And capping off our animation retrospective is an entirely different sort of animated flick than the ones we’ve covered—we’re going stop motion, which is an art that requires even more care and precision than cels and frames. Technically this one did fall under the Disney umbrella, even if it’s not officially part of their canon—but most people associate it with Tim Burton, who did provide a lot of creative impetus though he didn’t direct. Either way, for our festive season, here’s A Nightmare Before Christmas.
Burton at this time was focusing most of his efforts on Ed Wood (which, for me, is actually arguably perhaps his best), and while the story here was his brainchild, direction went to Harry Selick. Just as much of the creative direction however came from Danny Elfman—around this time he was transitioning from band leader to orchestral composer, bringing everything from spooky choruses to ironic ragtimes, with entire characters and sequences springing from this. I suppose it just goes to show how a combination of all these lead to what’s still considered a classic thirty years on.
Our plot is fairly straightforward—we start off with a look at these seeming dimensions all entirely devoted to (American) holidays, with very little said on what an entire world dedicated to Saint Patrick’s Day would entail. Starting off in the mad and macabre realm of Halloweentown, we meet Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon), a friendly but somewhat depressed revenant-like fellow who wants to branch out and try something new, as if he’s in a mid-afterlife crisis.
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| Jack is in fairness much better read than many a leader these days. |
It’s not long before he notices the existence of Christmas, and the world devoted to that—which spurs him to dive head-first into giving that a try, no matter who happens to object to that. One of those trying to dissuade him is the Frankenstein-like living doll Sally (Catherine O’Hara), who also just so happens to be forming feelings for him. Not that it’s going to stop this Christmas from taking on a whole new deranged dimension, of course.
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| Beyond cliche as it is to say...still a better love story than Twilight. And also an undead one, so hey if the shoe fits... |
Things happen at a fairly brisk pace, and while it’s not supremely multi-faceted, what really makes the draw is the animation—as far as mainstream works go, there’s arguments to be made that this is one of if not the supreme examples. Every character is unique, we have bizarre-looking forms that appear for but a few frames, and things move so fluidly that some might think it was done via computer animation. Everyone has their own sense of movement, every motion serves to enhance the voice acting, and hey, the songs are memorable too—from the opening act to of course everything from Ken Page as our insect-filled Boogieman, who instantly proves memorable even if he’s not in much of the runtime.
Burton’s influence from Cabinet of Doctor Calagari is all over the place of course—even the spiralling hills that are considered a trademark of his came in almost by accident. He often has a theme of social rejects trying to find their place, which is echoed here even if it’s not executed exactly like that. Some have felt that the theme here leans a bit close to staying in one’s lane—but others point out that it can be seen as a more faceted one of learning one’s limits, and that trying new things requires care and study instead of launching into them with more enthusiasm than preparation.
It wasn’t an immediate success on release, but picked up on television and cable—for a time, some felt it overexposed as the marketing began to really exploit things, though that seems to have died off in more recent years. Disney even considered a cash-in sequel, though Burton managed to convince them to do it in video game format at least. Regardless, between this and his Batman outings, from the early nineties Burton certainly had his trademark established.
Selick in the meantime would still go onto work with stop-motion—in the 21st century he gave us a film that, while not quite as well known, some consider to be even better, with Coraline. That, however, might be a different story for another time…
Some folks argue whether this one is more suited for Halloween or Christmas—I say, why not both. You can certainly talk about how it carries that all-important message that demonic killer imps are, in fact, not appropriate gifts for Yuletide. And, as we enjoy these wintery months, is that not something we can all agree on?
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