the
nightmare
before christmas in 3D |
directors
Henry Selick
screenwriter
Caroline
Thompson
story and
characters by
Tim Burton
adapted
by
Michael
McDowell
producers
Tim Burton
Denise Di Novi
cinematographer
Pete Kozachik
music
Danny Elfman
editor
Stan Webb
cast
Danny Elfman (Jack Skellington, singing)
Chris Sarandon (Jack Skellington)
Catherine O'Hara (Sally)
William Hickey (Dr. Finkelstein)
Glenn Shadix (Mayor)
Paul Reubens (Lock)
Ken Page (Oogie Boogie)
Edward Ivory (Santa)
mpaa rating: PG
running
time: 76m
u.s.
release: 10/13/93
3D release: 10/20/06
video
availability: VHS -
DVD
official
website
other henry
selick films
reviewed on this website:
- james
and the giant peach
- monkeybone
see also:
- corpse
bride
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When it first came out in 1993,
The Nightmare Before Christmas struck me as the ideal
Tim Burton project in all the wrong ways: no humans, no actors,
just spooky design and easily manipulable stop-motion figures.
Time, however, has bestowed more charm on this macabre but ebullient
musical fantasy. It's a Rankin-Bass holiday special filtered
through Burton's manic-depressive sensibility; as such, it offers
a wealth of offbeat pleasures, many of which are magnified by
the film's new upgrade to "Disney Digital 3D."
After a newly 3D-ized version
of John Lasseter's 1989 short "Knick Knack" (about
a snowman trying to escape his snowglobe to get near a fetching
femme figurine), the movie proper kicks in. What's nice about
the new Nightmare Before Christmas is that it isn't fundamentally
new at all; it hasn't been tarted up with new shots of things
poking out at the audience (although when an object or character
does make a move towards the "camera," the 3D remastering
makes the most of it). Mostly, the technology adds an enchanting
depth to the gothic landscapes and the shots teeming with bizarre
characters. And the polarized glasses, much more advanced than
the old red-and-blue cardboard things and big enough to fit over
your own glasses if you wear them, won't leave you with a souvenir
in the form of a headache.
The movie itself remains the
same dark-and-light fable beloved by so many goths during the
last thirteen years. Jack Skellington (speaking voice by Chris
Sarandon, singing voice by Danny Elfman, who also composed the
music and songs) is the "pumpkin king" of Halloweentown,
the man responsible for bringing the very best in the ghastly
and the morbid to the eager townspeople. Jack has grown weary
of his job, though; he wants something more than the same old
thing every October. He discovers a doorway to Christmasland,
where Santa Claus prepares for his own yearly blowout. Jack decides
to co-opt Christmas for his own purposes, over the objections
of stitched-together Sally (Catherine O'Hara), who's infatuated
with him.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is almost wall-to-wall songs, realized
by Elfman in his usual bombastic mode; the former lead singer
of Oingo Boingo is not your go-to guy when it comes to soft,
subtle melodies (Sally's wistful number is the only real disappointment),
but let him loose on the gleefully mischievous "Kidnap the
Sandy Claws" ("Throw him in a box/Bury him for ninety
years/Then see if he talks") or the rambunctious "Oogie
Boogie's Song" ("Well if I'm feelin' antsy/And there's
nothin' much to do/I might just cook a special batch/Of snake
and spider stew") and Elfman's grinning-skull showman side
pops out. Director Henry Selick, who later made James
and the Giant Peach (let's pass over his live-action
disaster Monkeybone in silence)
and is now adapting Neil Gaiman's Coraline, gives
the stop-motion characters as much heart and soul as they'll
hold. The only thing sorely missing is a vocal cameo by the likes
of Christopher Lee or Vincent Price (who died a couple of weeks
after the film's October 13, 1993 premiere; I like to think Burton
was able to show him a print beforehand).
The movie is a perfect Halloween
perennial, just short enough not to wear out its welcome and
just long enough to brushstroke its pagan vs. Christian subtext
(the clear winner is neither -- suggesting that the denizens
of Samhain and Yule should stick to their specialties). It's
been available on a nicely tricked-out DVD (which includes Burton's
superb short films "Vincent" and "Frankenweenie")
for years. So should you make the trip to see it, again or for
the first time, in 3D? Well, the other thing about the remastering
job is that the digital projection makes this the sharpest version
of Nightmare Before Christmas you're ever likely to see.
This is a fine way to see the film for the first time, or with
new eyes.
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