Exquisitely-detailed ghoul-fest

Rating: 6/10 (6 August 2006)

Stop-motion animation technique brings life to tale of Halloweentown, whose residents get bitten by the Christmas bug and move into Santa's territory. Co-producer Tim Burton, who also conceived the story, obviously loved the Rankin/Bass holiday specials from television, smoothly updating those productions with modern razzle-dazzle, creating amusingly ghoulish creatures who glide across the screen fluidly. The only area of the film that needed strengthening was the story, which falls flat in places and is particularly mean to poor Santa Claus (although kids didn't much notice or care). Henry Selick's direction is lively and Danny Elfman (the singing voice of the Pumpkin King) composed a wonderful song-score. Fun for game adults and older children. **1/2 from ****