Detailed Ratings
Plot 5.0/5
Characters 5.0/5
Animation 5.0/5
Soundtrack 5.0/5

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Animated Movie
ComposerDanny Elfman Voice ActorDanny Elfman
+2
Balance
+2 -0
Score weighted by each hero's level: a recommendation from a level 3 hero counts for 3.
5.0/5
1
Reviews
Tome
From the editors, by Tome Updated on 08/10/2026

Sold under Tim Burton's name, directed by Henry Selick

According to Selick, Disney decided about three weeks before the wide release of October 1993 to market the film as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, to attract a wider audience. The director was in fact Henry Selick, who shot it in San Francisco, and he recalled that Burton came up five times over two years, for no more than eight or ten days in total. In Selick's words, Burton "laid the egg", and he himself sat on it and hatched it.

The crew built 227 puppets, and Jack Skellington had around four hundred heads to express every emotion. Selick compared the look of Halloween Town to German Expressionist cinema. Danny Elfman wrote the eleven songs and sang Jack's part, while Chris Sarandon spoke his lines.

The Story

Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, is weary of the same celebration every year. Through a door in a tree, he discovers Christmas Town and decides that Halloween Town will take over Christmas, with presents made by its residents and a sleigh pulled by skeletal reindeer. Sally, who secretly loves Jack, is the creation of the mad scientist Doctor Finkelstein, and she has a vision that the plan will end in disaster.

The story began as a three-page poem that Burton wrote in 1982, while he was working at Disney, inspired by the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas and by television specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Disney considered a short film or a half-hour special, then let the project stall because its tone seemed "too weird".

The Ideal Audience

Disney first released the film under its Touchstone Pictures label, fearing it would be "too dark and scary for kids", and reissued it under the Walt Disney Pictures name in 2006. It is rated PG, and Common Sense Media recommends it from age 7, noting characters who take off their own heads and limbs, skeletons, zombies and a very creepy villain, Oogie Boogie. The film runs 76 minutes and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, a first for an animated film.

+2
Balance
+2 -0
Score weighted by each hero's level: a recommendation from a level 3 hero counts for 3.
5.0/5
1
Reviews
Detailed Ratings
Plot 5.0/5
Characters 5.0/5
Animation 5.0/5
Soundtrack 5.0/5
Tome
From the editors, by Tome Updated on 08/10/2026

Sold under Tim Burton's name, directed by Henry Selick

According to Selick, Disney decided about three weeks before the wide release of October 1993 to market the film as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, to attract a wider audience. The director was in fact Henry Selick, who shot it in San Francisco, and he recalled that Burton came up five times over two years, for no more than eight or ten days in total. In Selick's words, Burton "laid the egg", and he himself sat on it and hatched it.

The crew built 227 puppets, and Jack Skellington had around four hundred heads to express every emotion. Selick compared the look of Halloween Town to German Expressionist cinema. Danny Elfman wrote the eleven songs and sang Jack's part, while Chris Sarandon spoke his lines.

The Story

Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, is weary of the same celebration every year. Through a door in a tree, he discovers Christmas Town and decides that Halloween Town will take over Christmas, with presents made by its residents and a sleigh pulled by skeletal reindeer. Sally, who secretly loves Jack, is the creation of the mad scientist Doctor Finkelstein, and she has a vision that the plan will end in disaster.

The story began as a three-page poem that Burton wrote in 1982, while he was working at Disney, inspired by the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas and by television specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Disney considered a short film or a half-hour special, then let the project stall because its tone seemed "too weird".

The Ideal Audience

Disney first released the film under its Touchstone Pictures label, fearing it would be "too dark and scary for kids", and reissued it under the Walt Disney Pictures name in 2006. It is rated PG, and Common Sense Media recommends it from age 7, noting characters who take off their own heads and limbs, skeletons, zombies and a very creepy villain, Oogie Boogie. The film runs 76 minutes and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, a first for an animated film.

Status: Completed
Publication: 1993
Country of origin: United States
Original language: English
Age rating: Teen (13+)
Genres: Fantasy

Reviews

lemonalyn

The Skeleton, The Myth, The Legend😈😈😈

What can I say that hasn't already been said a thousand times over? For one thing, it's both a Halloween movie and a Christmas, so I can watch it during either fall or winter and still feel on theme. Let's see: the stop motion animation? Superb. The music? Unprecedented. The characterization, the plot, the themes, THE VIBES? Just, the chef's kiss. There's a reason why every year on October 1st, this is the first movie I watch to get me in the Halloween spirit. Jack's such a chaotic yet so simultaneously endearing main character. He makes some mistakes, some admittedly more catastrophic than others, but he has the best intentions and ultimately works very hard to correct those mistakes. Just a fascinating character arc to watch unfold. Then of course, there's the worldbuilding. Halloweentown, Christmastown, and the human world all have so much personality that they might as well be their own characters. It's also really fun to see the Halloween characters getting so invested in Christmas, the chaos that ensues, and the aftermath of both towns ending on friendly terms. I would recommend this to fans of other stop motion animated movies such as Coraline, Paranorman, The Corpse Bride, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and family friendly Halloween movies in general.
Recommends:
+2 The value of a recommendation depends on its author's level.
Overall
Plot
Characters
Animation
Soundtrack
9
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