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|available=VHS<br>Laserdisc<br>DVD<br>Universal Media Disc<br>Blu-ray<br>[https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/nightmare-before-christmas/id281660706 iTunes]}}
|available=VHS<br>Laserdisc<br>DVD<br>Universal Media Disc<br>Blu-ray<br>[https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/nightmare-before-christmas/id281660706 iTunes]}}
[[File:NightmarebeforechristmasPoster.jpg|thumb|250px|The poster for the film's original theatrical release.]]
[[File:NightmarebeforechristmasPoster.jpg|thumb|250px|The poster for the film's original theatrical release.]]
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'''''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas''''' is a 1993 stop-motion fantasy film, directed by [[Wikipedia:Henry Selick|Henry Selick]] and produced/co-written by [[Wikipedia:Tim Burton|Tim Burton]]. The movie originated as a poem written by Tim Burton in 1982, while he was working as a Disney animator. With the success of ''[[Wikipedia:Vincent (film)|Vincent]]'' in 1982, Disney started to consider ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' as either a short subject or 30-minute television special. Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project, and in 1990, Burton and Disney made a development deal. Production started in July 1991 in [[wikipedia:San Francisco|San Francisco]]. Walt Disney Pictures decided to release the film under their Touchstone Pictures banner because they thought it would be "too dark and scary for kids".
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'''''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas''''' is a 1993 stop-motion fantasy film, directed by {{WikipediaLink|Henry Selick}} and produced/co-written by {{WikipediaLink|Tim Burton}}. The movie originated as a poem written by Tim Burton in 1982, while he was working as a Disney animator. With the success of ''[[Wikipedia:Vincent (film)|Vincent]]'' in 1982, Disney started to consider ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' as either a short subject or 30-minute television special. Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project, and in 1990, Burton and Disney made a development deal. Production started in July 1991 in {{WikipediaLink|San Francisco}}. Walt Disney Pictures decided to release the film under their Touchstone Pictures banner because they thought it would be "too dark and scary for kids".
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''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' was met with critical and financial success. Disney has reissued the film annually under their [[wikipedia:Disney Digital 3-D|Disney Digital 3-D]] format since 2006, being the first stop-motion animated feature to be entirely converted to 3-D.
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''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' was met with critical and financial success. Disney has reissued the film annually under their {{WikipediaLink|Disney Digital 3-D}} format since 2006, being the first stop-motion animated feature to be entirely converted to 3-D.
==Synopsis==
==Synopsis==
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==Production==
==Production==
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As director Tim Burton's upbringing in {{WikipediaLink|Burbank, California}} was associated with the feeling of solitude, the filmmaker was largely fascinated by holidays during his childhood. "Anytime there was Christmas or Halloween, [...] it was great. It gave you some sort of texture all of a sudden that wasn't there before", Burton would later recall. After completing his short film ''[[wikipedia:Vincent (1982 film)|Vincent]]'' in 1982, then-[[wikipedia:Walt Disney Animation Studios|Disney animator]] Burton wrote three-page poem titled ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'', drawing inspiration from ''[[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rankin/Bass)|Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]]'', ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas!]]'' and the poem ''[[A Visit from St. Nicholas]]''. Burton intended to adapt the poem into a television special with the narration spoken by his favorite actor, [[wikipedia:Vincent Price|Vincent Price]], but also considered other options such as a children's book. He created concept art and storyboards for the project in collaboration with Rick Heinrichs, who also sculpted character models; Burton later showed his and Heinrichs' works-in-progress to [[wikipedia:Henry Selick|Henry Selick]], also a Disney animator at the time. After the success of ''Vincent'', Disney started to consider developing ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' as either a short film or 30-minute holiday television special. However, the project's development eventually stalled, as its tone seemed "too weird" to the company. As Disney was unable to "offer his nocturnal loners enough scope", Burton left the studio in 1984, and went on to produce the commercially successful films ''[[wikipedia:Beetlejuice|Beetlejuice]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]''.
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As director Tim Burton's upbringing in {{WikipediaLink|Burbank, California}} was associated with the feeling of solitude, the filmmaker was largely fascinated by holidays during his childhood. "Anytime there was Christmas or Halloween, [...] it was great. It gave you some sort of texture all of a sudden that wasn't there before", Burton would later recall. After completing his short film ''[[wikipedia:Vincent (1982 film)|Vincent]]'' in 1982, then-[[wikipedia:Walt Disney Animation Studios|Disney animator]] Burton wrote three-page poem titled ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'', drawing inspiration from ''[[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rankin/Bass)|Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]]'', ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas!]]'' and the poem ''[[A Visit from St. Nicholas]]''. Burton intended to adapt the poem into a television special with the narration spoken by his favorite actor, {{WikipediaLink|Vincent Price}}, but also considered other options such as a children's book. He created concept art and storyboards for the project in collaboration with Rick Heinrichs, who also sculpted character models; Burton later showed his and Heinrichs' works-in-progress to Henry Selick, also a Disney animator at the time. After the success of ''Vincent'', Disney started to consider developing ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' as either a short film or 30-minute holiday television special. However, the project's development eventually stalled, as its tone seemed "too weird" to the company. As Disney was unable to "offer his nocturnal loners enough scope", Burton left the studio in 1984, and went on to produce the commercially successful films ''{{WikipediaLink|Beetlejuice}}'' and ''[[wikipedia:Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]''.
