The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas (also known as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas) is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Henry Selick (in his feature directorial debut) and produced and conceived by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, the King of "Halloween Town" who stumbles upon "Christmas Town" and becomes obsessed with celebrating the holiday. Danny Elfman wrote the songs and score, and provided the singing voice of Jack. The principal voice cast also includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page, Paul Reubens, Glenn Shadix, and Ed Ivory.
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" originated in a poem written by Burton in 1982 while he was working as an animator at Walt Disney Productions. With the success of "Vincent" in the same year, Burton began to consider developing "The Nightmare Before Christmas" as either a short film or 30-minute television special to no avail. Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project and in 1990, he made a development deal with Walt Disney Studios. Production started in July 1991 in San Francisco; Disney initially released the film through Touchstone Pictures because the studio believed the film would be "too dark and scary for kids".
The film met with both critical and financial success, grossing $91.5 million since its initial release and garnering a cult following. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, a first for an animated film. The film has since been reissued by Walt Disney Pictures, and was re-released annually in Disney Digital 3-D from 2006 until 2009, making it the first stop-motion animated feature to be entirely converted to 3D.
Plot.
Halloween Town is a fantasy world filled with various monsters and supernatural beings associated with the holiday. Jack Skellington, respected by the citizens as the "Pumpkin King", leads them in organizing the annual Halloween celebrations. However, Jack has grown weary of the same routine year after year and wants something new.
Wandering in the woods the next morning, he stumbles across six trees containing doors leading to other towns representing other holidays and enters the one that leads into Christmas Town. Awed by the unfamiliar holiday, Jack returns to Halloween Town to show the residents his findings, but they fail to grasp the idea of Christmas and compare everything to their ideas of Halloween. However, they do relate to one Christmas Town character: its ruler, Santa Claus, or "Sandy Claws" as Jack mistakenly calls him.
Jack sequesters himself in his tower to study Christmas further, and find a way to rationally explain it, but despite his efforts, he cannot do so. He ultimately decides that it is unfair for Christmas Town alone to enjoy the holiday and announces that he and the citizens of Halloween Town will take over Christmas this year.
Jack assigns the citizens of Halloween Town Christmas-themed jobs, including singing carols, making presents, and building a sleigh to be pulled by skeletal reindeer. Sally, a beautiful rag doll woman who is secretly in love with Jack, experiences a vision that their efforts will end in disaster, but Jack dismisses this.
He also tasks Lock, Shock and Barrel, a trio of mischievous trick-or-treating children, to abduct Santa and bring him to Halloween Town. Jack tells Santa he will be bringing Christmas to the world in his place this year. Jack orders the trio to keep Santa safe, but against his wishes, they instead deliver Santa to Oogie Boogie, a gambling bogeyman, who plots to play a game with Santa's life at stake. Sally attempts to rescue Santa so he can save Jack from his potential fate, but Oogie captures her as well.
Jack departs to deliver his presents to Christmas Town, but they frighten the populace. While word spreads about Jack's wrongdoings, he is shot down by the military, causing him to crash in a cemetery. While the saddened residents of Halloween Town think he is dead, Jack has in fact survived, and while he bemoans the disaster he has made of Christmas, he finds he enjoyed the experience nonetheless, reigniting his love of Halloween. But first, he realizes he must take action to fix his mess.
Jack returns to Halloween Town and infiltrates Oogie's lair. Jack confronts Oogie and defeats him by ripping apart a thread holding his cloth form together, causing all of the bugs that live inside him to spill out, reducing him to nothing. Jack apologizes to Santa for his actions. Despite still being furious at Jack, Santa forgives him, remaining certain that he can fix things and takes his leave.
As Santa replaces Jack's presents with genuine ones, the townspeople of Halloween Town celebrate Jack's survival and return. Santa then shows his forgiveness to Jack by bringing a snowfall to Halloween Town, which, in a way, fulfills Jack's original dream and causes all the residents of Halloween Town to finally realize what Christmas is really about. Afterwards, Jack and Sally declare their love for each other.
Voice cast.
The cast also features Kerry Katz, Carmen Twillie, Randy Crenshaw, Debi Durst, Glenn Walters, Sherwood Ball, John Morris and Greg Proops voicing various characters. Patrick Stewart recorded narration for a prologue and epilogue. While not used in the final scene of the film, the narration is included on the soundtrack album.
