The wide established canon of Christmas movies demands the attention of our Netflix accounts every December, but there’s one holiday classic that holds the biggest chunk of my jolly heart. Not only is it my all-time favorite movie, but Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is hands down the absolute best Christmas movie of all time. December is the most wonderful time of year because much of the general population joins me in my natural state of being: singing along to and quoting this beautiful stop-motion musical about Jack Skellington, the king of Halloweentown, attempting to take over Christmas by replacing Santa Claus, or “Sandy Claws,” as Jack says. If that plot doesn’t convince you, let me prove to you why this is the best Christmas movie of all time:
1. The animation is fantastic and unforgettable.
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" was released in 1993, two years before Pixar’s "Toy Story" hit theaters as the first completely computer animated movie, so it embraced the stop motion medium and made beautiful use of it. Each character is really a puppet less than a foot tall, with facial expressions, blinking eyes, and limbs being adjusted by hand between every frame. The effect is a richly textured landscape with characters and settings made of impossible proportions, but with a lifelike quality not found in any other type of film (especially not "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", which I personally find much creepier than "Nightmare".)
2. Danny Elfman wrote the music — and it’s way more fun than your typical Christmas carols.
Usually by the time mid-December rolls around, I’m starting to get a little bored of the traditional carols. Michael Buble, he’s great, Mariah Carey, yes, her too, but no matter how many times I hear that all they want for Christmas is me, I’d rather be listening to werewolves and boogey men chanting the lyrics to “Making Christmas.” Danny Elfman, the man behind the music of many of Tim Burton’s films, provided a unique haunted quality and genuine personality to the "Nightmare" score and soundtrack. Not only did he write "Nightmare"'s music, but he also provided the singing voice for Jack Skellington.
3. The special edition soundtrack keeps your inner emo kid happy during the holidays.
Panic at the Disco! Fall Out Boy! Marilyn Manson singing “This is Halloween”! Fiona Apple singing “Sally’s Song”! Pack on the eyeliner and bust out the Manic Panic Purple Haze because it’s getting goth in here this holiday season.
4. Every year it takes up residence at the Haunted Mansion, making it a Disneyland holiday gem.
If your television isn’t doing a great job of transporting you into Halloweentown, Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion gives you all-access to Jack Skellington’s world every fall through winter season. For those of us fascinated by the creepy and surreal, it’s a breath of fresh air in the glistening jolly farm that is Disneyland at Christmas time.
5. It isn’t just a Christmas movie.
Because it follows Jack Skellington from Halloween to Christmas day, this movie is appropriate for viewing from October through December, making it a less fleeting obsession than audiences have for movies only played in December. True fans can watch the movie as early as September or even August. Who am I kidding, though? I’ve been caught watching it in March — it’s never too early to get into the "Nightmare Before Christmas" spirit.
