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: #1126 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

Thank you, Disney!
I waited years for this. I'm always watching my TNBC VHS, and it's still in great condition. But Blu-ray DVD? Disney gets so much love from me, they made an excellent decision!

The story is wonderfully put together. Tim Burton is truly the master of Stop-motion animation. It's smooth, and that's how it should be; yet it still has that little something other movies don't have. I love how it's dark and mysterious, just like Halloween is and should be! Yet when Jack discovers Christmas Town, it's full of life and color! The combination is just wonderful!

I really do feel sorry for those who don't like the movie, or can't see the plot and art that Tim Burton put into this movie!

Another Nightmare
This is so awesome that I can finally put this on my iPod. With the Digital Copy. I can put it on and if I am bored I just can play it on my iPod and have a great time. I love this movie. I had it on VHS then my VCR stopped working. So this is so awesome. This is hard to find on DVD.

I want the 3-D version on DVD
OK...my husband and I love this movie, as well as most of Tim Burton's work. We were amazed when we saw the 3-D version in the theater. I of course will buy this set when it is released in a few weeks to go with my 1993 version I already own, but what I would really like to see is a release of the movie in 3-D format with a few pairs of glasses included (spykids). I'm sure there are plenty of fanatics out there that wouldn't mind paying the extra cost for it. I know I'd pay. I guess since it's a different kind of 3-D technology it may be harder to put into DVD format, but I will keep my fingers crossed.