Member review

Jokes aside from the title of this review, Nightmare Before Christmas is a clay animation film done in stop motion. What is Nightmare Before Christmas though? Is it about something horrific happening on Christmas only? Well… Yes, but no. It’s a film that collid Christmas and Halloween together, which does work really well with the art style it’s working with in clay, making it both look like it's part of the same world. Mainly about the folks who live in Halloween Town who do their job on celebrating Halloween, of course, by doing Halloween each year, to be as scary as possible.

As you might know, this film was originally released in 1993, which would have been around the same year as DOOM… You know! That game that can be run on everything, especially on your Samsung fridge. I wonder if Nightmare Before Christmas can run DOOM?

With the original release, Nightmare Before Christmas was published by Touchstone Pictures, which was something that Disney handled Touchstone Pictures as they thought that the original idea would be "too dark and scary for kids". Who directed the film? The person who directed this great film is Henry Selick, who has done other films he’s directed, such as Coraline and James And The Giant Peach (1996).

With the story though, it’s about Jack The Skeleton, who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween. As Jack The Skeleton has been doing it for so long, he feels fed up that his Halloween spirit isn’t there, which stops Jack wanting to continue Halloween being the Pumpkin King. he feels like he needs the urge to try out something new as his role, to feel excitement again. Without going into too much detail about the story, I think it’s a great story that is always a joy to watch every Christmas and Halloween, whether it’s on the TV or through streaming services. I wouldn’t say the story isn’t special but it’s always a joy to come back to.

With the characters, I did find the characters to be well had, such as Jack The Skeleton or Sally. I like the Mayor of Halloween Town as I feel like he has that upbeat and joyful personality to him, as if he was really passionate about Halloween. I did also like Jack as well, especially as one of the main characters, learning what his purpose is and being naive about thinking what he thinks he should be doing, not sticking to his role as the Pumpkin King. What I liked about Sally is that she was the voice of reasoning, being the sensible one of the bunch, knowing that it’s best to stick with something you're best at. It is like me not wanting to do my Creative Media course for sports or health care, something that isn’t within my area that I wouldn’t be great at.

I find the other side characters like the werewolf or the vampires to have personality as well, I felt like they were there for a reason than not. I felt like every character had a role, even if it was small. It's great to see those characters on screen to have their screen time. I did even enjoy Santa… sorry, I mean, Sandy Claws there as well… Howdy y’all!

What I think is always great to watch on Nightmare Before Christmas is the stop motion, frame by frame animation as I find it’s impressive how the models were made to move, inch by inch. I found it interesting how they had the patience to create the whole film by making the movements feel smooth. What is also interesting is the after effects as \I find it to be interesting as well, as it shows that this film had plenty of effort put into it, making it presentable to watch. I do also find the lighting to be great as well, as I think it makes each scene great and catching to the eye. There were even that got me questioning, “How did they make that light up?”

With the music, I felt that the soundtrack for the film was great as the music is enjoyable. It does feel like that the film does have that early Disney musical vibe to it. I don’t think there's anything bad about the film as the music has a great charm to it, as well as other entertainment music, like Nintendo.

If there's anything to criticise about the film, that one of my friends mentioned, is about Jack and Sally having a quick connection without having much interaction, or seeing their relationship build up. I do understand where my friend is coming from as it makes less sense why Jack would have feelings for Sally as he never showed any signs of having feelings for her throughout the film. Thought maybe it's an instant crush thing? But I don't think relationships do work like that as I think relationships start from friendships. Thought, maybe that’s me missing something from the story, or understanding it.

Overall, it just has a minimal flaw. I think it’s a great 1 hour film that I would recommend to watch from beginning to end, even if you’re at an older age, I can see anyone getting a good kick out of this film.