An all-too-rare treasure.

Rating: 9/10 (9 March 2001)

One thing animators are able to do is create entire alternate universes from scratch. And, sadly, they very rarely take advantage of this ability. The best animated films are like travelogues filmed on location in other worlds, and one of the most downright astonishing of these worlds is to be seen in "the Nightmare Before Christmas".
This would be an amazing movie anyway because of it's stop-motion animation, a dying art if there ever was one. However, the story, characters and music are equaly memorable. It doesn't hurt that Halloween and Christmas happen to be the two bookends of an annual period of holiday season euphoria for yours truly. This, of course, is one of the movies I always must watch every holiday season to get myself in the spirit.
Be sure to get the "Special Edition" video, by the way. It's letterboxed and includes the two Tim Burton shorts "Vincent" (which looks excactly like an Edward Gorey book come to life) and "Frankenweenie" (a sublimely hilarious tribute to Shelly).