Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas

[Tom Bone offline]

Great movie, talented actors. BEST MOVIE EVER!!! Anyone like it? I can recite the whole script by heart! *Ahem...* "Twas a long time ago, longer now then it seems in a place that perhaps you've..." (1 hour and 16 minutes later) "...for it is plain as anyone can see; we're simply meant to be!"

*applause from TNBC fans*

Ah, my public!

[Skysong offline]

I really love this movie... I've been a fan of it since I was a little kid. It's so morbid, and at the same time it's so sweet.

My town's theatre group has apparently been trying to get the rights for it so they can perform it, which would just be SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME.

[Metrion offline]

Is it bad that I've memorized ALL of the songs in the movie? Word for word? And enjoy singing them in front of my holier-than-thou friends?

[Tom Bone offline]

Nope, it's perfectly normal!!!

My town's theatre group has apparently been trying to get the rights for it so they can perform it, which would just be SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME.

ME TOO! My friend is the director if we do get the rights, and I've been cast as Jack!!!! According to him, I have the most amazing singing voice he's ever heard.

[Skiiran Lord offline]

It's pretty good, although I wouldn't go as far to say it's the best movie ever (I'm currently reserving that position for the Halo movie, and second place is Buckaroo Bonzai). It's got some fairly good actors.

[Tom Bone offline]

Is it bad that I've memorized ALL of the songs in the movie? Word for word? And enjoy singing them in front of my holier-than-thou friends?

I memorized the whole script word for word...so it's not bad. If I do it, it's not bad

[Mewberries151]

This movie used to scare the living daylights out of me...I have a huge fear of human skeletons (although I'm quite alright with animal skeletons). Anyway, I avoided this movie like the plague until a bunch of my RL friends more or less tied me down and forced me to watch it again...I must remember to thank them.

This movie is brilliant. Genius...and any other synonyms that can be found for that. ^^ The artistry, the music, the characters, and the sweet little storyline that pulls them all together...you can't help but love it! ^.^

I've sinceforth bought just about any book I can find about this movie. Film novelizations (which are a hoot to read), a manga version of it, and a book that explains in great detail how the movie was made and brought to the silver screen. I'm completely fascinated by it (and it's younger cousin film, "The Corpse Bride"). One never truly realizes how much work, dedication, and, yes, love went into this film to mold it into what it is today. There's nothing else like it, and I can't imagine anything ever could be like it ever again.

Of course, I highly recommend it to all! ^_^

[G-Force offline]

Absolutely, positively LOVE this movie. When I was in our school's speech and debate team, I was involved in an even called humerous interpritation which involves you doing a ten minute rendition of a published piece of work. Well, my choaches thought it would be a good idea that I did the Nightmare Before Christmas and I actually compeated with the thing. I had to play the role of all the characters (giving each person a distinct voice and body movement) and mime the techinical aspects of it and yes folks, I even did all the songs as well.

Then there was there was the arrival of Kingdom Hearts. At first I was indifferent toward the game until I found out that Halloween Town was a stage and then I was giggling like a little school girl. Going around that stage and fighting the heartless with Jack Skelington was truly an awesome experience.

One of my favorite things to do is mix my fandoms together as to honor them in my own special way. In my fanfic Code Lyoko: A Retelling. My ACC Jin Ishiyama wears a very familiar looking piece of clothing one day and starts singing "This is Halloween." The chapter is a favorite with my readers and two pictures were drawn of it. One of the chapter and the other was a humerous parody.

In terms of merchendise I own a copy of the original movie script, the Jack Skelington scarf (my friend has the limited edition necktie grrr) the special edition DVD and of course the anniversy book. Yes folks, I am a dork like that.

By CBIzumi
BY Zekari

[Tom Bone offline]

Don't worry, I'm a dork too! People call me "Nightmare Before Christmas kid" at school

[. offline]

I've never seen it. I do know the boogeyman like kidnaps santa or something and Jack has to save him or something like that.

