Member review

The Nightmare Before Christmas is an entirely clay stop-motion musical directed by Henry Selick. The film begins in a sinister atmosphere with doors containing the seasons, but the majority of the movie is based in Halloween Town. As the film moves further through, there is an obvious distinction to what the character’s think Christmas is to what it actually is.

.The movie follows the protagonist Jack Skeleton ‘the pumpkin king’ and his discovery of Christmas. Danny Elfman, voice of Jack, does a phenomenal job encapsulating the eccentric and naive character. Sally, voiced by Catherine O’hara, is Jack’s love interest and also the foil in the musical as she is drastically more realistic but yet is not obnoxious and has a deep care for jack.

In halloween town, the colours are muted and have a more eerie palette -with the exception of Oogie Boogie’s neon casino- however Christmas town contrasts this by having similar colours but brighter and more versatile. Although I have mostly positive comments on the movie, the plot gets slightly predictable and the music, however it is well done and follows the plot, gets too repetitive and overused. I have always loved and admired The Nightmare Before Christmas and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Tim Burton or appreciates dark comedy.