Nightmare Before Christmas, The

The early 90's was a great time for film and animation, especially for Walt Disney Studios, who were experiencing a renaissance in terms of quality and popularity. Another giant at the time was Tim Burton, a star director who directed both the Batman films as well as Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands. Tim Burton has a unique vision and an ability to materialize his colorful personality better than most other film makers are cable of. From the very beginning, the idea of Tim Burton and Disney collaborating on a stop-motion animation film and its a match made in heaven. Add score master Danny Elfman to write the music, and you've got history in the making!The film opens with a brilliant song called 'This is Halloween', that establishes the setting and many of the major characters as they prepare to celebrate their yearly ritual of Halloween. They live in Halloweentown, so Halloween is kind of a big deal for them. They all go bananas when their pumpkin master Jack Skelington rolls onto the scene sporting a flaming pumpkin. He gives a spectacular show and everybody loves him, but in classic Disney style our hero is riddled with inner turmoil, longing for something new instead of the same ritual year by year. He wanders off and discovers a new holiday, Christmas! Jack falls in love with the jolly spirit of Christmas as a contradiction to his normal life and attempts to make the next Christmas the best one ever, though it doesn't exactly go the way he plans.The film is filled with catchy and memorable songs that will definitely tempt you to sing along (even in a crowded theater). Some of my personal favorite tracks from the movie are 'Jack's Lament', the town meeting song, and 'Making Christmas'. The songs are so memorable and iconic that there even exists a tribute album entirely dedicated to them, and it's pretty good too! Although it doesn't hold a candle to the originals by Danny Elfman, that man is a genius.Stop-motion animation was an excellent choice because it gives the film a very unique, life-like look. The animators put many man-hours into making the film frame-by-frame, and their dedication shows in the attention to detail. The amount of detail and care given to smooth out the movements really makes everything look a lot more realistic than most traditionally animated films. Tim Burton's twisted and dark imagination comes to life in the most fantastic of ways in Halloweentown, populated by a whole bunch of weird and wacky monsters who are honestly more lovable than scary (until they bite your face off).There is a lot of humor in this movie, which I really appreciate because it helps keep things interesting. One of the most hilarious characters in the movie is the Mayor, who switches between his confident face and nervous face to wacky results. Another favorite of mine is the Oogey Boogey Man. That guy used to crack me up as a kid. I have to admit, though, his ending part really used to freak me out.I've seen this movie three times in movie theaters when it was rereleased in 3d. It has remained a favorite of mine since I was a little kid and had it on VHS. For some reason it became a trendy, hot topic sort of thing and got super popular, but to me its not a fashion trend its a great animated movie!

Note: This is a review of the 2008 DVD releaseWhat's this? A new "Nightmare Before Christmas" DVD package? Actually there are three versions: this two-disc set that includes a downloadable digital copy, a Blu-ray version, and a collector's edition that comes with a bust of Jack Skellington with a detachable Sandy Claus beard and hat.Though this version is billed as a two-disc set, it actually has three discs. The third one contains the digital copy. An instruction sheet spells out in clear steps how to download the file to an iPod or similar device.The movie itself is a feast for the eyes, ears and imagination. A delectable witches' brew of stop-motion animation, catchy show tunes and a seriously warped creative license, it always stays true to its timeless message: to be happy, be yourself. Devilishly nonconformist, it's an enduring holiday musical for the whole Addams family.Well, almost. Though all of its fright gags are played entirely for laughs, some of the imagery is downright creepy, especially for small children. Anyone older than say, 6, however, should enjoy every minute. Teenagers will love it.The story -- the citizens of Halloweentown attempt to annex neighboring Christmastown -- comes from the macabre mind of producer Tim Burton, who wrote it in his spare time (as a poem!) while working as a Disney animator in the 1980s. The movie blends the tastiest bits of Burton's earlier Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands with a sprinkling of the stop-motion magic first found in Disney's 1961 Babes in Toyland.The imaginative cast of characters includes:* Pumpkin King Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon), a mischievous misfit who believes his purpose in life is to merge the holidays of Halloween and Christmas.* Jack's faithful dog Zero, a ghost with a glowing, jack-o'-lantern nose who, like the hound in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, eventually pulls a sleigh* Rag-doll heroine Sally (voiced by Catherine O'Hara), Jack's love interest, who sews herself back together when she loses a body part* Oogie Boogie (Broadway veteran Ken Page), a slimy, singing bag of bugs who channels the cartoon version of Cab Calloway in the old Betty Boop cartoons* Lock (Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens), Shock (O'Hara) and Barrel (Danny Elfman, the film's composer), a trio of evil trick-or-treaters who "kidnap the Sandy Claws"* Wheelchair-bound evil scientist Dr. Finklestein (William Hickey), a duckbilled quack whose flip-top head lets him scratch his brains for inspiration* A mayor (Glenn Shadix, the interior director Otho in Beetlejuice) who is literally two-faced.Blessed with the ability to bring adult minds back to child's level, Burton dwells in dark mischief. In fact, some of Nightmare's best scenes include the kidnapping of Santa Claus and Jack's hilarious attempt to replace him on Christmas Eve, when the skeleton gleefully delivers presents such as tree-devouring snakes and severed, shrunken heads.Director Henry Selick painstakingly created the film over three years. Though he had a production crew of over 100, each minute of footage took a week, as each second required 24 ever-so-slightly different shots.BONUS FEATURESThis 2-disc DVD package has a nice collection of extras:* An audio commentary with Burton, Selick and Elfman.* A downloadable digital copy of the film, which you can transfer to an iPod or similar device.* Burton's first short, 1982's 6-minute "Vincent," a black-and-white stop-action film about a boy who dreams of being Vincent Price, who narrates.* Burton's 1994 Disney live-action short "Frankenweenie." This 30-minute black-and-white film re-imagines the Frankenstein story as the tale of a young boy and his car-struck pet dog in suburban America. A recently taped introduction by Burton shows some working sketches being used for his full-length version now in development.* A reading of Burton's original "Nightmare Before Christmas" poem by actor Christopher Lee* A promotional film for the annual "Nightmare" makeover of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.* Promotional and making-of featurettes, a storyboard to film comparison, deleted scenes and theatrical trailers and posters

