Since it is now officially December, it is finally the season to pull out your families collection of classic holiday movies to help feel all of the great cheer and family lovin' that this time of year always seems to provide. This week we will be talking about the Tim Burton musical classic:" The Nightmare Before Christmas", which was originally released under Disney's "Buena Vista Pictures" banner, as it first was deemed to be too dark and scary for kids.
For those who have never seen the movie, here is a quick synopsis. The movie follows Jack Skellington, who is the well renowned "Pumpkin King" in his home Halloween Town, which is the place of residence for all types of ghouls and ghosts. Jack is the man who organizes the big Halloween festival, but quickly gets bored and lost with the whole repetition of the annual festival. He ends up going on a stroll through the woods to contemplate his existence when he finds himself in the middle of Holiday Woods, where each tree actually holds a door to a world that is a complete embodiment of a holiday. Jack finds himself enamored with a door in the shape of a Christmas tree and enters it, taking him into the jolly world of Christmas Town! Impressed with the feel, Jack soon comes up with the idea of celebrating Christmas this year, and there the movie truly begins.
The movies story works because it is an excellent blend between two completely different holidays. Seeing a tall and lean skeleton frolicking through the beautiful winter landscape is a very interesting experience, and when you see all of the locals in Halloween Town experience snow for the first time, you see them share the same experience. The movie likes to remind you that the residents of Halloween Town are not evil (except for Oogy Boggy and Lock, Shock, & Barrel), and are just doing things that are normal in their society. This is a charming way of showing people that maybe the two holidays aren't so different after all, and that holidays are always a good way to get people together.
The main romance between Jack and the movie's female lead, Sally, is also quite adorable. You can tell right away that Sally has great respect and admiration for Jack as a person, not just the Pumpkin King. Despite her feelings towards the idea of celebrating Christmas, she is a great asset in helping him prepare for it. Sally also ends up assisting in righting his wrongs, which makes their tender love song moment at the end have even more of an impact.
One of the reasons this movie is such a classic, is its wonderful soundtrack composed by the extremely talented Danny Elfman. Which, as a musical, is something this movie needed to be good. You know you're in for a treat when the movie begins and you're instantly hit with "This is Halloween". This song is great because it gives you a good idea of what to expect with the music, all of which are easy to sing along with, and are almost all instant earworms.
The stop motion effects in the film are also really impressive, as are the designs for the characters. Jack, while still a skeleton, still has a very likable look to him, and Sally, a patchwork doll, looks very lovely. All of the monsters in Halloween town look kind of creepy, and are accurate portrayals of the characters they're based on. The elves and Santa Clause in Christmas Town look exactly as cute and charming as you'd want them to be. The animation tends to be very fluid as well, and it's very visually stunning.
If you've never seen it, I really recommend giving "The NIghtmare Before Christmas" a chance, as it has all of the classic Christmas, and Halloween, movie aspects to it. If you're ever looking for a new movie to watch, it's time to give this one a try.