Production.
Development.
As writer Burton's upbringing in Burbank, California, was associated with the feeling of solitude, the filmmaker was largely fascinated by holidays during his childhood. "Anytime there was Christmas or Halloween, […] it was great. It gave you some sort of texture all of a sudden that wasn't there before", Burton would later recall. After completing his short film "Vincent" in 1982, Burton, who was then employed at Walt Disney Feature Animation, wrote a three-page poem titled "The Nightmare Before Christmas", drawing inspiration from television specials of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" and the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas". Burton intended to adapt the poem into a television special with the narration spoken by his favorite actor, Vincent Price, but also considered other options such as a children's book. He created concept art and storyboards for the project in collaboration with Rick Heinrichs, who also sculpted character models; Burton later showed his and Heinrichs' works-in-progress to Henry Selick, also a Disney animator at the time. After the success of "Vincent" in 1982, Disney started to consider developing "The Nightmare Before Christmas" as either a short film or 30-minute holiday television special. However, the project's development eventually stalled, as its tone seemed "too weird" to the company. As Disney was unable to "offer his nocturnal loners enough scope", Burton was fired from the studio in 1984, and went on to direct the commercially successful films "Beetlejuice" and "Batman".
Over the years, Burton regularly thought about the project. In 1990, Burton found out that Disney still owned the film rights. He and Selick committed to produce a full-length film with the latter as director. Burton's own success with live-action films piqued the interest of Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, who saw the film as an opportunity to continue the studio's streak of recent successes in feature animation. Disney was looking forward to "Nightmare" "to show capabilities of technical and storytelling achievements that were present in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"." Walt Disney Pictures president David Hoberman believed the film would prove to be a creative achievement for Disney's image, elaborating "we can think outside the envelope. We can do different and unusual things."
"Nightmare" marked Burton's third consecutive film with a Christmas setting. Burton could not direct because of his commitment to "Batman Returns", and he did not want to be involved with "the painstakingly slow process of stop motion". To adapt his poem into a screenplay, Burton approached Michael McDowell, his collaborator on "Beetlejuice". McDowell and Burton experienced creative differences, which convinced Burton to make the film as a musical with lyrics and compositions by frequent collaborator Danny Elfman. Elfman and Burton created a rough storyline and two-thirds of the film's songs. Elfman found writing "Nightmare"s eleven songs as "one of the easiest jobs I've ever had. I had a lot in common with Jack Skellington." Caroline Thompson had yet to be hired to write the screenplay. With Thompson's screenplay, Selick stated, "there are very few lines of dialogue that are Caroline's. She became busy on other films and we were constantly rewriting, re-configuring and developing the film visually."
Filming.
Selick and his team of animators began production in July 1991 in San Francisco, California with a crew of over 120 workers, utilizing 20 sound stages for filming. Joe Ranft was hired from Disney as a storyboard supervisor, while Eric Leighton was hired to supervise animation. At the peak of production, 20 individual stages were simultaneously being used for filming. In total, there were 109,440 frames taken for the film. The work of Ray Harryhausen, Ladislas Starevich, Edward Gorey, Étienne Delessert, Gahan Wilson, Charles Addams, Jan Lenica, Francis Bacon, and Wassily Kandinsky influenced the filmmakers. Selick described the production design as akin to a pop-up book. In addition, Selick stated, "When we reach Halloween Town, it's entirely German Expressionism. When Jack enters Christmas Town, it's an outrageous Dr. Seuss-esque setpiece. Finally, when Jack is delivering presents in the 'Real World', everything is plain, simple and perfectly aligned." Vincent Price, Don Ameche, and James Earl Jones were considered to provide the narration for the film's prologue; however, all proved difficult to cast, and the producers instead hired local voice artist Ed Ivory. Patrick Stewart provided the prologue narration for the film's soundtrack.
On the direction of the film, Selick reflected, "It's as though he [Burton] laid the egg, and I sat on it and hatched it. He wasn't involved in a hands-on way, but his hand is in it. It was my job to make it look like 'a Tim Burton film', which is not so different from my own films." When asked about Burton's involvement, Selick claimed, "I don't want to take away from Tim, but he was not in San Francisco when we made it. He came up five times over two years, and spent no more than eight or ten days in total." Walt Disney Feature Animation contributed with some second-layering traditional animation. Burton found production somewhat difficult because he was simultaneously filming "Batman Returns" and pre-production of "Ed Wood".