Another great holiday favorite and must have.Children of all ages will enjoy this. I set this up and play this on my spare 48" flat screen which I place just outside my garage door every yeae on Halloween when we are giving out candy and the local kids just love and enjoy it every year.

Great family film.

My daughter absolutely loves this movie. Would buy again!

I am a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas. When I got this Blu ray, it instantly made me giddy! I watched the movie soon after receiving it, and the discs work perfectly fine. It will be an amazing addition to my Nightmare Before Christmas collection!

Everything was fine. I just hated this movie.

Good

Hermosa película. Llego a tiempo y de excelente calidad.

Super film à regarder en fin Halloween

This DVD is really good, clear picture

Nightmare before Christmas ist ein wunderschöner, vor Details strotzender Film über eine (zwei) Jahreszeiten, welchen man jedoch das ganze Jahr geniessen kann. Es ist eine Art Puppen-Musical. Also es wird hier ziemlich viel gesungen.Die Story ist schnell erzählt:Jack Skellington, unangefochtene Star von Halloweentown, ist der immer wiederkehrenden Halloweenvorbereitungen leid. Gibt es für ihn denn nichts anderes auf der Welt, als immer nur die Welt in Angst und Schrecken zu versetzen?Tief in Gedanken findet er bei einem Spaziergang eine Lichtung, mit Türen zu anderen „Dimensionen". Durch seine Neugier findet er sich urplötzlich in der Weihnachtswelt wieder. Von dieser frohen, glücklichen Welt fasziniert, beschließt er das kommende Jahr Halloween sausen zu lassen und Weihnachten selbst in die Hand zu nehmen.Dafür überzeugt er mit einer kleinen List die Einwohner Halloweentowns Halloween durch Weihnachten zu ersetzen und lässt dazu noch den Weihnachtsmann entführen...Mehr möchte ich von der Geschichte hier nicht weiter verraten - das müsst ihr einfach selbst sehen.Tim Burton haucht den Puppen solch ein Leben ein, dass man wirklich mit ihnen fühlt oder sie aber auch richtig widerlich findet. Es gibt hier eine solche Vielzahl an interessanten, genialen Figuren, wie es kaum ein anderer Film bietet.Die StopMotion Technik, hier mit einem Oskar ausgezeichnet, ist auch heute noch eine heruntergeklappte Kinnlade wert.Der Soundtrack von Danny Elfman ist eine wahre Freude für die Ohren:die schön-schaurige Musik, die Lieder, die Texte, all das vermittelt solch starke Emotionen, dass man richtig in den Film hineingesogen wird.Sehr zu betonen ist, dass dies auf beide Tonspuren zutrifft, Englisch sowie auch Deutsch. Denn die deutsche Syncro ist wirklich erstklassig gemacht worden. Die Stimmen sind sehr gut getroffen. Auch verlieren die (reimenden) Lieder kaum an Inhalt, was hier wahrlich schwer zu verwirklichen war.Dass diese Ausgabe auch den Namen Special Edition verdient, wird durch folgende Dreingaben sichergestellt:2 Kurzfilme, zum einen Vincent, eine Hommage an Vincent Price (Kindheits-Heroe von Burton) sowie Frankenweenie.Beides Titel aus früheren Tagen Burtons.Desweiteren gibt es noch ein ca. 20 min. Making-Of, einige Produktionsentwürfe sowie diverse geschnitte Szenen.Alles in allem, ein wahrlich meisterhaftes Fest für die Sinne mit entzückenden, morbiden Einfällen, zum Lachen, teilweise fast zum Weinen sowie auch zum Nackdenken anregend. Nur kleinen Kindern würde ich diesen Film nicht unbedingt empfehlen, da manche Szenen sie vielleicht etwas erschrecken könnten.

It’s a good DVD