[Tom Bone offline]

Timesa for meesa to edjucate...sa

Follow this link; it's the script to the movie: http://nightmarebeforechristmas.net/movie/scripts/2

[. offline]

:/ read it all, and mehhhhhh.

I seen better. Hardly any romance, and the characters just don't seem to have any depth to them. I can't get a feel for Sally's personality at all. Jack is at first bored with his life as King Of Halloween, tries to be Santa and fails, then goes back to his boring job only he likes it better now for some reason. Most dissapointing is Boggie. I'm a strong believer that the very thing that makes a story good is a strong bad guy. But Boggie seems to not show till half way threw and seems to have no motive other than he's evil. However the gambling help some. Also dissapointing was the Jack/Sally pairing. It's like... Just there. No build up. When you have a pairing you want to beat the romance into the ground till it's dust and your audience is all like "JUST SHUT UP AND KISS!"

Of course I only read the transcript and didn't actually see the movie, but I'm still disapointed because I've heard so many great things about this movie.

[Mewberries151]

It is definitely my opinion that reading the script without seeing the movie first is like putting the cart before the horse...wait...Okay, forget my poor metaphor usage, but honestly, this is a movie where it has to be seen to fully appreciate it. You lose half the magic of the story without the beautiful stop-motion animation that accompanies it. And plus, the script can only tell you so much. You have got to see this movie before final judgement (so to speak) can possibly be passed. Trust me on this one.

[Skysong offline]

I admit that TPP has a point about the romance... however, you really do feel for Sally when she's singing about Jack. And it makes a lot more sense that Jack now enjoys his job when you actually see him sing in the cemetary.

And by God, it just LOOKS COOL.

[Skiiran Lord offline]

I was always a bit peeved that every line Jack delivered began a song.

[Tom Bone offline]

Yeah, you really have to watch the movie to get the gist of it.

[Skiiran Lord offline]

Sort of like Stand Alone Complex, I guess.

Also, I just realized how much of an astonishing feat that animation must be.

[G-Force offline]

In defense of the critizisims of Nightmare Before Christmas I have only a few points to share.

First and foremost I truly believe that Jack is a tremendously deep character. A natural showman who loves to make grand spectacles and is adored for his supurb talents, Jack is the best at what he does. However, with nothing more to accomplish within the realms of Halloween Town he see his restlessness and melancholy longing for something new to excite him as opposed to another challenge to conqure. Such an internal struggle is something I believe we can all relate to. He struggles with his sense of idenity and purpose. He is the best when it comes to scaring people and putting on shows for others to enjoy. Those are his talents, that's what he's "suppose" to do. Yet still his heart is not in the activity. Are feelings justification enough to give up your normal role in life? When the movie concludes he is able to don the role of the Pumpkin King again with more appreciation as he know that's what he excels at and now sees a purpose with what he does; a valuable insight he lacked at the beginning of the movie.

The yearning for something that is out of reach. Thinking that if we lived a slightly different lifestyle that we would be living in bliss for our remaing years. After his encouter with Christmas Town we see the skeleton filled with a renewed sense of vitality as he tackles the daunting task of being Santa Clause. Jack is blinded with joy. He's not a bad person who seeks to destroy Christmas but more of a misguided person who only has the best intentions.

The depth of Sally's character is something that's not as transparent as the rest of the cast. She too suffers from an internal conflic. Does she support Jack with his doomed plan of being Santa Clause or stop the man before disaster strikes. Her love for him is true and is the source of her conflict. She can identify with Jack's yearnings for a new experience to vitalize him. Being stuck in Doctor Ficklestien's castle has made her weary of her existance and looks to Jack as her own personal way to deal with her life. The romance in the movie is not a large subplot but really icing on the cake. The attraction that Jack and Sally have is based on their common outlook on life and how they choose to confront it.

