One of my favourite movie directors of all time is Tim Burton. He’s made some incredible movies. 1989’s Batman, of course, and several others like Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Mars Attacks and Sleepy Hollow were staples of my teenage years. Burton’s style is weird and creepy and sad; I’m actually not quite sure where my affection for it comes from. But one movie that I had not seen until recently was the cult classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.1
For those who like me, who may have missed it, here’s the basic plot.
Jake Skellington is the King of Halloween Town. But he’s bored of doing the same thing every year. One day, he wanders into the forest and discovers a door that takes him into Christmas Town. Jack is amazed at what he finds. There is snow, bright lights, beautiful decorations, carolers, and snowmen. So much joy and happiness.
Jack wants to share what he found with others and takes the story of Christmas (and some stolen artefacts) back to Halloween Town and convinces all his neighbours and friends to join in the Christmas celebrations.
And they do… kind of…
They want to celebrate Christmas, but their only frame of reference is Halloween. And so, while they try to join in the spirit of Christmas, they end up distorting it. They get their celebration close, but disastrously wrong.
Instead of Santa and his sleigh, they create skeletal reindeer who pull a flying coffin. Jack dresses up as the scariest Santa Claus you’ve ever seen, the townsfolk make presents with jack-in-the-box jump scares, decorations that attack villagers, and drop-off creatures that destroy homes.
Jack was enamoured by Christmas, but because he couldn’t see past his own lens of Halloween, he ends up with a very different version of Christmas.
I got halfway through this movie recently and immediately thought, “Oh my goodness!! The Nightmare Before Christmas is Galatians!”
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Technically produced by, and based on a poem by Tim Burton, but directed by Henry Selick.