THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
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The ingenious mind of Tim Burton brings us to Halloween Town, a world which exists purely for the sake of the dark holiday, and where Jack Skellington is Pumpkin King and ruler over all things macabre. Accompanied by the townspeople (which consists of zombies, vampires, werewolves, witches, etc.) Jack strives to make each Halloween better and more terrifying than the last, until he finds himself in a rut, and yearns for something different, something new. A late night walk leads him to Christmas Town, in which he finds all of the things his heart was so desiring. Confused and yet enlightened by it all, Jack brings back stories of a land the inhabitants of Halloween Town had never before fathomed, hoping that Christmas Town's way of life could be adopted. |
| While trying to explain the concept of a world without goblins, ghosts or spooks, Jack soon learns that the way of life in Christmas Town is simply too far off from what the residents of Halloween town were used to. And besides, how could he expect them to understand a holiday that he still didn't yet fully understand himself? After much deliberation, Jack decides he won't force such a lifestyle upon the town, but does the next best thing in announcing that rather than gear up for next Halloween, Halloween Town's first priority would be to create a Christmas earthlings everywhere would never forget! |
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Jack's idea to take over Christmas came with much applause
and praise from the townspeople. The only one who seemed to be looking ahead enough to
realize that this plan wasn't one of Jack's better ones, was Sally, the rag-doll girl who
was forced to live with the mad scientist who had created her for companionship. Desperate
to convince Jack that holidays weren't things one could just "take over", Sally
constructs a plan to get her out of her imprisonment and into the big wide world she had
been so anxious to see. Jack, convinced that his Christmas would be a success to be talked about for years to come, discards Sally's advice, and proceeds with plans for December 25, which |
| included enlisting the help of Halloween Town's most
resourceful trick-or-treaters to capture Sandy Claws, the giant, red man currently in
charge of Christmas. With him out of the way, Jack is sure his Christmas would be full of
nothing but joy and delight. Unbeknownst to Jack, however, the children have an agenda of
their own, which is to toss the unsuspecting Santa into the lair of Oogie Boogie, the most
feared entity in Christmas Town. With all this going on, you'd think it would be hard to sit back and enjoy the splendid animation as well as the absolutely amazing musical score, but you'll find as you watch The Nightmare Before Christmas that everything seems to come together |
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so perfectly, and so exquisitely, you'll be wondering why Hollywood bothers to pay actors at all. Although this film is suitable for children in the sense that you get the ever important "moral" story, the refreshingly bizarre, bizarrely brilliant Tim Burton-ness we've grown to love (Beetlejuice made an instant fan out of me). I find it a little strange that Disney actually picked this one up, considering it's so dark in nature. But, on the plus side of this, you get Disney's piggy bank when it comes to special effects, and we get to watch previews for Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen videos...YAAAAAAY!!! |
N I G H T M A R E B E F O R E C H R I S T M A S
