This is Halloween, This is Halloween!

Rating: Null/10 (23 July 2003)

TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS / Starring Chris Sarandon, Catherine O' Hara and Danny Elfman / Directed by Henry Selick / Written by Henry Selick, Caroline Thompson and Tim Burton / Rated PG / ****
Stop-motion is possibly one of the most underrated methods of animation. Recently, the animation genre has been almost completely taken over by computers with very few hand-drawn features ever even seen. The stop-motion animation seen in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas strangely looks and moves a lot smoother than the computer-generated images of Pixar's first Toy Story feature. Even though computers open a lot more to the genre than stop-motion does, this masterpiece created in the head of the legendary Tim Burton (Batman) even surpasses the most imaginative of animated features. There are things found in this movie you have only seen in your dreams.
Jack Skellington is the film's main protagonist. He's weary of celebrating Halloween in Halloweentown year after year, even every day of the year is devoted to preparing that one day. However, when walking dreamily through the forest, he uncovers the world of life outside his town. What draws him to a seemingly normal door in the shape of a Christmas tree? It is in this door where all his dreams come true: After seeing plans and preparations for Christmas in Christmastown, Jack has a brilliant idea: Why not bring Christmas to his own world of Halloween? What a beautiful idea!

Like an old Disney feature, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is a musical. I wasn't so much sitting still watching the movie as I was bouncing around to all the songs included. Music and singing is the movie's main plot advancement, and for the most part, it succeeds in doing so. The film is so upbeat, bouncy and zippy that you hardly notice the 70 minute running time flashing before your eyes until you find out you're ready to turn the movie off. With all the singing, I'm pleased director Henry Selick keeps the film this length. Sometimes, the music may bog the film down for less-eccentric singing fans, but for everyone else it is a joy to experience. I was tapping my foot throughout the musical numbers.
But this isn't soley a musical: It is an animated movie that is strangely haunting and intoxicating. And with Tim Burton at the helm, you'll witness creatures and creations beyond the dreams you experience at night. Every scene is chock-full of wierd yet imaginative characters, bursting with personality even with the tiniest movement or smallest line. "I looked behind the Count's eye for Jack! But he wasn't there!" mutters a vampire. Or even the sea creature inside the city's pond "Jack, you make skin ooze and flesh crawl!". There is even a slimy creature, dripping with substance even with his face.
Animation is a method of unraveling an entire world and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas uses it full-force. With this movie, I sat with my jaw dropping, looking at even the tiniest backdrops and corners. This movie paints in it's corners. It is a movie with a full-fleshed out world, dazzling us with it's imagination, creative characters and magnificent messages, teaching us that change can also be a good thing, even faced with gigantic odds. Believe in what you believe and it might come true.