🎃 :The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) Review 🎄

This Is Halloween, This Is Perfection


—

Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

—

Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

In the creepy, kooky world of Halloween Town, Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, rules over spooks, scares, and everything that goes bump in the night. But Jack has a midlife (mid-afterlife?) crisis. He’s tired of the same screams and scares every October 31st, and he accidentally stumbles into Christmas Town, a place bursting with warmth, color, joy, and, well… snow. Inspired, Jack decides he’s going to take over Christmas. What could possibly go wrong when skeletons, ghosts, and vampires try their hand at holiday cheer? Spoiler: everything.

Cue iconic opening!

—

Character Rundown

Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon, singing by Danny Elfman): The Pumpkin King himself. Tall, bony, stylish, and going through an existential crisis. Jack carries the film with his charm and longing for something more.

Sally (Catherine O’Hara): The stitched-up ragdoll with a heart of gold and some serious smarts. She sees the trainwreck coming before Jack does and spends the film trying to save him (and Christmas) from himself.

Oogie Boogie (Ken Page): A burlap sack full of bugs with a booming voice and jazzy menace. He’s pure villainy but done with so much flair that you almost root for him.

Santa Claus (Ed Ivory): Poor guy. Just trying to do his jolly job when suddenly skeletons are shoving him in a sack. He doesn’t get much screen time, but he anchors the contrast between Christmas joy and Halloween chaos.



—

Pacing / Episode Flow

Perfectly timed at just 76 minutes, the movie never drags. The story moves like a gothic fairy tale on fast-forward: creepy musical number, heartwarming musical number, chaos, more music, big finale. It never overstays its welcome. Short, sharp, and iconic.


—

Pros

The Visuals: Stop-motion at its finest. The gothic spires, twisted hills, and the vibrant clash of Halloween Town and Christmas Town are pure eye candy.

Danny Elfman’s Score: Without these songs, this movie wouldn’t exist. “This Is Halloween” is iconic. “What’s This?” is infectious joy bottled in three minutes. And “Jack’s Lament” might be one of the most beautiful songs in animation history.

The Dual Holiday Concept: A skeleton who hijacks Christmas? Genius. It’s dark, funny, and heartwarming all at once.

Tim Burton’s Touch: Even though Henry Selick directed, Burton’s fingerprints are all over it. Macabre yet whimsical, scary yet magical.



—

Cons

Honestly? None. If anything, the only “con” is Disney not knowing what to do with this film when it first came out, slapping Touchstone Pictures on it because they thought it was too scary for kids. Joke’s on them — it became a cultural phenomenon.


—

Final Thoughts

The Nightmare Before Christmas isn’t just a holiday film — it’s two holiday films in one. It’s Halloween candy mixed with Christmas cocoa, stitched together with stop-motion artistry that still holds up today. It’s a gothic fairy tale that feels timeless, and every frame oozes with passion and creativity.


—

Rating

10/10 — Perfection. Both a Halloween classic and a Christmas staple. Few films can say they own two holidays at once.


—

Spoiler Warning 🚨

From here on out, big spoilers.


—

Spoilers

Jack’s “brilliant” plan to take over Christmas backfires spectacularly. His version of Christmas gifts? Severed heads, shrunken skulls, and man-eating wreaths. Naturally, the humans freak out, the military gets involved, and Christmas nearly ends in bloodshed. Meanwhile, Sally tries (and fails) to stop him, all while falling for Jack.

And then there’s Oogie Boogie’s lair — a neon-drenched casino of doom where Santa and Sally are held hostage. Jack swoops in, battles Oogie, and rips him apart to reveal… he’s just a sack of bugs. Creepy, gross, and unforgettable.

In the end, Jack realizes he belongs in Halloween Town. He can’t steal another holiday — but he can bring new meaning to his own. Sally and Jack finally come together under the moonlit hilltop in one of the most beautifully gothic romantic finales ever animated.