Pseudo Review: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Believe it or not I had never watched The Nightmare before Christmas until last week when I bought the new special edition DVD. It just seems like a movie I should’ve seen a long time ago. Now that I’ve watched it and all is right with the Geekniverse, I can offer up my thoughts on this beloved Christmas/Halloween classic.

The story is twisted yet sweet (never an easy combination). Skeleton Jack, sort of the Halloween version of Santa Clause, simply wants Halloween Town to experience the joy of Christmas. The movie is perfect for me since Halloween and Christmas are my two favorite times of year (whenever the Adult Video awards take place is a close third).

The animation is amazing. Using stop motion for this twisted Christmas tale is perfect since it harkens back to classic animated Christmas specials like Rudolph. When I think Christmas Cartoons, I automatically think Stop motion. It’s a real shame this art form isn’t utilized more often.

The only thing I was at all disappointed with was the music. It wasn’t terrible or anything, I just didn’t find any of the tunes particularly catchy. That “bah humbug” aside, The Nightmare before Christmas is probably the most original and unique Holiday movie I’ve ever seen. I suppose Santa Claus Conquers the Martians might be a little more original, but unlike Nightmare, it’s not actually any good. The DVD also includes Tim Burrton’s short films Frankenweenie and Vincent, so this purchase is a no-brainer for fans of the filmmaker. For the Uber-Geek with more disposable income than I, you can get the limited edition DVD set with special packaging that looks like a life (death?) size Skeleton Jack head for a mere $150.