THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1993 Scott Renshaw
Voices: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shaddix. Screenplay: Caroline Thompson. Director: Henry Selick.
If JURASSIC PARK proved one thing, it was this: image *is* everything. What the public seems to want most from movies is spectacle; show them something they've never seen before, and they'll beat a path to the theater door, even if the story is fairly simplistic. This news should come as a great comfort to Touchstone Pictures and Tim Burton. THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS is a straightforward, somewhat bland fable which would have put me to sleep if done with live action or traditional hand-drawn animation. However, its stop-motion figures and incredible production design are dazzling enough to give NIGHTMARE a delightfully timeless quality which make it far more entertaining than it could have been.
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS posits the existence of separate, inhabited towns which hold dominion over the major holidays. In Halloween Town, the residents are celebrating the successful completion of another October 31st, but Pumpkin King Jack Skellington (voice of Chris Sarandon, sung by Danny Elfman) is not so happy. Tired of Halloween after Halloween just like every other, Jack longs for something different to shake him out of his ennui. He finds it when he stumbles onto Christmas Town, and is enchanted by what he sees. Jack decides to have Santa kidnapped and stage his own Christmas, despite warnings from lovelorn rag doll Sally (Catherine O'Hara) that it will be a disaster.
First, the good news: NIGHTMARE is truly unlike anything you've ever seen before. The look combines old Rankin/Bass Christmas specials, Edward Gorey illustrations and the Beatles' YELLOW SUBMARINE to create a remarkably distinctive and detailed world. The animation is incredibly fluid, to the extent that I began to wonder whether a couple of characters were real humans somehow edited into the film. Cheers also to the marvelous character design, from spindly Jack to the lecherous Dr. Finkelstein (William Hickey) to my favorite, the literally two-faced Mayor (Glenn Shaddix). It was the kind of film where I never took my eyes off the screen because I was afraid of missing something. Director Henry Selick avoids the pitfall of "showing off" his toys; he keeps the camera moving, telling the story visually with style and effectiveness, particularly Jack's graveyard song after his Christmas coup.
The down side of this complex and expensive animation technique is that the story had to be packed into under 75 minutes. There is no time for nuance of character or well-developed motivations; the filmmakers slam through the plot at a breakneck pace, avoiding lags in pace but also avoiding a truly engaging story. The biggest loser is the romantic subplot involving Sally's unrequited love for Jack, resolved out of nowhere. The villainous character of Oogie Boogie also comes up a bit short, and a slightly grumpy Santa could have been very interesting. The story is a fairy tale, so I don't take issue with the simplicity of the plot. I was just disappointed with the apparent decision to throw everything into the visuals.
Perhaps most disappointing is the song score by frequent Tim Burton collaborator Danny Elfman. Taking an operatic approach, NIGHTMARE is almost entirely through-sung, making the songs a crucial element of the film. But with the exception of the lively "What's This?" during Jack's discovery of Christmas Town, the tunes are fairly tedious and the lyrics lacking in wit. They seemed designed simply to move the story forward, not to inspire humability like the best Ashman/Menken tunes from the recent Disney films. It's surprising given Elfman's playful Oingo Boingo oeuvre that his songs here are so somber and uninspired.
Some movies are called feasts for the senses. THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS qualifies as a feast for the sense, singular. While there is very little worth listening to in the film, there is more than enough worth looking at to compensate, particularly for those with a slightly twisted sense of humor. NIGHTMARE is delightfully unique, just not a dream come true.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 pumpkins: 7.
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