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Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project. In 1990, Burton found out that Disney still owned the film rights; he and Selick committed to produce a full-length film with the latter as director. Disney was looking forward to ''Nightmare'' "to show capabilities of technical and storytelling achievements that were present in ''[[wikipedia:Who Framed Roger Rabbit|Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]''." ''Nightmare'' marked Burton's third film in a row to have a Christmas setting. Burton could not direct because of his commitment to ''Batman Returns'' and he did not want to be involved with "the painstakingly slow process of stop motion". To adapt his poem into a screenplay, Burton approached Michael McDowell, his collaborator on ''Beetlejuice''. McDowell and Burton experienced creative differences, which convinced Burton to make the film as a musical with lyrics and compositions by frequent collaborator {{WikipediaLink|Danny Elfman}}. Elfman and Burton created a rough storyline and two-thirds of the film's songs, while Selick and his team of animators began production in July 1991 in {{WikipediaLink|San Francisco}}, {{WikipediaLink|California}} with a crew of over 120 workers, utilizing 20 sound stages for filming. {{WikipediaLink|Joe Ranft}} worked as a storyboard artist, while Paul Berry was hired as an animation supervisor. In total there were 109,440 frames taken for the movie.
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Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project. In 1990, Burton found out that Disney still owned the film rights; he and Selick committed to produce a full-length film with the latter as director. Disney was looking forward to ''Nightmare'' "to show capabilities of technical and storytelling achievements that were present in ''{{WikipediaLink|Who Framed Roger Rabbit}}''." ''Nightmare'' marked Burton's third film in a row to have a Christmas setting. Burton could not direct because of his commitment to ''Batman Returns'' and he did not want to be involved with "the painstakingly slow process of stop motion". To adapt his poem into a screenplay, Burton approached Michael McDowell, his collaborator on ''Beetlejuice''. McDowell and Burton experienced creative differences, which convinced Burton to make the film as a musical with lyrics and compositions by frequent collaborator {{WikipediaLink|Danny Elfman}}. Elfman and Burton created a rough storyline and two-thirds of the film's songs, while Selick and his team of animators began production in July 1991 in {{WikipediaLink|San Francisco}}, {{WikipediaLink|California}} with a crew of over 120 workers, utilizing 20 sound stages for filming. {{WikipediaLink|Joe Ranft}} worked as a storyboard artist, while Paul Berry was hired as an animation supervisor. In total there were 109,440 frames taken for the movie.
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Elfman found writing ''Nightmare''s 10 songs as "one of the easiest jobs I've ever had. I had a lot in common with Jack Skellington." Caroline Thompson still had yet to be hired to write the screenplay. With Thompson's screenplay, Selick stated, "there are very few lines of dialogue that are Caroline's. She became busy on other films and we were constantly rewriting, reconfiguring and developing the film visually." The work of [[wikipedia:Ray Harryhausen|Ray Harryhausen]], Ladislas Starevich, Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, Jan Lenica, Francis Bacon and Wassily Kandinsky influenced the filmmakers. Selick described the production design as akin to a pop-up book. In addition, Selick stated, "When we reach Halloween Town, it's entirely German Expressionism. When Jack enters Christmas Town, it's an outrageous Dr. Seuss-esque setpiece. Finally, when Jack is delivering presents in the 'Real World', everything is plain, simple and perfectly aligned."
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Elfman found writing ''Nightmare''s 10 songs as "one of the easiest jobs I've ever had. I had a lot in common with Jack Skellington." Caroline Thompson still had yet to be hired to write the screenplay. With Thompson's screenplay, Selick stated, "there are very few lines of dialogue that are Caroline's. She became busy on other films and we were constantly rewriting, reconfiguring and developing the film visually." The work of {{WikipediaLink|Ray Harryhausen}}, Ladislas Starevich, Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, Jan Lenica, Francis Bacon and Wassily Kandinsky influenced the filmmakers. Selick described the production design as akin to a pop-up book. In addition, Selick stated, "When we reach Halloween Town, it's entirely German Expressionism. When Jack enters Christmas Town, it's an outrageous Dr. Seuss-esque setpiece. Finally, when Jack is delivering presents in the 'Real World', everything is plain, simple and perfectly aligned."
