Tuesday, September 29, 2009

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Based on a story and characters by Tim Burton
Adaptation by Michael McDowell
Screenplay by Caroline Thompson
Directed by Henry Selick

Danny Elfman
Chris Sarandon
Catherine O'Hara
Ken Page

Premiere date: October 9, 1993
PG for some scary images.

Halloweentown's beloved Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, is popular but bored in his spooky home. Deciding he likes Christmastown better, he attempts to take over the Christmas holiday. Against the advice of Sally, a lonely rag doll who has feelings for him, Jack enlists three mischievous trick-or-treaters – Lock, Shock, and Barrel – to help him kidnap Santa Claus. Jack eventually realizes his mistake but has to contend with the evil Oogie Boogie before he can make things right and restore Christmas.

1 Academy Award Nomination
Best Visual Effects

6 comments:

DEZMOND said...

one of the most charming movies ever :))

Ellen said...

Ditto DEZMOND. I'm kind of surprised that Danny Elfman's music didn't get any Oscar consideration. It definitely deserved some.

Rae Kasey said...

@Ellen: It really did! What upsets me more than the music snub though it that it took AMPAS so long to come up with the Best Animated Feature category.

For crying out loud they'd been handing them out to animated shorts for decades!

At any rate I'm happy Henry Selick is back to work. Maybe one of these years he'll pick up the Oscar that would have had his name on it in 1993.

Andrew K. said...

Have to ask 2005 Oscars Wallace & Grommit vs Corpse Bride. Was anyone backing Wallace & Grommit? Cause I wasn't.

Rae Kasey said...

I love Nick Park's work, so I maybe had a soft spot for Wallace & Gromit (again, the animated feature Oscar would have been his in 2000 for Chicken Run).

Corpse Bride was good, but I don't think it came close to matching what Burton and Selick achieved with Nightmare Before Christmas.

DEZMOND said...

Yes, "Corpse Bride" was too weird and gloomy, and it didn't have the same festive charm as the first movie. But it did have amazing animation and amazing details.

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