The filmmakers constructed 227 puppets to represent the characters in the movie, with Jack Skellington having "around four hundred heads", allowing the expression of every possible emotion. Sally's mouth movements "were animated through the replacement method. During the animation process, […] only Sally's face 'mask' was removed in order to preserve the order of her long, red hair. Sally had ten types of faces, each made with a series of eleven expressions (e.g. eyes open and closed, and various facial poses) and synchronized mouth movements." The stop-motion figurine of Jack was reused in "James and the Giant Peach" (also directed by Selick) as Captain Jack.
Deleted scenes.
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" has deleted scenes that were cut, shortened, altered or removed of the final product due to different reasons during the making of the movie.
Jack's scenes.
Many of Jack's scenes were altered, cut or shortened, including extended scenes of Jack's experiments, Jack seeing a gravestone with his name on in after the town presumed he was dead, and alternative scene where Oogie Boogie attacked Jack with his bugs.
Oogie Boogie shadow dance.
The scene is part of the "The Oogie Boogie Man" song. In this short scene we watch Oogie Boogie's shadow dancing. The scene was animated but it was never used. Henry Selick said the scene was removed because of time purposes, despite the scene lasting only 17 seconds. The scene is part of the "Oogie Boogie's Song" song.
Vampire hockey players.
This scene technically was in the movie, but it was changed. It was animated, too. In the original version of this scene, the vampires play hockey with Tim Burton's head. But the people who worked on the movie decided to replace Mr. Burton's severed head with a jack-o'-lantern.
Alternative identity of Oogie Boogie.
This scene was never animated. The only thing left of this scene were the storyboards and the characters' voices. This scene starts just like in the end of the movie (1:07:19 to be percise), but instead of hundreds of bugs living inside Oogie Boogie, inside the sack is Dr. Finkelstein. Jack asks him what is he doing and Dr. Finkelstien says that Sally loved Jack instead of him. So he, as Oogie Boogie, would teach her a lesson she would never forget. Then, Dr. Finkelstien says he will create someone that will love him and leaves with his assistant, Igor. Apparently, Tim Burton hated this plot twist so much he ordered it to be changed.
Behemoth singing.
This scene was not animated. It is part of the "Making Christmas" song. The scene begins with Jack watching The One Under The Stairs sing as he wraps a voodoo doll. Then [[Behemoth appears and starts to sing. Finally, The One Under The Stairs and two other monsters start to sing with him.
Oogie Boogie with dancing bugs.
This scene is part of the "Oogie Boogie's Song" [[song]]. The scene wasn't animated, too. The scene starts with [[Oogie Boogie]] [[singing]]. Then, five [[insects|bugs]]
Soundtracks.
The film's [[The Nightmare Before Christmas (soundtrack)|soundtrack album]] was released in 1993 on [[Walt Disney Records]]. The film's soundtrack contains bonus tracks, including a longer prologue and an extra epilogue, both narrated by [[Patrick Stewart|Sir Patrick Stewart]]. For the film's 2006 re-release in [[Disney Digital 3-D]], a special edition of the soundtrack was released, featuring a bonus disc that contained covers of five of the film's songs by [[Fall Out Boy]], [[Panic! at the Disco]], [[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson]], [[Fiona Apple]], and [[She Wants Revenge]]. Four original demo tracks by Elfman were also included. On September 30, 2008, Disney released the cover album "[[Nightmare Revisited]]", featuring artists such as [[Amy Lee]], [[Flyleaf (band)|Flyleaf]], [[Korn]], [[Rise Against]], [[Plain White T's]], [[The All-American Rejects]], and many more.
American [[gothic rock]] band [[London After Midnight (band)|London After Midnight]] featured a cover of "Sally's Song" on their 1998 album "[[Oddities (London After Midnight album)|Oddities]]".
[[LiLi Roquelin]] performed a French cover of "Sally's Song" on her album "Will you hate the rest of the world or will you renew your life?" in 2010.
[[Pentatonix]] released a cover of "Making Christmas" for their 2018 Christmas album "[[Christmas Is Here!]]".