On the direction of the film, Selick reflected, "It's as though he [Burton] laid the egg, and I sat on it and hatched it. He wasn't involved in a hands-on way, but his hand is in it. It was my job to make it look like "a Tim Burton film", which is not so different from my own films." When asked on Burton's involvement, Selick claimed, "I don't want to take away from Tim, but he was not in San Francisco when we made it. He came up five times over two years, and spent no more than eight or ten days in total." {{WikipediaLink|Walt Disney Animation Studios}} contributed with some use of second-layering traditional animation. Burton found production somewhat difficult because he was directing ''Batman Returns'' and in pre-production of ''Ed Wood''.
On the direction of the film, Selick reflected, "It's as though he [Burton] laid the egg, and I sat on it and hatched it. He wasn't involved in a hands-on way, but his hand is in it. It was my job to make it look like "a Tim Burton film", which is not so different from my own films." When asked on Burton's involvement, Selick claimed, "I don't want to take away from Tim, but he was not in San Francisco when we made it. He came up five times over two years, and spent no more than eight or ten days in total." {{WikipediaLink|Walt Disney Animation Studios}} contributed with some use of second-layering traditional animation. Burton found production somewhat difficult because he was directing ''Batman Returns'' and in pre-production of ''Ed Wood''.
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The film was released on DVD again on October 3, 2000, this time as a "special edition" DVD release. This release included an audio commentary by director Henry Selick and cinematographer Pete Kozachik, a 28-minute making-of documentary, a gallery of concept art and storyboards, test footage, and deleted scenes. Burton's films ''Vincent'' and ''Frankenweenie'' were also included as bonus features.
The film was released on DVD again on October 3, 2000, this time as a "special edition" DVD release. This release included an audio commentary by director Henry Selick and cinematographer Pete Kozachik, a 28-minute making-of documentary, a gallery of concept art and storyboards, test footage, and deleted scenes. Burton's films ''Vincent'' and ''Frankenweenie'' were also included as bonus features.
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[[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment]] released the film on DVD (again) and on Blu-ray (for the first time) on August 26, 2008, as a two-disc digitally remastered "collector's edition." Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment later released ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' on Disney Blu-ray 3D on August 30, 2011. This release was a 4-disc combo pack including a Blu-ray 3D disc, Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and digital copy of the film. For the film's 20th anniversary, Disney released new Blu-ray/DVD and Blu-ray 3D/DVD/Digital Copy combo packs of the movie on September 10, 2013.
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Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film on DVD (again) and on Blu-ray (for the first time) on August 26, 2008, as a two-disc digitally remastered "collector's edition." Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment later released ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' on Disney Blu-ray 3D on August 30, 2011. This release was a 4-disc combo pack including a Blu-ray 3D disc, Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and digital copy of the film. For the film's 20th anniversary, Disney released new Blu-ray/DVD and Blu-ray 3D/DVD/Digital Copy combo packs of the movie on September 10, 2013.
<gallery widths="200" bordersize="none" captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small">
<gallery widths="200" bordersize="none" captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small">
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NightmareBeforeChristmas_20thAnniversary_Bluray3D.jpg|{{Gallery note|20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray 3D|Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2013}}
NightmareBeforeChristmas_20thAnniversary_Bluray3D.jpg|{{Gallery note|20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray 3D|Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2013}}
</gallery>
</gallery>
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==Legacy==
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In 2001, Walt Disney Pictures began to consider producing a sequel, but rather than using stop motion, Disney wanted to use computer animation. 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... Because it's a mass-market kind of thing, it was important to kind of keep that purity of it." In 2009, Selick said he would do a film sequel if he and Burton could create a good story for it.
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In 2005, ''{{WikipediaLink|The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge}}'', a sequel game developed by Capcom, was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2005. Another game, a prequel titled ''{{WikipediaLink|The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King}}'', was developed by Tose Co., Ltd. and was released for the Game Boy Advance around the same time. Characters from the film have also had prominent roles in Square Enix's ''{{WikipediaLink|Kingdom Hearts}}'' role-playing game series. In the majority of these games, Jack acts as a partner to the main character. A Jack Skellington figure was also released for use with ''{{WikipediaLink|Disney Infinity}}''.
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At Halloween, [[wikipedia:Disneyland Park|Disneyland]] decorates its streets in a ''Nightmare Before Christmas'' theme, and {{WikipediaLink|the Haunted Mansion}} attraction is redesigned with characters from the movie. This new attraction is called the Haunted Mansion Holiday, and remains in operation through Christmas. It takes ride goers on a what-if adventure of if Jack, as "Sandy Claws," had visited the Haunted Mansion on Christmas Eve, leaving holiday chaos in his wake.
==Cast==
==Cast==
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{| class="wikitable" border="1"
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{| class="wikitable"
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! Voice actor
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! Voice actor !! Character
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! Character
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| {{WikipediaLink|Chris Sarandon}} || [[Jack Skellington]] (speaking)
| {{WikipediaLink|Chris Sarandon}} || [[Jack Skellington]] (speaking)