Has every right to be considered a movie milestone.

Rating: 10/10 (22 September 2013)

We've seen quite a bit of stop-motion animation on television, with all of those holiday specials we see every Christmas, and of course, the infamous Wallace and Gromit shorts by filmmaker Nick Park in the U.K. However, in the 1990s, we haven't seen a whole lot of stop-motion animation on the big screen. In fact, we rarely saw that. However, one little film came to theatres in 1993 produced by "Batman" director Tim Burton and directed by then-newcomer Henry Selick (who would later make "Coraline") that really caught our attention. That film was "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas".
The movie focuses around Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween, who is tired of doing the same old celebration in Halloween Town year after year, as illustrated and interpreted in the film's second musical number. That's right. This is a musical. He wanders out of Halloween Town to find something new, until he stumbles upon a series of holiday doors in the middle of the forest. The one that catches his eye is a door in the shape of a tree. A Christmas tree as a matter of fact. He opens the door, only to be literally sucked in and discovers Christmas town. Fascinated by his discovery, he tells the citizens of Halloween Town all about it, and comes up with the idea of taking over Christmas this year. What happens after that I will not tell, because there are a certain number of people who have not even seen this fantastic movie yet.
Let me make it clear, if the 10/10 score isn't clear enough already if you looked under the summary. I absolutely love this movie. A lot. In fact, it's within the top 10 of my all time favorite movies list (which I have not fully completed yet). Every year since I've gotten the Special Edition DVD at age 15, I've watched this movie numerous times every year, and it still has not gotten old. Even though I never got the opportunity to watch this movie at a younger age (for some reason -.-), waiting until I got my hands on the DVD disc paid off nicely. The structure of the sets and characters are absolutely brilliant and morbid for a stop-motion picture. A lot of care went into the making of this motion picture milestone, even if Tim Burton was absent most of the time. The reason for that was he was directing "Batman Returns" for Warner Brothers and he was also in pre-production for the R-rated drama "Ed Wood", which would also be released by Touchstone. So, because of this, it was director Henry Selick's job to make sure that Tim Burton's vision was alive and well during production. The result, a movie that defined the mind of Tim Burton as a whole.
The music and songs, both done by former Oingo-Boingo front man and film composer Danny Elfman are also the highlight of the film besides the animation and visuals. There are 10 songs in total, and they are performed brilliantly. Danny Elfman also provides the singing voice of Jack Skellington. The music is celebrated to the point where in 2008, Walt Disney Records released a compilation album entitled "Nightmare Revisited", with all the songs and motion picture score performed by popular and independent acts, including the likes of Marilyn Manson, Korn, Rise Against, and the All-American Rejects (don't worry parents, it's family-friendly). Bizarre as it is, the compilation is definitely worth a buy if you love the film as much as I do.
Today, 20 years later as of this review post, the film still holds up really well. Merchandise went up the wazoo, video games were made, and it even garnered a cult following. Whether you are watching it in 2D or 3D, chances are, you're gonna get the same reaction of amazement on how far we've gotten with filmmaking technology. Back then, animated films didn't solely rely on computer generated images to wow audiences. Craftsmanship and imagination were needed to make a film that can captivate the movie-going public. Granted, this doesn't always mark every single film a success, but in this case, it's what made it a classic. The film may have a few faults, which are really very small nitpicks, but it does not hurt the film one bit. This movie is still fun to watch, and it can be best viewed on Halloween and Christmas. That's right. It's not just a Christmas movie. It's a Halloween treat as well. If you haven't seen this film once in your life, you owe it to yourself to find a DVD/Blu-Ray copy of this movie. If you have kids, it's even better.
Before I end this review, I must mention that Disney first released this film under their more adult subsidiary Touchstone Pictures, because they thought the movie would be too scary for younger audiences. In fact, it's what got it the PG rating. Ironically, this is the same studio that released a lesser known horror film called "The Watcher in the Woods". What they didn't realize is that kids eat this stuff up like Halloween candy. It wouldn't be until the 3D re-release when Disney themselves would distribute the film.