In The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack Skellington, The Pumpkin King of Halloween Town has grown tired of the same routine and he wants something different. After walking through the woods contemplating life, he discovers a magical doorway into Christmas Town. It is there he has an epiphany: Why can't the citizens of Halloween Town celebrate Christmas? So the townspeople decide to take matters into their own hands. Whether that is a good thing or not.
The one element that makes Nightmare stand out above all the other stop-motion films is Danny Elfman's masterful score and songs. If the movie wasn't a musical, it would just be remembered as a creepy kids movie. The movie would be nothing without the music. All of the songs are memorable. The first three songs are my personal favorite and the visuals match the songs to a tee.
Considering the film is celebrating its 20th anniversary on this very day (I swear I didn't plan that) the animation holds up incredibly well. The animation is astonishing. One of my personal favorite scenes is during Jack's Lament when he walks up the hill and the moon shines causing him to look like a silhouette. I'm not sure why I enjoy that scene so much. Maybe because it is the most iconic scene from the whole film. Or maybe it was a combination of the animation, the music and the environment.
It was great re-watching this in high definition because the colors have never looked more vibrant and the townspeople have never seemed creepier. Which leads me to the characters.
With a film as visually and musically memorable as The Nightmare Before Christmas, you would think that the characters would be very memorable, right? Sadly, the character that I really remembered is Jack Skellington because he was the main character and easily the most likable and relatable. The only reason some of the other characters are remembered is because of the nightmares they gave us as children (or maybe I only felt that way). Aside from scaring us as kids, the townspeople are very bland and boring. Especially the character of Sally. She is given little development or background whatsoever and yet we have to root for her as the protagonist and the love interest when she is a very boring character. The character of Oogie Boogie is pretty awesome though. The voice and design is super cool. I still can't get The Boogie Song out of my head.
Regardless of how bland some characters might be personality wise, they are made up with great character designs. The premise is completely different from anything we have ever seen before. It just blisters with originality and I love it.
Final Report: The Nightmare Before Christmas is an imaginatively original film with stop-motion animation and a awesome musical score that cements the reason why Danny Elfman is my favorite composer. It's a true classic.
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