The Nightmare Before Christmas Film Review

Over the years people have argued on if Die Hard is a christmas movie or not an yet no one has argued on if certain films are either halloween films or christmas films. Case in point the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today as it's a film that could very easily fit into both holidays as the film has plenty to do with both halloween and christmas which really makes it perfect to be watched on both holidays and so then join me as I review the film that despite what it is says on the poster isn't directed by Tim Burton with the film in question being called simply just "The Nightmare Before Christmas" enjoy.

The plot of this film is fed up with organizing halloween every year Jack Skellington gets the idea to take over another holiday that being Christmas. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this films plot more then holding up all of these later with the plot of this film being jut as good as you all remember it being as it proves that Disney can indeed something dark and disturbing and still have it be a kid friendly film that perfectly fits there mold and yet at the same time this films plot doesn't feel like the stereotypical Disney plot as it doesn't feel like that it's talking to down to anyone with it feeling like that this films plot was instead talking to it's kid audience on a level and because of that is the fact that this films plot is also alot more better written then what it really had any right to be as by all rights this is a plot that should have failed but because of the fact that it was made by filmmakers who were young and hungry and who had something to prove it means that we got a plot that was as good as it was ever going to be and while it would have been nice if the plot was a bit more developed then what it was this a film that really doesn't require that deep of plot in order for it to work as all it needs is a very simple plot and that's it and to be fair to this film that's exactly what it has with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Starring in this film is Chris Sarandon as Jack Skellington , Catherine O'Hara as Sally and Shock and William Hickey as Doctor Finkelstein. Also starring in this film is Glenn Shadix as The Mayor Of Halloween Town , Paul Reubens as Lock , this films composer Danny Elfman as Barrel and The Clown With The Tear-Away Face , Ken Page as Oogie Boogie , Susan McBride as Big Witch and W.W.D. , Debi Durst as Corpse Kid , Corpse Mom and Small Witch , Greg Proops as Harlequin Demon , Devil and The Sax Player , Kerry Katz as A Man Under Stairs , A Vampire and Corpse Dad , Randy Crenshaw as Mr. Hyde , Behemoth and A Vampire , Sherwood Ball as A Mummy and A Vampire , Carmen Twillie as Undersea Gal and A Man Under the Stairs , Glenn Walters as The Wolfman, Joe Ranft as Igor and Ed Ivory as Santa Claus.

Now then  interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. Which is something that does make alot of sense as alot of this films actors are a bunch of really good actors in their own right with them all turning in some really good performances in this film and while the likes of Chris Sarandon , Ken Page and Paul Reubens will always be some really good actors in this film and will always be a joy to listen to in this film this films best actor have to be Catherine O'Hara as she can switch very easily from being darkly funny with Shock to being this sweet and innocent character in the exact same scene with Sally with that kind of skill being hard to pull off and while it was more then likely that she recorded those two parts on different days that is still a skill that is very hard to do for even the most gifted of actors with her also making both characters either really likable in the case of Sally or just downright annoying in the case of Shock with her chemistry with both Danny Elfman and Paul Reubens coming across really well in the final film with the same thing also being true with her chemistry with Christ Sarandon as well with the acting that's in this film really being helped buy the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

It is actually impossible to say just who it was that did the animation for this film as there's no animation company listed anywhere either online or during the films ending credits. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about he actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in  this very film was in all honesty really good with the animation much like the films plot more then holding up well over thirty years later with the films use of stopmotion animation really looking alot more better then alot of the CG animated films that Disney are pumping out these days as here you can see all of the love and effort that the animation teams out into making this films animation look as good as it was and while yes there some 2D animation as well for the ghosts the film mainly uses stopmotion and it's something that does work really well as it oddly makes the film a little bit more creepier as the characters have these off putting movements to them that would look out of place in a film like Toy Story for example but here it's something that doe work to the films advantage as alot of the films characters are meant to be creepy and are meant to be scary with the backgrounds getting alot of love and attention to them as well as to be frank here they look like nothing that we'd have seen before the release of this film and because of the fact that this film is good we see them all over the place now and while both the characters and the backgrounds have designs that are very much in the style of Tim Burton those designs to help the film standout from the more overtly kid friendly films that Disney is more well known for.

There's no escaping the legacy that this film has left behind as it's still spawning new merchandise to this very day. With film spawning sequel book , video game appearances and even full blown concerts of the films catchy songs and heck this film was even so popular that it was spoofed during the opening of Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery a special episode of Tiny Toon Adventures that aired just abut TWO YEARS after this film came out which is something that you just don't see today as nowadays as soon as a film is released the studio is very quick to forget all about it as there more focused on the next film and yet here because of the fact that Disney didn't really pay that much attention to this film when it first being released and heck they didn't even want to be associated with it so much that they shifted it over to there Touchstone Pictures label and only started to take an interest in it years later which is way we have only just started to see merchandise for this film because Disney even back then were still making pretty business moves and it also explains why we never got to see any merchandise for the film when this film was coming out which does make this film feel more like an underground film as the only way that we would have heard about this film when it was first being released was through word of mouth and not because of the fact that there were toys and shirt for the film out there much like there is nowadays where every single Halloween Disney does like to pretend that they had faith in this film from the very beginning and bring out the characters to there theme parks when if they really had faith in it then they really would have released it under the main Disney banner and not one of there other labels.

