Tim Burton's classic Christmas/Halloween movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas has quickly become one of the most renowned animated holiday films in movie history and now it has been remade in 3D animation making it even better. Though parts of this holiday movie classic seems a bit too graphic for some of the younger children, this film is a wonderful musical (music and lyrics by Danny Elfman) with a very good message for all of us. The entirety of The Nightmare Before Christmas was created with stop-motion animation, and in view of the fact that it's centered around the spooky Halloween holiday, it was given an overall dark tone. Jack Skellington (the Pumpkin King), the film's brooding protagonist, is a living skeleton who walks, talks, and sings beautifully (Danny Elfman sings for Jack). Each and every Halloween, it's Jack's duty to organize the holiday of Halloween for the world, but this Halloween, Jack feels like there something missing in his life so instead of preparing for Halloween, Jack searches for a way to fill the emptiness in his life.
During his search of self discovery, Jack finds a strange doorway in a tree which leads him to a wondrous place called Christmas town. It does not take very long for Jack to fall under the spell of goodwill shown by the cheery inhabitants of Christmas town. He soon becomes completely captivated with Christmas town and Christmas. After Jack learns about the legend of Santa Claus, he decides to tell all of his friends in Halloween town about the wonders he has just witnessed. Although the townspeople in Halloween town are hoping to make the next Halloween even more frightening than the last, Jack convinces them to celebrate Christmas instead. With the aid of Lock, Shock and Barrel, three trick-or-treaters who are more tricksters than treaters, Jack kidnaps Santa Claus. From there, everything begins to go completely wrong.
The Nightmare Before Christmas transforms into a fascinating story about being happy with one's self, and while the chief message is good, there are elements to Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas that might be a bit too scary for the younger kids. Some of the movie's characters, like Sally and her "master" for instance, have a very dark, almost macabre look to them and can be very frightening to some younger children. In addition to her gruesome appearance, Sally, who is the main female character of The Nightmare Before Christmas is sometimes abused by her "master ", which can be a bit upsetting to some children. There is one scene in particular that can upset some children. It's the scene where the Oogie Boogie Man kidnaps and attempts to do away with Santa Claus. I'm a firm believer in watching questionable movies with smaller children so you can help them tell the difference between good and bad, fantasy and reality.
With that said, there is nothing in The Nightmare Before Christmas that is too far over the top. I found The Nightmare Before Christmas to be a fantastic film that is loaded with holiday spirit, beautiful music and eye-catching graphics. The best is yet to come now that it has been released on BlueRay DVD in 3D animation. I found a place for it on my shelf alongside my other great classic Christmas movies.
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