Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is a beloved unlikely cult classic, stop-motion animated, dark fantasy, musical Halloween-Christmas tale of one Jack Skellington, King of the Pumpkin Patch and Halloween extraordinaire who grows tired of his holiday before stumbling into another world of Christmas that he wishes to emulate. There are many things going on in the movie, like its blending of holidays into a shared universe and its horror media tropes it draws upon the create something whimsical, but I would also like to share a more personal reading of the film I had about the importance of being genuine to yourself and others, especially relevant to the holidays.
The idea of Halloween, Christmas, and other holidays cohabitating shared world like in Nightmare is fascinating on its surface, but it also speaks to the way we view holidays, especially as children. Just like how the Halloween and Christmas worlds are secular and separated from their Christian and Pagan roots, so too is the modern-day celebration of the holidays for most people. Christmas certainly means a great deal to Christian families, but the gift-giving, tree decorating, and of course the culture including media like films and songs surrounding them are essentially their own event, distinct yet interconnected with tradition. Halloween is no different, but also has a macabre playfulness to it, evidenced through its fixation on trickery and treat-giving that makes it especially fun to children. Outwardly, Nightmare presents the two holidays as polar opposites, one dark and gross and the other wholesome and kind, but the crossable boundary between the worlds in the forest demonstrates an understanding of how the holidays are related.
The character designs in Nightmare make its world feel particularly fleshed and alive out despite occasional stop-motion rigidity. Jack’s black and white pallet makes him feel like a newspaper comic character would be found alongside The Adams Family while his spindly limbs make him feel like a spider but also a stilt walker in a spooky parade. He’s stylishly gothic while also being fantastically gothic, fitting for a main attraction in a Halloween-town’s Halloween celebration. Sally’s patchwork creation of stitched together limbs is complemented by her rag-made dress, showing how uncaring her creator Dr. Finkelstein truly is towards her, and cementing her doll-like aesthetic and demeanor towards Jack. Oogie Boogie looks like a green pile of snot, but he’s somehow even grosser as essentially a pillowcase full of bugs, like a creature that actually lives under children’s beds and hides in the cracks of couch cushions. His gambling motif and braggadocious personality are unexpected given his appearance, but welcomed nonetheless. The secondary and background characters are just as entertaining to look at. The trick-or-treat kids Lock, Shock, and Barrel wear masks of what a cool, grown up version of each of them would look like to cover their smug, juvenile devil, witch and skeleton faces. The two-faced comedy/tragedy Mayor, The Mr. Hyde who has a series of smaller, matryoshka doll-like versions of him under his hat, the band that makes all of their songs sound flat and out of key, the falsetto vampires, the little pterodactyl demon who walks on his wingtips, and so many others flesh out this world of popular Halloween archetypes and make it appealing in its griminess and weirdness.
Jack Skellington is a man who goes through the motions of Halloween year after year to put on a great show for others despite his growing dissatisfaction with the event. Jack delights in the shrieks and screams he elicits, but he knows something is missing. In a way, Jack is all of us as we get older and start to lose interest in the holiday, despite our best efforts to watch spooky media and decorate our houses to put up a front that we’re excited for Halloween. For me, this month has been enjoyable: I like watching a bunch of films I would not usually watch without the pretense of Halloween coming soon, but like Jack’s actions, both on Halloween and on Christmas, my movie marathon feels a little emptier than I had hoped it would. When I was young, Halloween and its approach were marked by activities in school, fun episodes of my favorite shows, and activities with my family. Maybe some people are able to get the same sort of energy out of preparing for Halloween as they could when they were kids, but in my opinion, the shared sense of community and comradery with other people and loved ones was the real thing people long for when they reach back into the past for comfort. Jack trying to get himself hyped up for Christmas mirrors how people try to reinvigorate their old loves with a new passion, but just as his holiday became a nightmare and he was ultimately left alone before becoming genuine to himself and embracing Sally, a Halloween without some connection to others might also feel like a shallow endeavor by October 31st.
This year, try to talk to or share time with people you care about. It can be over a movie, at a gathering, or just through a phone call. Have a happy Halloween season, and share that happiness with those around you.