The Nightmare Before Christmas (2020)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Yes, there are some good things about this movie like the songs and the animation, but the plot is really dumb. This movie is watchable, but if you try to think about the story too much you'll realize how stupid it is.

I was excited for this movie even BEFORE it opened! - For a few simple reasons; Growing up in the 70's there was never a stop-motion animation special for the holiday Halloween. Christmas had Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without A Santa Claus, and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. Easter had The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town and Here Comes Peter Cottontail (which ironically, contains a scene set in Halloween). But for DECADES there was nothing for Halloween, except Rankin/Bass' Mad Monster Party that disappointingly was shown around Halloween, but wasn't ABOUT Halloween (the only other choice being Peter Cottontail with its 4-minute Halloween segment). Plus, this movie comes from the man that gave us Beetlejuice, Batman, and Edward Scissorhands. For me, this movie was an instant classic!

With its pioneering use of stop-motion animation, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" will always have its hard-earned place in the annals of film animation history. Conceptually birthed by gothic master Tim Burton and brought to life with the most incredible vision and detail by Henry Selick, it stands as an incredible marriage of creative energy and top-notch artistry.Released in 1993, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" actually predates the collaboration that truly saved Walt Disney Pictures - Pixar's "Toy Story." Both films were groundbreaking in their own right - "Nightmare" for stop-motion and "Toy Story" for computer-generated animation - though as the latter became mainstream, the former continues to be underrated, even today. Regardless, both films show the world-building ingenuity that we've come to expect from animated films in the 21st century.What helps keep "Nightmare" timeless and relevant, however, is that it's steeped in holiday spirit. Halloween and Christmas are two holidays that evoke their own special, unique energy and Burton's story pounces on marrying their two wildly different aesthetics. It's Selick of course, who really sees (and seizes) this opportunity in bringing Halloween Town to life with aplomb.Of the film's many vivid components, however, its story doesn't hold up as well nearly 25 years later. Fortunately, at an unusually brisk 76-minute runtime (likely due to stop-motion's time-consuming nature) it doesn't need to. The film can afford to survive on its whimsy, artistic sight gags and inventive musical numbers. That said, it's not among the more emotionally compelling holiday-themed films either. Yet anyone who has ever been in position to be jealous of Christmas or idyllic depictions of Christmas celebrations might identify with Pumpkin King Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon, singing vocals by Danny Elfman) and his longing to do something different and truly extraordinary. Or if not Jack, then Sally (Catherine O'Hara), a Frankensteinian creation longing to serve her own desires for once, not just that of her maker, the Evil Scientist (William Hickey). Helping us better acquaint ourselves with these characters are Elfman's songs. Although most of them do serve an expository purpose, a few take a moment to bring us closer to Jack and Sally.The musical nature of "Nightmare" shows the film's ambition. It's hard enough to make a film requiring this much detail, let alone set it all to music. Elfman and Burton have been a perfect pair throughout their respective careers; Elfman simply gets the fantastical gothic tone Burton has made his career on. His songs are a great match for the material, even if you can't recall how most of them go in the same way you can the songs of the traditional animation musicals of that time period.In family entertainment, story generally proves to be most important. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a remarkable exception, getting by on its tone, visual effects, creative world-building and the Halloween and Christmas spirit. At times when it feels like a glorified animated short film, best to just remember all the ground it broke as the first mainstream and widely successful stop-motion animated feature.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

The Nightmare Before Christmas is focused around a skeleton whom everyone calls Jack the Pumpkin King, he is voiced by Chris Sarandon but sang by Danny Elfman. Jack finds that he is starting to become bored with doing the same thing every year for Halloween and wants to do something different. Jack and Zero start to wonder around and found a forest with different holidays with doors as the holiday theme, he gets dragged into the Christmas one. There he is amazed with all the different lights, sounds and everything that is different compared to his Halloween Town. Its bright, cheery and festive. They really capture everything with all the different angles they show us from him peeking into the window and seeing the elves kissing under the mistletoe, him jumping around on top of the houses, riding the carousal and finally you see from Jacks point of view then he is looking at the sign for Christmas Town. When he goes back you can feel the difference because in Christmas town it was fun and festive, lights everywhere and the moon looked brighter while lighting up the town while Halloween Town is more dark and dreary, having an overcast to make it feel dulled down. It is a stop motion animation, so the lighting is different than a motion picture, but you can still see the different lighting techniques that help make this movie stand out. They use low-key lighting and high-key lighting though the movie and this is where you can really see the difference between the towns, but they do use a lot of side lighting to instead of just a light overhang. This gives you the impression with the shadows and making it feel a bit darker.Jack does different experiments and decides that he is going to take over Christmas. Giving out different jobs to his fellow towns people on how to make Christmas better then before. He asked Santa to be brought to him, unharmed but the kids decided the best place to keep him comfortable is with Oogie Boogie. Sally, voiced by Catherine O'Hara, tries to tell Jack that what he is doing is wrong. But he doesn't listen and continues to do what he wants, making Halloween toys, and having his own costume. This leads him to ruin Christmas for everyone and being shot out of the sky. After a clear moment in the graveyard he realizes that he is The Pumpkin King and he great at being himself, not someone else. He races off to rescue Santa and Sally from Oogie Boogie, who is trying to get rid of them. Jack saves the them both and Santa tells him to not take over his holiday again and listen to Sally. Christmas was saved with Santa fixing all Jacks mistakes, and Jack is happy to be The Pumpkin King again with Sally by his side. The music scores for this movie is great and keeps the audience entertained. You have the notes becoming higher when it's an important scene or they are singing, but it mellows out into the background the rest of the time. This gives the movie a well-rounded music score with the scenes because it tells the story with the dialogue. Tim Burton has a certain feel to his movies and this is no exception. It reminds me a little of the Corpse Bride on how the lighting is in some of the scenes but its also a stop motion animation too. There is some romance to it, but it doesn't show until the end where both parties come together. They must learn and comes to terms with certain issues before they get their happily ever after to their story.