I can understand people's dissastisfaction with Oogie as he lacked the screen time as most Diseny villians such as Hades (my personal favorite) or Captain Hook (a close second). However, calling Oogie the movie's villian is a shallow judgement on Tim Burton's storytelling abilities. The villian of Nightmare Before Christmas did get a tremendous amount of screen time. Enough to rival Jack's. That's because Jack Skelington is the story's main antagonist not Oogie. It was Jack who caused the entire mess with Christmas Town in the first place as his ideas spirlaed into chaos. Oogie's involvement was only a by product of Jack's intervention in Santa Clause's affiars. Remember, it was not Oogie's idea to kidnap Santa but Jack's.

[Mewberries151]

G-Force makes a very interesting point about Oogie Boogie and the concept of villainy in NMBC. As a matter of fact, in "The Art of NMBC", Burton admits that NMBC really doesn't have a villain.

Jack isn't particularly villainous. He didn't kidnap Santa Claus out of any sort of malice towards the holiday, or those who enjoy it (unlike the Grinch persay who stole Christmas specifically to make the Whos sad). In fact...we're not entirely sure whether he not he specifically asked Lock, Shock, and Barrel to "kidnap" Santa in the first place. He might have merely asked them to bring him to Halloweentown to meet him, and the Trick-or-Treaters took their own creative interpretation on that request. I'm absolutely certain Jack didn't ask them to use any of the devices they took with them...and in fact, when Lock, Shock, and Barrel accidentally bring the Easter Bunny instead, he tells them to take him back first and "Treat (Santa) nicely when you meet him". The actual act of kidnapping Santa (as was taking him to Oogie in the first place) might have been something Lock, Shock and Barrel decided to do of their own accord as a fun trick.

At any rate though, Jack suffers from a chronic case of "obliviousness". He did sort of get the idea of how to make a proper Christmas when he first arrived back at Halloweentown, as seen in his "Town Meeting Song" in which he kindly corrects the townsfolk about what's in a present and what makes a stocking. However...he seems to forget this slightly when he sets out to "improve it". Sally warns him about the impending disaster (from her vision) but he's completely on another page, so to speak, while she's telling him. It's the same reason he doesn't quite notice exactly how much she's been there for him, or how much she cares for him. He's just not quite paying attention. ^^; That's not precisely his fault...but it does cause problems for the Real World's Christmas, to be sure. ^^

At any rate, moving on to Oogie, who everyone tends to pin as the villain, I'd have to say that the reason he's not a strong villain, actually makes a huge amount of sense to me in a symbolic way. Who's the monster that most children fear coming after them at night? That's right: The Boogie Man! Oogie is the self-titled "Oogie Boogie Man", but when it comes down to what he actually is, he's just a slightly large spook who enjoys scaring everyone, but is actually a slight bit of a coward himself.

Take for example, how he's viewed through the first half of the movie...a shadowy figure that lurks in the dark and makes scary noises. That's more or less the common detail in any child's interpretation of the Boogie Man. When we finally do see him, he's a rather large spook, to be sure, but if you listen to his song, you can see that he enjoys scaring people and gambling...but only when there's no risk to himself. "It's much more fun, I must confess, when lives are on the line. Not mine, of course, but yours, old boy, now that'd be just fine." He's more than happy to gamble when there's no risk to himself. As opposed to Jack...who'll take a risk (and never one that could put anyone in harm's way to his knowledge) and deal with whatever consequences need to be dealt with.

Also...Oogie's true nature...what he really is, past all of that horror and boastfulness, is just a bunch of small bugs. The Boogie Man that children fear, is just that. A figment of the imagination...or something that really isn't all that scary at all imagined into something truly terrifying by a child's mind. I rather like that NMBC shows kids that the Boogie Man is something that you could ultimately defeat yourself. You just need to see past what's scaring you and take a look at what it actually is...especially if it's something you could squish, and rather satisfactorily, under one's shoe. ^^

Now I might be going way too deep into any kind of child psychosis and symbolism here...but it's rather fun to muse about. ^_^

[Tom Bone offline]

Check these out: I wrote 'em. They were rated 10 outta 10 and I just thought I'd share them.

http://nightmarebeforechristmas.net/fan ... ction/1220

http://nightmarebeforechristmas.net/fan ... ction/1219

[. offline]

If it's ever on TV for free or I see it at teh bottom of the bargin bin I'll give it a shot. I am sorely dissapointed though. Not what I was expecting at all.