While it is hard to say if this film is either a straight up halloween or a christmas movie there's no denying the fact that this film is a straight up romance movie. With it being pretty obvious that Sally has a thing for Jack and while he might not notice it until the very end of the film it is something that is there all throughout the film and to the films credit the romance is done really well with both of the characters being some really likable characters as even tho she knows that his plan to do Christmas this one time won't work Sally still does go along with Jack's plan as it's something that is quite obviously making him happy with there being moments all throughout the film where the characters do spend some time together and while it would have helped the film out quite alot if the characters did spend some time together just to further develop the films romance that isn't something that's really needed as the romance aspect of the film as it is does work as we the audience are pretty much seeing things from Jack's point of view and therefor if he doesn't spend time with Sally outside of the main plot then we very rarely get to do so as well with the very few times that we get to see her outside of the main plot it's just her with Doctor Finkelstein and that's it but in saying that we do get to see Jack come to her rescue at the end of the film which does show that he does care about her as it's during that sequence where he openly calls Sally a friend of his something which he hadn't really done before and by the end of the film there basically admitting there love for each other even tho none of them says it which is a sweet scene but it's also something that would have meant alot more if the romance part of the film was handled just that little bit better then what it actually already was.

This is of course a musical film with the films songs being written by the films composter Danny Elfman. It's safe to say that alot of this film songs are some really good songs as nearly all of them are some really catchy songs and again nearly all of them are well sung as well as them all being really written with the best song in the whole entire film being either "This Is Halloween" or "What's This?" as both songs not only represent there respective holidays really well with "This Is Halloween" of course representing halloween and "What's This?" representing christmas with both songs giving us the wonder of both holidays and why we should like both holidays with them both being a pair of really fun filled songs in the first place so much so that it's hard to pick just which one is the better song as there both that good with the film being more then worth watching just for all of it's songs alone as while yes there are a few bad songs in there like for example "Oogie Boogie's Song" and "Sally's Song" which is a great compliment to "Jack's Lament" but it's also a song that does bring the pacing the down a tad and feels alot more like filler as that song adds nothing to the overall plot of the film something which all of this films do indeed do really well with both "This Is Halloween" and "What's This?" also being a pair of songs that are both really well written and really well sung which is something that for "What's This?" does make alot of sense as it's sung by Danny Elfman who is himself a really good singer and actually does the singing voice for Jack Skellington in this film with his singing being really good as is the singing of both Catherine O'Hara and Paul Reubens both of whom can sing really well and sing really well in this film as well.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and sixteen minuets and thirty nine seconds. Which to be fair to this film is a perfectly solid running time for this film to have with this film having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time but at the same time tho this film could have used a few extra minuets just to further develop it's plot since as things stand the plot as well done as it is isn't that well developed and the film can't have the tie that it needs to breathe inbetween songs with there being a song every few minuets which would be fine if the film was just there to advertise the soundtrack which is kind of how it feels as there very little room for plot due to the fact that the songs do take up alot of time with even the films main villain Oogie Boogie not even playing a big part in the plot of the film until about the final thirty minuets of the film this is despite the fact that the character makes a small appearance during the "This Is Halloween" song at the start of the film and yet he doesn't appear at any other point prior to when he becomes the films main villain which does make it harder for us the audience to form any kind of connection to him as a character as the film is more interested in singing a song then it is developing it's plot and in giving us a really well done main villain and yet if the film had about fifteen minuets added to it then alot of those issues would just go away and the film would then be able to use it's running time alot more wisely then what it already does but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is comedy that rally does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. As while this film doesn't have the kind of jokes that you would typically find in Disney films the film does instead make great use of dark comedy as it has plenty of jokes that are very darkly funny like the fact that The Clown With The Tear-Away Face does quite literally rip his face off alot of the time which is scary yes but it is something that could also be funny as the clown does quite literally live up to his name and the fact that all of the presents that the town's people of Halloween Town make do somehow still end up scary which might not be the stereotypical joke that you'd find from Disney but because t's from the deeply dark and very disturbing mind of Tim Burton something like that does come across as being funny as it's a scene that's not being played for scares it's being played for laughs and it's joke that really does work with the best joke in the whole entire film being one of the films more simpler jokes as it's just Jack hitting his head on the Christmas Town sign which is a simple joke but it's still a really funny joke as it's well animated and it's a case where everything does come together from the music of "What's This?" stopping and the animation making the joke alot more funnier then what it really had any right to be with the same thing being true for alot of this films jokes as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this film is still a really good film and it's one that not only the makers of this film but also I myself would never want and that's a sequel to this film as this film is as good as it is and while the film has spawned many sequel books there should never be a sequel film to this film as any sequel film will just fail in comparison an will tarnish the legacy of this film as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official The Nightmare Before Christmas fandom wiki page , the official Tiny Toon Adventures fandom wiki page , the official Disney fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.