In 2003, the Disneyland "[[Haunted Mansion Holiday#Soundtrack|Haunted Mansion Holiday]]" soundtrack CD was released. Although most of the album's songs are not original ones from the film, one song is a medley of "Making Christmas", "What's This?", and "Kidnap the Sandy Claws". Other songs included are original holiday songs changed to incorporate the theme of the film. However, the last song is the soundtrack for the Disneyland [[Haunted Mansion Holiday]] ride.
Release.
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" was originally going to be released by Walt Disney Pictures and be part of its animation lineup, but Disney decided to release the film under its adult film label [[Touchstone Pictures]], because the studio thought the film would be "too dark and scary for kids," Selick remembered. "Their biggest fear, and why it was kind of a stepchild project, [was] they were afraid of their [[Target audience|core audience]] hating the film and not coming." To convey Burton's involvement and attract a wider audience, Disney marketed the film as "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas." Burton explained that,"…it turned more into more of a [[Brand#Brand name|brand-name]] thing, it turned into something else, which I'm not quite sure about." The film [[premiere]]d at the [[New York Film Festival]] on October 9, 1993, and was given a [[limited release]] on October 13, 1993, before its [[Wide release|wide theatrical release]] on October 29, 1993.
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" was [[reissue]]d under the Walt Disney Pictures label and re-released on October 20, 2006, with conversion to [[Disney Digital 3-D]]. [[Industrial Light & Magic]] assisted in the process. The film subsequently received three re-releases in October 2007, 2008, and 2009. The [[El Capitan Theatre]] in [[Hollywood]], California has been showing the film in [[4D film|4-D screenings]] annually in October, ending on Halloween, since 2010. The reissues have led to a reemergence of [[3D film|3-D films]] and advances in [[RealD Cinema]].
In October 2020, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was re-released in 2,194 theaters. It made $1.323 million over the weekend, finishing fourth behind [[Tenet (film)|"Tenet"]].
Home media.
With years of successful [[home video]] sales, "Nightmare" later achieved the ranks of a [[cult film]]. [[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment|Touchstone Home Video]] first released the film on VHS on September 30, 1994, and on DVD on December 2, 1997. The DVD release contained no [[Featurette|special features]]. "Nightmare" was released a second time on October 3, 2000 as a [[special edition]]. The release included an [[audio commentary]] by Selick and [[cinematographer]] Pete Kozachik, a 28-minute [[making-of]] documentary, a gallery of concept art, storyboards, test footage and [[deleted scene]]s. Burton's "[[Vincent (1982 film)|Vincent]]" and "[[Frankenweenie (1984 film)|Frankenweenie]]" were also included. Both DVDs were [[Anamorphic widescreen|non-anamorphic widescreen]] releases.
[[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment]] released the film on DVD again (this time with an anamorphic transfer) and on [[Blu-ray|Blu-ray Disc]] (for the first time) on August 26, 2008 as a two-disc [[Digital intermediate|digitally remastered]] "collector's edition", but still containing the same special features.
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released "The Nightmare Before Christmas" on [[Blu-ray 3D]] on August 30, 2011. The release included a Blu-ray 3D disc, Blu-ray disc and a DVD that includes both a DVD and [[digital copy]] of the film.
In 2018, Disney issued a singalong version of the film, accompanied by the theatrical cut and a [[Movies Anywhere]] copy, as a single-disc version for the film's 25th anniversary.
Marketing.
Disney has extensively marketed the film and its characters across many forms of media and memorabilia, including action figures, books, games, art crafts, and fashion products. Jack Skellington, Sally, Pajama Jack, and the Mayor have been made into bendable figures, while Jack and Sally even appear in fine art. Sally has been made into an action figure and a Halloween costume. 
Various [[Disneyland]] and the branching theme parks host attractions featuring "Nightmare" characters, particularly during Halloween and Christmas seasons. Since 2001, [[Disneyland]] has given its [[Haunted Mansion Holiday]] attraction a "Nightmare Before Christmas" theme for the holiday season. It features characters, decorations and music from the film. In addition to [[Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party]] and [[Mickey's Halloween Party]] featuring the film's characters, Additionally, Jack hosts the "[[Halloween Screams]]", [[HalloWishes]], and "[[Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party|Not So Spooky Spectacular!]]" fireworks shows at [[Magic Kingdom]] (where the host is Ghost Host) and Disneyland (where the host is Jack himself), as well as the [[Mickey's Halloween Party|Frightfully Fun Parade]].