[MY85 offline]

I haven't seen the whole thing yet, but it was between regular and good. At moments, awesome, creepy, sissy... but you gotta admit that Danny Elfman did a d*mn good job with the music on that movie.

IIRC, Elfman voiced a characther from that movie... can't remember who it was.

I gotta admit that the transition from Halloween Land to Christmas Land seems to be an interesting experience... but if TNBC was a bit more darker and rated PG-13 at least (not by insults, by violent scenes in the Halloween world and giving it a horror movie vibe), it could have been somehow better.

[Mewberries151]

I haven't seen the whole thing yet, but it was between regular and good. At moments, awesome, creepy, sissy... but you gotta admit that Danny Elfman did a d*mn good job with the music on that movie.

IIRC, Elfman voiced a characther from that movie... can't remember who it was.

Danny Elfman voiced "The Clown with the Tear-Away Face" exclusively and was also Jack's singing voice.

And agreed. The music is phenomenal.

I gotta admit that the transition from Halloween Land to Christmas Land seems to be an interesting experience... but if TNBC was a bit more darker and rated PG-13 at least (not by insults, by violent scenes in the Halloween world and giving it a horror movie vibe), it could have been somehow better.

I disagree completely there though. ^^; Scarier does not necessarily make something better, nor does up-ing it's rating, especially in the case of NMBC. NMBC is dark enough in it's own right. Tim Burton tends to go for the unusual scare as opposed the the "violent, blood and gore" scare. He also seems to have an interest in promoting the idea that the scary looking may not be so scary on the inside. Just look at the movie "Edward Scissorhands". This guy is frightening looking...but he's not a bad person really. Making NMBC violent and gory would have only resulted in the loss of the bigger picture of things as well as what the movie was really about which is "be true to oneself", I feel.

[MY85 offline]

I haven't seen the whole thing yet, but it was between regular and good. At moments, awesome, creepy, sissy... but you gotta admit that Danny Elfman did a d*mn good job with the music on that movie.

IIRC, Elfman voiced a characther from that movie... can't remember who it was.

Danny Elfman voiced "The Clown with the Tear-Away Face" exclusively and was also Jack's singing voice.

And agreed. The music is phenomenal.

Thanks.

Well... Elfman is guaranteed good music.

I gotta admit that the transition from Halloween Land to Christmas Land seems to be an interesting experience... but if TNBC was a bit more darker and rated PG-13 at least (not by insults, by violent scenes in the Halloween world and giving it a horror movie vibe), it could have been somehow better.

I disagree completely there though. ^^; Scarier does not necessarily make something better, nor does up-ing it's rating, especially in the case of NMBC. NMBC is dark enough in it's own right. Tim Burton tends to go for the unusual scare as opposed the the "violent, blood and gore" scare. He also seems to have an interest in promoting the idea that the scary looking may not be so scary on the inside. Just look at the movie "Edward Scissorhands". This guy is frightening looking...but he's not a bad person really. Making NMBC violent and gory would have only resulted in the loss of the bigger picture of things as well as what the movie was really about which is "be true to oneself", I feel.

I said somehow... and we all have different views... I said a "bit", not "let's make the movie completely gorey"... as for "Edward Scissorhands"... it had something that made it better than NMBC... can't remember what that is... I always thought that Jack could have been a tad bit more scarier than what he was shown on the movie.

Hmm... Sweeden ratings for that movie was 11+... maybe there could have been a country where it reached PG-13 or almost close enough to it.

Great movie, talented actors. BEST MOVIE EVER!!!

There's plenty of movies that can beat TNMBC... Donnie Darko, Cidade De Deus...

[will z offline]

i loves Tmbc