Review #370: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Twelve More Slays of Christmas #12 - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

[This one does not appear to be streaming anywhere for free, but it's included in a subscription to Disney+.]

Merry Christmas, everyone who celebrates!

The Nightmare Before Christmas tells the story of Jack Skellington, a skeleton living in a place where everyone and everything is Halloween. Despite everyone else's love and excitement over another Halloween come and gone, Jack has grown dissatisfied- he wants something more. Something new. So when he stumbles across a mysterious grove of trees, each of which seems to serve as a portal to another place, each centered around a different holiday- Jack immediately becomes smitten with the idea of Christmas, and sets out to create a Christmas of his own- even going so far as to have Santa Claus kidnapped so he can take the reins (no pun intended). But something tells me Christmas is going to be a bit different this year...

I first saw this movie back when it premiered, in 1993. I liked it then, as a child, but pretty much every time I've watched it over the following thirty years, something just didn't sit right with me, and I think I might have figured it out: this movie is pretty much entirely vibes and detailed animation, and the plot is pretty bare-bones (no pun intended) and unconventional. Like, let me ask you this: who is the villain of this movie? Take a moment and really think about that. Jack is obviously the protagonist, so that would make the antagonist... Oogie Boogie, right? The problem with that is Oogie Boogie's role in this movie is almost inconsequential. Jack only comes face-to-face with him for one scene of the film, and it happens AFTER Jack has completed his character arc. You could remove the entire subplot of Oogie Boogie trying to kill Santa Claus and it would have zero impact on the plot of the rest of the film, and the characters of the film. So it feels strange calling Oogie Boogie the villain. But if not him, who?

To that, I would say: to the extent that this movie has a villain, the villain is Jack. Everyone else in the movie is fine with how things were. Jack is the one who wants things to change, and when that change ends up being terrible for everyone involved, he's the one who has a change of heart. Even his confrontation with Oogie Boogie is purely a resolution of his decision to undo his own bad idea. 

But obviously I know that not every movie needs a traditional structure or anything, I just think it's obvious that the plot was pretty far down the list of priorities with this film. Clearly, a TON of work went into making it- the animation is breathtaking, with so much detail and creativity in the way the characters move and look. The visual style of this movie surely influenced 30+ years' worth of gothic and dark fantasy art, not to mention countless movies and TV shows. The landscape of popular media would certainly look quite different had this movie not existed. I just wish the plot made a bit more sense, and I wish I cared more about the characters themselves instead of just viewing them as a vehicle for creepy imagery.

If you haven't seen this movie (I assume everyone has, but just in case), then this is an instant recommend from me for the cultural influence if nothing else. But if you're looking for a good story and good characters, you can find better elsewhere.

Overall Rating: 8/10 Tree-Eating Snakes

Spooky Easter Eggs: This movie includes several subtle references to The Addams Family, ranging from a pudgy boy in a striped shirt (resembling Pugsley Addams) to Jack's doorbell being almost identical to the Addams' doorbell.