Reception.
Box office.
Around the release of the film, Hoberman was quoted, "I hope "Nightmare" goes out and makes a fortune. If it does, great. If it doesn't, that doesn't negate the validity of the process. The budget was less than any Disney [[Blockbuster (entertainment)|blockbuster]] so it doesn't have to earn "[[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin]]"-sized grosses to satisfy us." The film earned $50 million in the United States in its initial theatrical run and was regarded as a moderate "[[sleeper hit]]".
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" made an additional $11.1 million in box office gross in its 2006 reissue. The 2007, 2008 and 2009 reissues earned $15.8 million and $2.5 million, respectively, increasing the film's total box office gross to $91.5 million.
Critical response.
The film initially received positive reviews from critics and it has since gone on to receive widespread critical acclaim, with critics and audiences praising the originality and creativity of the visual and storytelling elements, soundtrack, characters and innovative use of stop-motion animation (particularly most of the effects). On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds a rating of 95%, based on 95 reviews, with an average rating of 8.27/10. The site's consensus reads, ""The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a stunningly original and visually delightful work of stop-motion animation." On [[Metacritic]] the film has a score of 82 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A+ to F. In [[IMDb]] the movie has a 8.0 out of a 10.
[[Roger Ebert]] gave a highly positive review for "Nightmare". Ebert believed the film's visual effects were as revolutionary as "[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]", taking into account that "Nightmare" was "filled with imagination that carries us into a new world".
[[Peter Travers]] of "[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone]]" called it a restoration of "originality and daring to the Halloween genre. This dazzling mix of fun and fright also explodes the notion that animation is kid stuff. … It's 74 minutes of timeless movie magic." [[James Berardinelli]] stated ""The Nightmare Before Christmas" has something to offer just about everyone. For the kids, it's a fantasy celebrating two holidays. For the adults, it's an opportunity to experience some light entertainment while marveling at how adept Hollywood has become at these techniques. There are songs, laughs, and a little romance. In short, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" does what it intends to: entertain." [[Desson Thomson]] of "[[The Washington Post]]" enjoyed the film's similarities to the writings of [[Oscar Wilde]] and the [[Brothers Grimm]], as well as "[[The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari]]" and other [[German Expressionism|German Expressionist]] films.
Michael A. Morrison discusses the influence of [[Dr. Seuss]]' "[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas!]]" on the film, writing that Jack parallels the Grinch and Zero parallels Max, the Grinch's dog. [[Philip Nel]] writes that the film "challenges the wisdom of adults through its trickster characters", contrasting Jack as a "good trickster" with Oogie Boogie, whom he also compares with Seuss' [[The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.|Dr. Terwilliker]] as a bad trickster. "Entertainment Weekly" reports that fan reception of these characters borders on obsession, profiling Laurie and Myk Rudnick, a couple whose "degree of obsession with [the] film is so great that … they named their son after the real-life person that a character in the film is based on." This enthusiasm for the characters has also been profiled as having spread beyond North America to Japan. [[Yvonne Tasker]] notes "the complex characterization seen in "The Nightmare Before Christmas"".
Danny Elfman was worried the characterization of Oogie Boogie would be considered [[Racism|racist]] by the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP). Elfman's predictions came true; however, director Henry Selick stated the character was inspired by the [[Betty Boop]] cartoon "[[The Old Man of the Mountain (film)|The Old Man of the Mountain]]". "[[Cab Calloway]] would dance his inimitable jazz dance and sing '[[Minnie the Moocher]]' or 'Old Man of the Mountain', and they would [[Rotoscoping|rotoscope]] him, trace him, turn him into a cartoon character, often transforming him into an animal, like a walrus," Selick continued. "I think those are some of the most inventive moments in cartoon history, in no way racist, even though he was sometimes a villain. We went with [[Ken Page]], who is a black singer, and he had no problem with it".
Accolades.
The film was nominated for both the [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects]] and the [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation]]. "Nightmare" won the [[Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film]], while Elfman won [[Saturn Award for Best Music|Best Music]]. Selick and the animators were also nominated for their work. Elfman was nominated for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score]]. Most recently, the film ranked #1 on [[Rotten Tomatoes]]' "Top 25 Best Christmas Movies" list.
