Burton film set to enter fourth decade as Halloween staple for viewers of all ages

What’s this? What’s this? A 30th anniversary? Since premiering in 1993, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas has served as both Halloween and Christmas staple. The movie tells the story of Pumpkin King Jack Skellington and his issues when Halloween, a very big deal in his Halloweentown, becomes old and boring. While on a walk, he stumbles upon a series of portals with one of them leading him to Christmas Town. Skellington schemes about bringing a spooky twist to Christmas, but when his efforts don’t work out as planned, he needs to get help from his friends to make things right again, triggering a musical journey of ghoulish good times that has delighted viewers for decades. 

Nightmare has a long and complicated history. In 1982, Tim Burton wrote a poem that gave the idea for the movie. At this time, Burton worked for Walt Disney Animation, which is why originally, Disney was planning on producing it as a 30 minute holiday special. The company ended up turning against creating the film because they decided it was too unusual for the Disney name. Burton was later fired, but Disney still owned rights to the story. Regardless, Burton wanted to produce it and, given his success with other films, Disney agreed to let him, alongside Henry Selick. Selick became the main director of the film, due to Burton’s limited availability after taking on other films and losing interest in the slow production process of a stop motion project.

Burton worked with Danny Elfman to compose the score for the movie. Unlike many shows and movies, the soundtrack was created before the actual words. Burton would give Elfman key events from the story, along with drawings of characters and later. Elfman would compose a song for the scene and, using the soundtrack as a guide, Caroline Thompson wrote the script for the movie.

After the storyline and script was finalized, they began the stop-motion animation process in the year 1991. The process began with the creation of characters. Multiple puppets had to be created of each character featuring all the different expressions needed. When filming, animators had to move each individual puppet into the desired position and then take the shot. There ended up being 24 frames per second, adding up to roughly 110,000 frames total. It took three and a half years to create the movie from start to finish with over 120 people actively involved. 

When titling the film, producers decided to call it Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. When the movie was initially released, it was deemed too dark and unusual for general audiences. In efforts to draw in the right sort of audience, they decided to title it Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in hope that fans would recognise Burton’s name and his style of movie.

While the unique aesthetic and visual effects appeal to many audiences, Nightmare’s themes captivate mature audiences. The film features an enticing thematic message of love and desire, as well as depression and desperation. These underlying lessons continue Disney’s trend of including deeper messages hidden in movies geared towards younger audiences.

Although Nightmare has been ranked one of the best Halloween movies on many accounts, that isn’t the only thing that has kept it alive over the past 30 years. The movie isn’t the classic horror film or anything close to that, but still bounces back in popularity every year at the start of spooky season. One of the biggest factors in this is social media. Every year near the beginning of fall, there are new social media trends and viral posts revolving around The Nightmare Before Christmas. A current trend is getting cozy in pajamas to watch the film with seasonal drinks and desserts in hand. When people see others enjoying the movie to prepare for Halloween, they feel the sudden desire to watch it in their own homes. This contributes to the spike in popularity, year after year.

While social media has many positive effects towards the movie and its popularity, it also has spread controversies centering on the producer. Burton has been facing claims of racism, fatphobia, and ableism throughout many of his films. Fatphobia and ableism comes into account as the main antagonist is portrayed as a large burlap sack, and another strongly disliked character is a wheelchair user. Critics have also noticed that both protagonists perfectly fit beauty standards, given both are very tall and thin. Some argue that this is just to give each character a unique and authentic look and set characters apart from one another, while others use it to take stabs at Burton’s supposed insensitivity.

Additionally, in all his films, there have been very few people of color playing leading or supporting roles. In an interview with Bustle News, Burton argues that “things either call for diversity or they don’t”. Despite the quote, this doesn’t repulse fans as much as one might expect, and they are able to set criticisms aside and enjoy the movie every year. 

An attractive factor Nightmare offers is the spooky vibe, yet comforting story; it was never intended to be a thriller. People who don’t enjoy the typical Halloween horror movie are still able to enjoy it, as there is nothing disturbing beyond the spooky animations. Even fans who crave a suspense that leaves them at the edge of their seats can take a moment to sit back, relax, and enjoy the movie because of the lovable characters and Halloween aesthetic. 

In celebration of the movie’s 30 year anniversary, Disney has many special plans. In many participating Disney parks, there will be Nightmare Before Christmas themed activities. The movie also was rereleased in theaters October 20 and there will be a new zoetrope vinyl with the film’s soundtrack. There will also be many new merchandise designs centering around the movie. Above all, the relevance this spooky cinema has held over the last 30 years is astounding, surely a Halloween classic worth celebrating.

By Genna Blustin

Published October 30 2023

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue II