Masterpiece Cinema - The Nightmare Before Christmas

Hi, everyone. Hope you had a merry Christmas because if you didn't, I'm kinda screwed...



‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’

Starring Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara. (Voices)

Written by Tim Burton (Story) & Michael McDowell (Adaptation) and Caroline Thompson (Screenplay).

Directed by Henry Selick.

Genre: Fantasy / Horror / Animation / Musical

Released: 1993

Running time: 76 mins.

Rated: PG (American rating).

IMDb link: us.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/

I’m fairly pitiful when it comes to strategising. Rarely does a birthday or anniversary show up without me forgetting it. On the rare occasion that I manage to recall the auspicious date, it’s usually only a few days before it arrives that I organize anything to do with it, whether that be a party or presents or whatever. Why am I telling you all this? Well, it’ll help explain why I’m reviewing a Christmas movie after Christmas.

It was Boxing Day (our fancy British Commonwealth name for the day after Christmas) that I thought that maybe it would have been a good idea to do an Xmas special for Masterpiece Cinema and, if I did, what movie would I spotlight? I didn’t have to scratch my brain for very long before coming up with one. So if your yuletide cheer isn’t entirely burnt out, cast your mind back to that hazy period of a few weeks ago when the world was full of light and joy and bonbons.

Tim Burton has always been an extremely stylised director. You can always pick a Burton film, with his gothic design sensibilities and constant collaboration with Danny Elfman. This collaboration reached its peak in 1993 with ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas.’ Though Burton didn’t actually direct this stop motion animated feature, it was his story, and his design aesthetic drips from every single frame. It also allowed Elfman to really let loose, not only writing the music for a full-blown musical, but singing the vocals for the lead character, too. But what’s it all about?[BB]

‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ tells the story of Jack Skellington, the erstwhile ruler of Halloweentown, who falls through a door into Christmas Town, and becomes immediately infatuated with the whole Xmas affair. So what does he do? He sets all his Halloween cronies to the task of making their own Christmas…with fairly ghastly results.

As you can probably tell by the premise, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ was received with a bit of confusion when it was released. It was a “cartoon,” but it was far too dark for most mainstream, American parents to be comfortable with taking their kids to see it.

Was it a horror movie? Was it a comedy? What was it exactly? It’s only been with time that it’s managed to find a following, enjoying a true cult status in the present day.

And why shouldn’t it? It’s a film rich with character and texture, with beautiful, horrific visuals and beautiful, horrific songs. In fact, it’s one of the few animated musicals that I truly enjoy. I tend to find in Disney films that everything stops for the smarmy musical number. Not so in ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas,’ where the songs not only feed the narrative, but also stand by themselves as amazing pieces of composition.

‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ is unlike any other film that Hollywood’s ever produced. It’s a true original, and if you’re looking for something a little dark, a little wry, and a lot appealing, then this is definitely for you.

Next week: A departure from puppets…

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