A rare beauty, with a dash of guilty pleasure...

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2000)

One IMDBer compared the joy received from the Nightmare Before Christmas to that of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I agree: ever since I was a little boy, Willy Wonka astounded me, and the more I see it, the more I admire Gene Wilder for the absolute wacko, mad, and yet kind genius that he Willy Wonka. However, the other elements tend to fade over time (besides Veruca Salt, who you can't help but love/hate.)
The Nightmare Before Christmas is just the opposite: a joy in every element, not just performances. I can hardly think of a single Disney film or animated feature that is as bold and visionary as Henry Selick's movie- I enjoyed the Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast thoroughly but Selick's fable has a sense of humor and originality that the other films lack in their Disney propriety and G ratings...Bittersweet romance, tragedy, action, comedy, and a healthy dose of guilty pleasure for one and all. Come on, didn't we all love seeing the fat kid getting chased by the pumpkin-in-the-box, and the little boy receiving a shrunken head wrapped in a bow? :>)

Every time I see this little gem, I am once again amazed at the vision and imagination of its animators, writers, and of course Danny Elfman, whose music I have admired since Batman in 1989. I wish he'd do something like this again (James and the Giant Peach was a bit of a disappointment.)
I think this movie works for a certain type of kid: parents are the best judges. It certainly has its more icky and scary moments, but it's also a really tender movie. Jack just wants to give the people something to remember him by, no harm intended! In the end, boys gets girl, Christmas and Halloween live in peace, and everyone lives happily ever after. So by the end, any film buff should feel in a state of bliss: The Nightmare Before Christmas stands in a league of its own. No matter how other animated films advance the technology, I challenge them to combine it with the ideas, the sentiments, the score, and the pure pleasure that this film packs.