Possible sequel.
In 2001, Disney began to consider producing a sequel, but rather than using [[stop motion]], Disney wanted to use [[computer animation]]. Burton convinced Disney to drop the idea. "I was always very protective of ["The Nightmare Before Christmas"], not to do sequels or things of that kind," Burton explained. "You know, Jack visits [[Thanksgiving]] world or other kinds of things just because I felt the movie had a purity to it and the people that like it, because it's a mass-market kind of thing, it was important to kind of keep that purity of it." The 2004 video game "[[The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge]]" did serve as a sequel of the film, with [[Capcom]]'s crew of developers going after Burton for advice and having the collaboration of the film's art director, Deane Taylor. In 2009, Selick said he would do a film sequel if he and Burton could create a good story for it.
In February 2019, it was reported that a new "Nightmare Before Christmas" film was in the works with Disney considering either a stop-motion sequel or live-action remake. In October 2019, [[Chris Sarandon]] expressed interest on reprising his role as Jack Skellington if a sequel film ever materializes.
On February 22, 2021, it was announced by Disney Publishing that a sequel was being given to the 1993 film in the form of a [[Young adult fiction|young adult]] novel. It will be written by Shea Ernshaw and features Sally as the main character and be told through her point-of-view, with events taking place after the film.
Related media.
Toys and games.
A [[collectible card game]] based on the film called "The Nightmare Before Christmas TCG" was released in 2005 by [[National Entertainment Collectibles Association|NECA]]. The game was designed by Quixotic Games founder Andrew Parks and Zev Shlasinger. It consists of a Premiere set and 4 Starter Decks based on four characters, Jack Skellington, the Mayor, Oogie Boogie, and Doctor Finklestein. Each Starter Deck contains a rule book, a Pumpkin King card, a Pumpkin Points card, and a 48-card deck. The game has four card types: Characters, Locales, Creations, and Surprises. The Cards' rarities are separated into four categories: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Ultra Rare.
Quixotic Games also developed "The Nightmare Before Christmas Party Game" that was released in 2007 by [[National Entertainment Collectibles Association|NECA]].
A collector's edition "The Nightmare Before Christmas"-themed [[Jenga]] game was issued with orange, purple and black blocks with Jack Skellington heads on them. The set comes in a coffin-shaped box instead of the normal rectangular box.
A 168-card "Munchkin Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas"-themed "[[Munchkin (card game)|Munchkin]]" was developed by USAopoly featuring the citizens of Halloween Town such as Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie, Doctor Finklestein, and Lock, Shock and Barrel. The game comes with a custom die similar to the ones used by Oogie Boogie in the film.
On September 15, 2020, a "The Nightmare Before Christmas"-themed [[tarot]] card deck and guidebook was released and the illustration was done by Abigail Larson.
Books, comics, and manga.
In 1993, a [[pop-up book]] based on film was on October 1. Another pop-up book calendar titled "Nightmare Before Christmas Pop-Up Book and Advent Calendar" was released September 29, 2020. Jack is the titular character in the short story ""Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas": Jack's Story", [[Disney Publishing Worldwide|Disney Press]] released a "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Party Cookbook: Recipes and Crafts for the Perfect Spooky Party" on August 21, 2017. A behind-the-scenes art book titled "Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, the Art, the Vision" was released on October 14, 1993 and a Disney Editions Deluxe edition was published July 28, 2009.
In 2006, a picture book containing the poem Tim Burton wrote that originated the film was released on August 15. In celebration of the film's 20th Anniversary, the was re-released with a hard cover edition in 2013. On July 20, 2009, a illustrated book covering a rendition of the "[[The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)|The Twelve Days of Christmas]]" song titled "Nightmare Before Christmas: The 13 Days of Christmas" was published. In celebration of the film's 25th Anniversary, a book and CD, featuring narration and sounds effects, was released on July 3, 2018.
In honor of the film's 25th Anniversary, a Cinestory Comic made by Disney and published by Joe Books LTD on September 26, 2017. A [[graphic novel]] retelling of film was published by Joe Books LTD on July 31, 2018, and a digital and hardcover versions were released August 25, 2020.
