The Nightmare before Christmas
Cast
Chris Sarandon .... Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King (voice)
Danny Elfman .... Jack Skellington (Singing Voice), Barrel, Clown with the Tearaway Face (singing voice) (voice)
Catherine O'Hara .... Sally, Shock (voice)
William Hickey .... Dr. Finklestein (voice)
Glenn Shadix .... The Mayor of Halloween Town (voice)
Directed by
Henry Selick
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
8/10. Tim Burton must have had one messed up childhood. All of his films
have something magical, but have some sort of an evil undershadow.
It's most evident in his first short film "Vincent", but you can see
it in The Nightmare Before Christmas, a sweet, short musical that's a
palpable story wrapped in a kid's film. If you've seen claymation
before, which you probably have in films like Chicken Run, you can
know the potential and the hard work that this type of animation has.
Although the sets are obviously miniature, you wonder, "How did they
do that?" It's the best claymation I have seen.
The story is also very imaginative; nothing like this has ever been
done, and nothing like this will ever be done again. Although Burton
has gone astray from wondrous worlds in recent movies like Planet of
the Apes, this is his niche: creating fantasy worlds where anything
can happen. Of course, he didn't direct, but his name is still
connected to the title. Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of
Halloween Town in Burton's world. He's the world's top scarer, but
gets bored with the Halloween routine. Taking a walk with his ghost
dog Zero, he wanders into a forest with different doors, one for each
holiday. Jack walks into one, and goes into Christmas Town. He finds
what he's been missing, and tries to bring some of the spirit to
Halloween Town, but doesn't quite grasp the concept.
Another plus is that Danny Elfman's involved with it. Not only did he
write the score and the songs, but he also provides the beautiful
singing voice for Jack (the speaking voice for him is Chris
Sarandon). The songs are memorable, and all of them are different.
Some are tender love songs, and some are excitable, playful songs.
Unlike other musicals, the songs actually make sense in the context
of the movie. It couldn't survive without the songs, while in most
musicals, it could just as well be a regular movie. The songs explain
what's happening (such in Jack's "What's This?"), and give depth to
the characters.
Lots of voice over talent was needed, and lots of voice over talent
they got. Although the audio and visual didn't always match up (it's
impossible to do in movies like this), all of the voices did sound
like they were coming out of the characters' mouths. Sarandon is a
good actor, while, as I said before, Elfman has a great voice.
Catherine O'Hara is Sally; a person created by an evil scientist, and
was cast in a wasted role quicker than you can say, "Jennifer
Aniston". If a little more depth was added to her character, it would
have been nice.
The characters were painstakingly created. A special feature on the
DVD shows that each character has over 200 heads, and there are 24
frames a second, and since it takes one week for one minute of film,
it took over a year for the animation alone. Although they obviously
are fake, all of the characters looked believable. Also, I had a
thought for most of the movie: "How did this work?" The
cinematography was better than most live action films, and I don't
really see how it could be this great for such a small set. However,
the set leads me onto my main complaint for the movie.
The color was very bland. Of course, it had to be dark in Halloween
Town, but if more orange had been added to the black and grey, it
would have been more effective. Henry Selick, the director, said on
the commentary that they wanted the contrast between Halloween Town
and Christmas Town to be great, but it's too bland.
There were a few cell-animations, and others. One of the special
effects I liked was the Oogie Boogie monster (who sounded like Audrey
II in Little Shop of Horrors). He looked like a giant paper bag, but
when we find out about the end of him, the effects were great.
Overall, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a visually stunning film
that won't leave you disappointed.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #5
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated PG for ghoulish themes.
Running time: 76 minutes
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