An all time favorite

Rating: 9/10 (11 September 2005)

I can't accurately explain how I feel about this film. Easily one of Burton's finest, Nightmare tells the tale of Jack Skellington, the unspoken ruler of Halloween Town. Jack, the Pumpkin King, has tired of the yearly celebration for which the town owns its name, and longs for something more. On a long, lonely night, he literally stumbles upon Christmas Town, filled with lights and pleasant sounds and completely absent of death. On his return to Halloween Town, Jack, enchanted by this new place, attempts to explain its splendor to the rest of Halloween Town. It is lost on almost all of them, except for the lovelorn Sally, who longs to be closer to Jack. Eventually, the town's inhabitants come around and, in response to Jack's request, make Christmas theirs for the year. Danny Elfman and Tim Burton never disappoint, and the marriage of Elfman's music and voice with Burton's production is nothing short of magical. The characters--the confused leader Jack, the hopeful and lost Sally, the villainous Oogie Boogie, and (perhaps most delightful of all) Boogie's cronies Lock, Shock, and Barrel, to name a few--are beautifully fleshed out and entertaining beyond description. This film takes you in and does not lose you its full running time. It is one to go back to again and again; there's always something new to pick up on, a twist you hadn't quite caught. A children's film, and yet considerably darker and more mature, The Nightmare Before Christmas can catch anyone's eye, no matter how old or young they are. I'd recommend this to, well, the world at large.