Movie Review Originally Written for Film Class (with spoilers)

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2018)

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a film written and produced by Tim Burton. It is a formalistic film that likely takes place during the gothic era. The Nightmare Before Christmas falls under the animation and musical genres. It is a fun film to watch around the Halloween season, maybe even around the Christmas season. The use of mise-en-scene really helps depict this world very well and makes it seem believable.
The Nightmare Before Christmas tells the tale of a man named Jack (Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon) who is a skeleton and lives in this fantasy world where holidays are segregated. Jack basically runs Halloween. Jack's character is portrayed as a scary figure with aid of costume. It helps that Jack is really tall and thin like Slenderman. Jack also has this striped black and white suit that accentuates his length. To complete his outfit, he has a bat pin stamped just under his neck. Dark gaping holes fill his face where his eyes should be. Jack is just one of the many creepy creations from the mind of Tim Burton.
The mayor figure (Glenn Shadix) is a clueless event coordinator. He cannot plan anything on his own, and he always needs Jack's help to plan the next Halloween. The mayor is this bowling pin-shaped, two-faced man with an elongated hat. His face actually rotates between the pleasant face and then some type of angry, sad face. The mayor is a relatively harmless figure in the movie.
Jack is dissatisfied with his life after the Halloween celebrations. He goes off on his own to think about what is missing from his life, and a girl stalks him from the shadows. Her name is Sally (Catherine O'Hara), and she was created by the Halloween town scientist (William Hickey). She is a puppet put together very sloppily with random seams all over. Her limbs often disassemble, but sometimes that is a good thing. As Jack is walking down a winding hilltop in the moonlight, she watches him and listens as he sings his song of how he feels that he just does not belong. He wishes he could renounce the Pumpkin King title, and he travels further into the forest.
Jack discovers the Christmas town and loves everything he sees. He comes up with a plan to introduce Christmas to his friends in Halloween town. Jack has some kids bring Santa Claus back from Christmas town. When Santa enters Halloween town, he is wrapped up in a large black bag. As he emerges from the bag, the point of view shifts for the first time. The viewers can see from Santa's perspective the horrors that are presented before him. His vision is a bit blurry at first which when added to the chiaroscuro effect, makes it seem scarier. Everything from Santa's vision is pointier, darker, meaner. There are bricks out of place on buildings and bolts holding everything together. Spiked fences line the bricked roads. This is not a place Santa Claus would want to be. The kids take Santa to see Oogie Boogie (Ken Page).
Oogie Boogie is a villain. He is a monster that looks like a ghost wearing a massive potato sack with form-fitting facial orifices. In the movie, he is really composed of maggots on the inside. Oogie Boogie lives in a creepy place in the ground. The decor consists of a hole in the middle with some type of acidic goo, rusty pipes, and ghostly gambling paraphernalia. In order to get to it, people have to climb down a small tunnel, which could make the viewer claustrophobic just looking at it. Confined spaces are scary, though, so that keeps up with the reputation of the town.
While Santa Claus is being held captive, Jack goes back to Christmas town and pretends to be Santa Claus for the night, handing out the toys that they made in Halloween town. These toys have teeth and can chase kids. The point of view shifts again as a child runs timidly down the stairs to the scene of the skeletal Santa distributing demonic toys. Getting to see the screen shake with each step the child takes puts the audience in the perspective of the child. It is a useful technique to involve the audience like that, even briefly, because it keeps them engaged and, in this case, it builds suspense as we all discover what is around the corner.
The movie concludes with Jack's return to Halloween town and rescue of Santa Claus. Jack discovers that he loves being the Pumpkin King, and that is what he is meant to be. Santa Claus goes back to Christmas town and restores the balance of Christmas again.
The setting plays a very important role in establishing this story. The scenes need to be composed of dark tones, creepy creatures, unsettling music, and scary houses and streets. When Jack enters Christmas town warm, festive colors, soft snow, and pleasant sounds can be experienced. Observing the distinction between the two towns helps the viewer understand these worlds better.
The storyline is linear, and the ending is a little predictable. The viewer knows that everything will go back to the way it was, especially since it is meant for a younger audience. It is hard to empathize with these characters. Besides Jack's existential crisis, the plot revolves around something very specific that is not something that humans can experience. Although, everyone can probably relate to feeling like they are out of place in life, and so they search for what they are truly meant to be doing.
There was a metaphor I caught on to that I found slightly amusing. The mayor has two faces and is a political figure. I think that might represent how people view actual politicians, because they may be smiling in one situation, but they could be a totally different person in another.
I liked this movie because it is a great Halloween movie that people of all ages can enjoy and still get something out of. I really like how the movie is composed with the animated characters. I am not quite sure if this is Claymation, but it seems like it has some elements of Claymation in it. The choice of using animation in the way they did was successful because the characters and the setting looked more realistic than if it was just plain cartoon animation. The more realistic the scenes, the more willing the audience is to suspend their disbelief. This will be a movie that I will watch every year because it is seasonally appropriate and brings back nostalgia from my childhood. I would recommend that everyone watches this movie at least once in their life. It is on all the time around Halloween, so it would be hard to miss it.