The Nightmare Before Christmas Turns 30

Writer-director Tim Burton introduced the wonderfully weird The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993. The stop-motion animated film is a strange holiday blend when the king of Halloween decides to spread Christmas cheer. Halloween Town is frightening enough with vampires, mad doctors, and a character made of creepy crawlies, but the movie adds Santa being tortured, a kid receiving a severed head as a gift, and the hero is a skeleton.

The Nightmare Before Christmas starts when Jack Skellington, aka the Pumpkin King, has grown bored with scaring people every Halloween. Wandering into the woods, he finds magical doors that can transport him into other holidays. Once he ventures into the land of Christmas, Jack decides to take over that holiday – with disastrous consequences. The residents of Halloween Town struggle to understand the concept, which means that the naughtiest Trick ‘r’ Treaters kidnap Santa, kids get gruesome gifts, and residents of Christmas Town try to shoot the imposter out of the sky.

Burton developed the movie’s concept while he was working at Walt Disney Feature Animation. The writer-director had been a big fan of both holidays as a child, and after seeing each represented in department stores next to each other, he started imagining a world where they existed at the same time. He wrote the Nightmare Before Christmas poem and became determined to see it adapted onscreen. Once he became a success in the late 1980s with movies like Beetlejuice and Batman, Burton used his new fame to get an animated film greenlit at Disney.

The Nightmare Before Christmas was directed by Henry Selick with Burton as a producer. Chris Sarandon provided Jack’s speaking voice while Danny Elfman was the singing voice. The cast included Catherine O’Hara as Jack’s love interest Sally, William Hickey as mad scientist Dr. Finkelstein, Glenn Shadix as the Mayor of Halloween Town, Ken Page as the boogeyman Oogie Boogie, and Ed Ivory as Santa Claus. Paul Reubens, O’Hara, and Elfman voiced the mischievous trio of Lock, Shock, and Barrel.

Elfman also served as the soundtrack composer, penning the exciting, spooky tracks “This is Halloween,” “Jack’s Lament,” “What’s This?,” “Kidnap the Sandy Claws,” “Making Christmas,” and “Oogie Boogie’s Song,” among others.

The Nightmare Before Christmas was released nationwide 30 years ago on October 29, 1993. The fresh story premise, unique look, and catchy music made the movie an instant hit, and has since achieved cult status. Sarandon and Page are regulars on the convention circuit and the cast has reunited several times to perform music from the film. Toys, clothing, posters, statues, and more collectibles from the film have been released in waves over the years.