Oogie Boogie

**Oogie Boogie** is the main antagonist in *The Nightmare Before Christmas*. He is the infamous Boogeyman, depicted as a bug-filled burlap sack with a penchant for gambling. Oogie lives on the outskirts of Halloween Town, in a casino-like lair underneath the treehouse of his henchmen Lock, Shock, and Barrel. He is both feared and detested for his ghastly nature, cannibalistic appetite, and rivalry with the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington.

## Background

Oogie is the embodiment of a child's worst nightmare. His burlap sack of a body is animated by a hive mind of insects and other creatures. *The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King* reveals that Oogie and Jack Skellington's rivalry traces back to one year before the events of the film. After hearing stories about the supposed "Pumpkin King" of Halloween Town, an envious Oogie Boogie became obsessed with outclassing Jack as the scariest ghoul there is. His manner of doing so developed into a coup to take over Halloween and rebranding it as "Crawloween"—a holiday dedicated to bugs. Oogie's scheme was foiled by Jack, who punished Oogie by confining him to his lair beneath Lock, Shock, and Barrel's treehouse.

As a consequence of his vile and treacherous nature, Oogie does not participate in the annual holiday festivities, unlike the other ghouls of Halloween Town. Instead, he remains in his lair and is disallowed from interacting with the outside world by order of Jack. Despite his confinement, Oogie has amassed numerous victims thanks to his lackeys, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who covertly provide Oogie with food and sacrifices as a means of appeasing him. He is very good at making a concoction known as Snake and Spider Stew and tends to use people as ingredients.

### Personality

Oogie Boogie is boisterous and vile, with flamboyance to his mien. His mannerisms resemble that of a snazzy showman, as he typically enjoys dancing about his lair and singing jazzy show tunes. He is rather jovial, despite his heinousness, but is also quick-tempered, making him somewhat unpredictable. According to "Kidnap the Sandy Claws", Oogie is regarded as the "meanest guy around", to the point that even his loyal henchmen fear him. He even has a personal hit list known as the "Boogie List", which helps Oogie keep track of his victims. Oogie's sadism is prominently displayed in the film, as he refuses to simply kill and eat his prisoners immediately; instead, he enjoys taunting and mocking their helplessness—in addition to subjecting them to one of his many instruments of torture—before finally adding them to his Snake and Spider Stew and feasting on their remains.

Oogie's life revolves around gambling, and he loves gambling with others' lives. His lair was modeled after casinos, with its architecture taking inspiration from poker tables, slot machines, and the like. Oogie often carries dice on his person, which he uses to decide the fate of his prisoners—though he will always skew the odds in his favor, regardless. Ironically, Oogie has no skills for gambling; on three occasions he rolls snake eyes and admits he has to resort to cheating, usually by slamming his fist on the table to change the dice, resulting in a more desirable number.

Oogie has a rather creative mind, which enables him to innovate the contraptions he has installed in his lair to act as both a mechanism for his gambling and defense in case of emergencies (i.e. unwanted visitors).

## Trivia

* Oogie Boogie become Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's enemy in *Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures of The Nightmare Before Christmas.*
* Oogie Boogie returned to get revenge on Thomas, Twilight and their friends in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures Series.
* Despite being considered a villain by many, Tim Burton himself does not consider Oogie Boogie evil. Nevertheless, Oogie is still marketed as a villain and is considered one due to his heinous actions against Santa, Sally and Jack throughout the movie.