Oogie Boogie

Oogie Boogie is an antagonist and a member of The Villains.

## Character Information

### Personality

Ruthless, hungry, mean, wicked, sadistic, manipulative, devious, power-hungry, mysterious, cunning, greedy, evil, scary, sly, proud, selfish, arrogant, cruel, inventive, treacherous, sarcastic, rude, obnoxious, cowardly

## **BIOGRAPHY**

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.

Outside of Halloween Town, he is also a member of The Villains.

## **APPEARANCE**

Oogie's outside appearance is very simple. He is covered from head to toe in a brown-grey or neon green burlap sack (depending on the lighting), and obvious seams are visible along the sides. Oogie is quite rotund, with stumpy legs and fingerless arms, a stark contrast to Jack Skellington's gaunt, tall physique (though Oogie completely towers over Jack in height). The "eyes" on Oogie's face are featureless black holes, as is the inside of his mouth. The tip of his head extends outward and flops down, vaguely resembling Jack's Santa hat. On the inside of the sack, Oogie is a huge mass of a variety of different colored bugs. In the movie, Oogie also produces a snake from his mouth as a "tongue" to intimidate Santa Claus by hissing at him.

## **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.

## **TRIVIA**

* Oogie Boogie was not present in Tim Burton's original poem that inspired the movie.
* According to Ken Page, Oogie's vocal performance was a mix between Bert Lahr's portrayal of the Cowardly Lion in the 1939 film adaptation *The Wizard of Oz*, and Mercedes McCambridge's performance as the demon, Pazuzu, in the 1973 film *The Exorcist*. He was also greatly inspired by Cab Calloway, as songwriter Danny Elfman was inspired by "St. James Infirmary Blues" when writing Oogie's song.
* While in the actual film and in some video games (e.g. *Kingdom Hearts* series) his burlap sack's color is brown grey, in most promotional material, games, merchandising, and the Disney Parks his color is neon-green, which he only appears as when his casino lair is lit up in black light.
* Oogie Boogie was originally going to reveal to be Dr. Finkelstein in a costume, who fabricated the Oogie Boogie persona to get back at Jack and Sally, but this ending was scrapped.