The Nightmare Before Christmas

19931993
PGPG
1h 16min

Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Offcial Trailer

Play trailer1:14

Animation Family Fantasy

Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.

Director
- Henry Selick
Writers
- Tim Burton(story and characters)
- Michael McDowell(adaptation)
- Caroline Thompson(screenplay)
Stars
- Danny Elfman(voice)
- Chris Sarandon(voice)
- Catherine O'Hara(voice)

See production, box office & company info

See production, box office & company info

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 7 wins & 17 nominations total

Glenn Shadix in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Tim Burton and Henry Selick in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Tim Burton and Danny Elfman in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Jack Skellington - Singing Voiceas Jack Skellington - Singing Voice
(voice)
…

Jack Skellingtonas Jack Skellington
(voice)

Catherine O'Hara

Sallyas Sally
(voice)
…

Evil Scientistas Evil Scientist
(voice)

Mayoras Mayor
(voice)

Lockas Lock
(voice)

Oogie Boogieas Oogie Boogie
(voice)

Santaas Santa
(voice)
(as Ed Ivory)

Harlequin Demonas Harlequin Demon
(voice)
(as Gregory Proops)
…

Mummyas Mummy
(voice)
…

Wolfmanas Wolfman
(voice)

Additional Voicesas Additional Voices
(voice)

L. Peter Callender

Additional Voicesas Additional Voices
(voice)

Director
- Henry Selick
Writers
- Tim Burton(story and characters)
- Michael McDowell(adaptation)
- Caroline Thompson(screenplay)
All cast & crew

See production, box office, & company info

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Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, is bored with doing the same thing every year for Halloween. One day he stumbles into Christmas Town, and is so taken with the idea of Christmas that he tries to get the resident bats, ghouls, and goblins of Halloween Town to help him put on Christmas instead of Halloween -- but alas, they can't get it quite right. —Jon Reeves <jreeves@imdb.com>

christmas halloween villain scientist gothic 112 more

Taglines
- Tim Burton's classic returns in 3-D so real, it's scary.
Genres
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated PG for some scary images
Parents guide

Trivia
In 2001, Walt Disney Pictures began to consider producing a sequel, but rather than using stop motion, Disney wanted to use computer animation. Tim Burton convinced Disney to drop the idea. "I was always very protective of [Nightmare] not to do sequels or things of that kind," Burton explained. "You know, 'Jack visits Thanksgiving world' or other kinds of things just because I felt the movie had a purity to it and the people that like it."

Goofs
In "Kidnap the Sandy Claws," just before Lock launches Barrel across the room, Lock is singing and his words are aligned. But when Barrel begins to sing, Lock's lips are moving to the words that Barrel should be singing. Barrel's lips don't move at all.

Quotes
Jack Skellington: [singing] Just because I cannot see it, doesn't mean I can't believe it!

Crazy credits
No credits are shown, except the company and the film's name.

Alternate versions
The special edition DVD version has never-before-seen footage of this movie and are the following:
Lock, Shock and Barrel (the trick-or-treaters) are bored so they grab some snacks and go inside their cage/elevator to watch oogie boogie torture Santa and Sally. And later, a thought to be dead Jack Skellington enters the lair by jumping on the cage/elevator with the kids inside and he scares them which can explain how he got inside the lair at the nick of time. Pictures of the scene were in the promotional booklets, postcard books, and storybooks.
Jack's further experiments with Christmas such as having a illustrating "Sandy Claws" as a human/lobster hybrid.
a deleted part of oogie boogie's song that shows his shadow dancing.
a scene where the vampires are playing hockey with the head of Tim Burton, this was corrected and Tim's head was replaced with a Jack O' Lantern.

Connections
Featured in The Making of Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993)

Soundtracks
Here Comes Santa Claus
(1947)
Written by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman

Top review

8/10

Visual feast

Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' is one of the nice animated movies not from Disney. It is about Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, who lives in Halloweentown. One day he goes through a door in a tree and arrives in Christmastown and sees how happy and beautiful it is over there. When he is back in Halloweentown he shows his friends what Christmas is like, and he suggests to do Christmas this year instead of Halloween. Things do not go as planned.

Everything is beautifully animated and although the story is not that great it is entertaining the whole way through. I liked all the songs in the movie and there are some good laughs as well. Definitely worth watching.

helpful•50

33

rbverhoef
Nov 2, 2003

Release date
- October 29, 1993 (United States)
Country of origin
- United States
Official sites
- Official Facebook
- Official site
Language
- English
Also known as
- Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D
Filming locations
- Skellington Productions - 375 7th Street, San Francisco, California, USA
Production companies
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Budget
- $18,000,000 (estimated)
Gross US & Canada
- $77,368,668
Opening weekend US & Canada
- $191,232
- Oct 17, 1993
Gross worldwide
- $91,491,247

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Runtime
- 1h 16min
Color
- Color
Sound mix
- Dolby Stereo

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Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

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