Watch it again, it grows on you

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2003)

Well, I'm not going to give a plot summary, since that's been done to death. Nor am I going to give a complete cast list, though I might mention a few. What I'm going to do instead is talk about my experience(s) with the movie, and what I think of it. Warning, I may quote lyrics QUITE a bit.

For a LONG time, I don't even know how long, a friend of mine had been bugging me to see this movie. I'd hemmed, and hawed, cause I had no real interest in seeing it. Then I found out that Danny Elfman, of Oingo Boingo fame, not only was in it, but did the entire score, and I said "YES!!". I wound up seeing it, and though it was interesting(and OH how I marveled at the stop-motion animation[I hesitate to call it claymation, cause I use that as a derogatory term for very obvious and jerky stop-motion animation]), it wasn't really anything spectacular. I shrugged, and moved on. When I mentioned to one of my friends that it wasn't that impressive, he said, and I quote: "Yeah, I was the same way the first time. Watch it again, it grows on you". So I did. And the second time, I thought "Hmm. Some of the songs are cool, I guess.". So then I watched it a third time, and thought "Wow, this is pretty great!" Then a fourth. And fifth. The first time was a bit over a month ago, and I'm up over a dozen now, including twice in the last 24 hours.
The songs are amazing. Well-written, well-performed, energetic, and CATCHY. They get stuck in your head, and they stay around. Trust me. I've got "What's This?" running through my head this very minute. Danny Elfman is simply a god. There's even a reference to one of Oingo Boingo's songs, Tender Lumplings. The choreography that goes with them in the movie is also awesome. In fact, one of the things I say is a sign of a good musical is that when you hear the songs, they make you think of the scene, and Nightmare Before Christmas DEFINITELY does that. Also, it does what I know Andrew Lloyd Webber does, and I'm sure a number of other composers do, but I haven't bothered to look it up, which is to re-use tunes, even if it's only in the background, throughout the entire movie. I very much like that.
As for the animation... It's simply amazing. Not necessarily up to the CGI of today, such as Finding Nemo, or even Toy Story, but considering that it's 10 years old, it's pretty amazing. Watching it in the reflection in my monitor this morning, it actually DID look like CGI. I can't even imagine how long it must have taken to make. And there's so many details in things, it's impossible to catch them all. I didn't even notice til my eighth time through that Zero's nose is actually a tiny Jack-O'-Lantern, and even then I had to have it pointed out to me. Many little things like that, and Oogie-Boogie's lair, and it's just amazing.
Also, you empathize with the characters. You do feel Jack's pain in Poor Old Jack... And then, as he gets his spirit back near the end of it, you find yourself just as elated as he. You can feel his glee at preparing Christmas, and you're in the same state, because you just can't help it. It's that energetic. Lock, Shock, and Barrel are also very cool, they're the little scamps who capture Santa. They amuse me every time.
I think I've gone on long enough... In short, it's a very good movie. I'm totally in love with it now, and I'm planning on buying the soundtrack as soon as I can. DO watch it. I give it 10/10, my highest rating. Enjoy, all.
--Afakaz