Product Description

Enter an extraordinary world filled with magic and wonder -- where every holiday has its own special land ... and imaginative, one-of-a-kind characters! THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS tells the heartfelt tale of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, and all things that go bump in the night. Bored with the same old tricks and treats, he yearns for something more, and soon stumbles upon the glorious magic of Christmas Town! Jack decides to bring this joyful holiday back to Halloween Town. But as his dream to fill Santa's shoes unravels, it's up to Sally, the rag doll who loves him, to stitch things back together. This critically acclaimed movie milestone captured the heart and imagination of audiences everywhere with its Academy Award(R)-nominated stop-motion effects, engaging Grammy(R)-nominated music, and the genius of Tim Burton (BATMAN, PLANET OF THE APES). THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHIRSTMAS -- a delightful treat the whole family will enjoy!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #708 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-10-03
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Animated, Black & White, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Special Edition, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 76 minutes

Amazon.com
For those who never thought Disney would release a film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped and tortured, well, here it is! The full title is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which should give you an idea of the tone of this stop-action animated musical/fantasy/horror/comedy. It is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator best known as the director of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and the first two Batman movies. His benignly scary-funny sensibility dominates the story of Halloweentown resident Jack Skellington (voice by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), who stumbles on a bizarre and fascinating alternative universe called ... Christmastown! Directed by Henry Selick (who later made the delightful James and the Giant Peach), this PG-rated picture has a reassuringly light touch. As Roger Ebert noted in his review, "some of the Halloween creatures might be a tad scary for smaller children, but this is the kind of movie older kids will eat up; it has the kind of offbeat, subversive energy that tells them wonderful things are likely to happen." --Jim Emerson

DVD features
Using the exhaustive laser disc version as a start, the Nightmare DVD is a fascinating disc with more than 450 production and design images, a deft storyboard-to-film example, and deleted scenes. Director Henry Selick delves deep into the making of the film in his audio commentary and in a 20-minute documentary. The film also features two Tim Burton shorts, the stop-motion Vincent (his first film, which is rarely seen) and the half-hour Frankenweenie. In a welcome trend, the disc contains DTS and Dolby Digital soundtracks. --Doug Thomas

From The New Yorker
This full-length animated movie was shot in stop motion, with all the febrile, twittery fascination that the medium exerts; it has a magic-toy shop feeling, with unexpected objects stuttering into life. Directed by Henry Selick, it was devised and co-produced by Tim Burton, who leaves a trail of his familiar obsessions: graveyard humor, whirling snow, a velvety darkness. But the atmosphere is too rich for the pallid plot: Jack Skellington, the bony master of ceremonies in Halloweentown, discovers the spirit of Christmas and tries to import it into his ghoulish world. The clash of styles-demonic vs. cute-pays off only toward the end; for all the witty, festering details (look out for the cat that howls like a siren when you crank its tail), the film is strangely static. Danny Elfman's score is lush and shocking but much too good for his lyrics (or for what you can hear of them). Children may find it too black and baffling; adults with nervous dispositions should be nicely freaked out. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

NOT a Christmas movie (And much less an enjoyable movie)
This was the dumbest movie I have ever seen. The plot is very dumb and the music is even worse! It annoyed me half to death! This is not even close to being a Christmas movie. Just because it has Santa does not make it a Christmas "classic". All you people saying that this is a great Christmas movie, should take the time to actually watch a Christmas movie.

Pleased
I got the DVD quickly in the mail for my niece's birthday and she is just pleased with her movie.

New Special Edition coming out on August 26
Just a note to let everyone know that this "out of print" DVD is going to be re-released as a 2 disc special edition on August 26, if you don't want to pay a high price for a used copy for edition.