Who Says You Can't Enjoy a Halloween Movie on Christmas?

Rating: 10/10 (4 February 2011)

"The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a classic at its best. The movie opens on Halloween town celebrating their latest terrors of Halloween night. Jack Skellington, voice-over by Chris Sarandon and Danny Elfman, finds himself disconnected from the buzz of success and wonders aimlessly in loneliness. He finds himself in front of a door, a door shaped like a colorful Christmas tree. Curiosity gets the better of Jack and he finds himself lost in snow, surrounded by trains, lights, and little elves making presents. A feeling overcomes him, a sense of excitement. The story takes off from there! Jack returns to town, distributes Christmas jobs for all, neglecting the warnings of disaster from Sally, his quite love, voice-over by Catherine O'Hara.
The theme of this film takes a focus on the style it was presented by director Henry Selick and producer Tim Burton. It has the unique touch Burton leaves with all of his films; it is quirky, inimitable, and has a set of qualities about it you only see from his films. Sound is a major player in the techniques of building the theme. The style of musical presentation is dominant in the film and emphasizes the uniqueness of the films creation. There are upbeat songs, dark songs, sad songs, and excited songs. When a doorbell is rung in Halloween Town, it is not a bell but a shriek. When the snowflakes sweep Jack away there is an attention getting sound of sparkling that comes alive. The lighting also played into the theme. Halloween Town was gloomy, gray, and dark; while Christmas Town was bright, cheerful, and lit up. This holds true when Santa Clause is kidnapped and brought back to Halloween Town and he is a shining ball of happiness and rosy cheeks against the steel gray feeling of the town. Shadows of the animated characters were created and presented in a way that a real shadow would play off of a real person. The attention to detail is remarkable, right down to little puffs of smoke coming from the trains, and shadows from lights running across the characters.
Looking at all of Burton's films, his animated ones are definitely a style all of their own. When movies like Corpse Bride, James and the Giant Peach, and 9 aired in previews – it was easy to say 'Burton had to have a hand in that'! His unique style is what creates his themes and makes him stand worlds apart from other writers, producers, and directors.