[MOVIE REVIEW] The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

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Title: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Starring:  Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, Glenn Shadix, Ken Page

Genre: Horror / Fantasy / Halloween / Romance

Company:  Touchstone Pictures

Directed by: Henry Selick

Year: 1993

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: Rated PG - For Some Scary Images

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Best Buy  //  Blu-Ray.com

Every Halloween, Jack the Pumpkin King, would go out and scare many people with his frightening theatrics.  Unfortunately, Jack has grown tired of doing the same routine every year and wanted to do something different.  It was then that Jack accidentally ended up in Christmas Town and he was so awed and amazed at the Christmas visuals and the figure of Santa Claus (who he mistakenly calls "Sandy Claws"), that he decided that he should take over Christmas for the year!  This then leads to Santa Claus being kidnapped by Oogie Boogie and Christmas nearly put into disaster!

Can Jack fix all of this before it's too late?

Seriously, this is probably my most favorite film made by Tim Burton (well technically, it was produced by Tim Burton and the poem was written by him, but Henry Selick directed the film).  I just loved the cute yet nightmarish visuals in this movie as they gave the movie a creative vibe and I really loved seeing the different kinds of characters that pop up in Halloween Town, with my favorite creatures being the Clown with the Tearaway Face and the Vampires!  I also loved the characters themselves as they were all interesting and amusing to look at.  Probably my most favorite character in this entire movie was none other than Jack Skellington himself as he was a truly charming and charismatic character!  I just loved the way that Jack went about trying something different for a change and it was cute seeing him lit up with enthusiasm as he tried to become the new Santa Claus.  I also loved the character of Sally the Rag Doll as she truly cares about Jack and would do anything to prevent Jack from ruining Christmas!  The visuals were amazing as all the characters look truly nightmarish (especially the werewolf and the witches) and yet, their personalities are so likable that you cannot help but actually care for these characters.  Probably the best part of this movie were the songs themselves as they truly capture the true essence of this film, with my favorite songs being "What's This?" "This is Halloween" and "Sally's Song."

The only problem with this film is that the reason why this movie was rated PG was because of the scary imagery.  So, there may be some images, like the various monsters that show up in this film, that might scare smaller children for the most part.  Also, there is not enough back stories with any of these characters to really get to know their true motives and their existence, so some people might be a bit confused about where some of the motives of the characters came from, like in the case of Oogie Boogie where we don't know much about his character other than he despises Jack Skellington.

Overall, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a fantastic animated film that you can see either during Christmas or Halloween ( a two in one deal, how cool is that)?  and it will forever be remembered as a classic film that Tim Burton and stop motion fans will love for many years!