“A ghoulish tale with wicked humour & stunning animation.” Synopsis: Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.

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Calamity Brains:

Though I’m not a big fan of Tim Burton‘s animated movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas is damn adorable. I want to like it more than I do – the animation is awesome, the character design fun, and the world(s) delightfully bizarre. But as per usual with these flicks, every time I watch it I come away feeling like the concept was better than the execution.

So, my obligatory gripes: most of the music does little for me (and the movie), Sally seems like she should be more important but basically isn’t, and most of the characters are kind of horrifying when you stop to think about it.

That being said…

While it doesn’t work for me personally, I appreciate the art of the movie and can definitely see why it appeals to the masses. It’s a fun premise, even if the execution isn’t quite what it could be, and the characters are striking enough that it’s easy to see why they’ve become disaffected teen icons. The movie also features Danny Elfman singing, plus Paul Reubens and Greg Proops as voice actors – not to mention horror alums Chris Sarandon and Glenn Shadix. And I appreciate very much a movie intended for the whole family that actually allows kids to be frightened and enjoy it.

If you somehow haven’t seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, it’s worth a watch if you’re into animation, musicals, or goth chic. It may not have the spellbinding hold over you that it seems to have over a large portion of the population… but it’s definitely not a waste of your time.

Calamity Brains’ Rating: B
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