In 2017, [[Tokyopop]] secured exclusive licensing two [[manga]] adaptions for "Nightmare Before Christmas", with the first manga being an adaptation of the film's plotline with art by Jun Asuka and was released October 17. The second manga is a fully-colored series illustrated by Kei Ishiyama and titled “Zero’s Journey” chronicles the adventures of Jack’s dog, Zero, in his experiences beginning in Christmas Town after accidently getting separated from Jack, who tries to find him, and acts as [[sequel]] to the film, with Tim Burton's story approvals . The 20-issuesd installment in were first published monthly, starting on October 2, and then collected into four full-color graphic novels, with a black-and-white collector’s edition manga edition as well.
A novelization of film written by Daphne Skinner was published on January 1, 1994. In 2021, a currently untitled young adult novel written by Shea Ernshaw and with Sally as the protaginist, with the premised described as "...takes place shortly after the movie ends. It’s the yet-to-be-told love story of Sally and Jack. But it’s also a coming-of-age story for Sally, as we see her navigate her new royal title as the Pumpkin Queen of Halloween Town". The novel will introduce new characters and explore Sally's past, as well explore other holiday worlds as Sally and Jack tackled a mysterious villain Sally accidently unleashed. The novel is slated to be released some time in July 2022.
Video games.
A Jack Skellington figurine is available for the "[[Disney Infinity (video game)|Disney Infinity]]" video game, allowing the character to be playable in the game's "Toy Box Mode". 
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" has inspired video game spin-offs, including "[[The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge|Oogie's Revenge]]" and "[[The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King|The Pumpkin King]]", and is among the many Disney-owned franchises that contribute to the mythology of the [[Kingdom Hearts|"Kingdom Hearts" series]]. 
Concerts.
A live concert, produced by [[Disney Music Group|Disney Concerts]], was held at the [[Hollywood Bowl]] in October 2015, and was followed by subsequent performances in 2016 and 2018. The shows featured Elfman, O'Hara, and Page reprising their roles from the film. In December 2019 this show came to Europe with dates in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Dublin.
A one-night-only virtual benefit concert presentation of the film, presented by [[Actors Fund of America|The Actors Fund]] and produced by [[James Monroe Iglehart]] with the cooperation of Burton, Elfman, Disney and [[Actors' Equity Association]], streamed on October 31, 2020. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Lymphoma Research Foundation, as a response to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] and its [[Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts|impact on the performing arts]]. The cast included Iglehart as Oogie Boogie, along with [[Rafael Casal]] as Jack Skellington, [[Adrienne Warren]] as Sally, [[Danny Burstein]] as Santa Claus and the Narrator, Nik Walker as Lock, [[Lesli Margherita]] as Shock and [[Rob McClure]] as Barrel. Rounding out the cast were [[Kathryn Allison]], [[Jenni Barber]], Erin Elizabeth Clemons, Fergie L. Phillipe, Jawan M. Jackson and Brian Gonzalez.
Other media.
[[Disney Interactive Studios]] released a As Told by Emoji animated adaptation of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 2016 and can be found on their official [[YouTube]]. In 2019, a behind-the-scenes [[podcast]] series about "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was made, featuring the animators, producers, and other crew discussing about the making of the movie. and has total of 38 episodes.
External links.
[[Category:The Nightmare Before Christmas| ]]
[[Category:1993 films]]
[[Category:1993 animated films]]
[[Category:1990s American animated films]]
[[Category:American 3D films]]
[[Category:American children's animated fantasy films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:American children's animated musical films]]
[[Category:American Christmas films]]
[[Category:American monster movies]]
[[Category:American musical fantasy films]]
[[Category:American Christmas horror films]]
[[Category:American dark fantasy films]]
[[Category:Disney animated films]]
[[Category:Films about Halloween]]
[[Category:Films based on poems]]
[[Category:Films directed by Henry Selick]]
[[Category:Films scored by Danny Elfman]]
[[Category:Films about parallel universes]]
[[Category:Santa Claus in film]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Caroline Thompson]]
[[Category:Films about witchcraft]]
[[Category:Stop-motion animated films]]
[[Category:Touchstone Pictures animated films]]
[[Category:Walt Disney Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Tim Burton]]
[[Category:Films produced by Denise Di Novi]]
[[Category:1990s stop-motion animated films]]
[[Category:1990s Christmas films]]
[[Category:3D re-releases]]
[[Category:Touchstone Pictures films]]
[[Category:1993 directorial debut films]]