman and Page. Phoebe Bridgers took on the role of Sally. In October 2023, another concert was held at the Hollywood Bowl. This concert was dedicated to Paul Reubens, who voiced Lock, and who passed away in 2023.
Other Media
Disney Interactive Studios released an As Told by Emoji animated version of The Nightmare Before Christmas in 2016. You can find it on their YouTube channel.
In 2019, a podcast series about the making of The Nightmare Before Christmas was created. It features animators and crew talking about the movie.
See also
In Spanish: The Nightmare Before Christmas para niños
- List of ghost films
- List of films set around Halloween
- List of Christmas films
- Santa Claus in film
