An Entertaining Tribute to Two Distinct Holidays

Rating: 7/10 (20 October 2018)

I don't think I need to describe this film, since everyone knows that this was the brain child of Tim Burton while he was working at Disney. Sure, Henry Selick ended up directing it and not Burton himself due to his busy schedule, but there's a reason everyone calls it a Burtonesque masterpiece. Only someone as strange as him could've thought up an idea for a film where both Halloween and Christmas come together to tell a story. Now with all of that said, I totally get why people love this movie, but I personally deem it as just enjoyable more than anything else.
Right off the bat, the animation really makes this movie come to life. The numerous creatures of Halloween Town look like they came right out of the mind of an imaginative soul obsessed with the macabre, and they translate very well to stop-motion. In addition, the character animation is quite fluent and lively, as each distinct spook acts differently from one another depending on their physical appearance. The contrasting sets consisting of the creepy and dark looking Halloween Town and the bright and colorful Christmas Town also deserves much praise for the usage of strong lighting and cinematography. Also, the moments of composited hand-drawn animated ghouls add a variety of styles to the film without going overboard.
That being said though, as beautiful as the film looks, the story itself is not as strong. The film centers around the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, Jack Skellington, who wants something new besides celebrating Halloween. Once he discovers Christmas, he wants to embrace the holiday but then ends up realizing the grass is always greener on the other side. This kind of story is really weak in concept, and the plot itself is rather practicable. However, the execution is what elevates the feature, as it's told through musical numbers and just exploring the fantasies of each holiday. The film manages to blend holiday cheer and grim humor together to build off the conflicting views of the two dreamlike lands through creative visual artistry and gags.
As for the characters themselves, Jack is well meaning in his desire for something new, but his ambitions make him too naive for his own good. It's funny how Disney tells us that we can do whatever we dream when this film's moral proves that isn't always the case. Sally works well as the film's pure voice of reason by desiring excitement while being concerned for Jack's well being. The other characters range from demanding yet too self obsessed like Dr. Finklestein and the Mayor, to malicious and annoying like Lock, Shock and Barrel, to bland yet wise like Santa Claus. The only other memorable character in the film has to be Oogie Boogie, mainly due to his delightfully charismatic performance reminiscent to that of a Cab Calloway performance in a Betty Book cartoon, although his motives don't seem to be fully touched upon.
Lastly, the songs by Danny Elfman work as both storytelling devices and entertaining melodies on their own. Some set the mood of the individual fantasy world like This Is Halloween or What's This, while others establish the characters and their inner feelings like Jack's Lament, Sally's Song and Poor Jack (yeah, the titles suck, but what can you do?). But without a doubt, the song that steals the show is Oogie Boogie's Song, as it displays the coolest and most creative visuals in the entire film whilst being highly entertaining and camp in its own regard. No matter how you feel about any of the songs, nothing else could have elevated the paper thin story as much as them, for they add all the necessary momentum and entertainment value needed for a film like this.
So overall, while I wouldn't put The Nightmare Before Christmas on as high of a pedestal as others would, I still find it to be an entertaining experience to watch during two different times of the year. Even if the story is relatively simple and the characters are hit or miss, the originality expressed through the visuals, comedy, music and mix of the aforementioned holidays makes the whole feature worth a watch. I hope whoever loves this film has the time of their life rewatching it again during this month...or in the next two months, give or take. As for me, while I have seen better animated films in the horror fantasy genre, this still reflects the fun side of Halloween and Christmas like never before.