The Nightmare Before Christmas: 2-Disc Collector's Edition – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Perhaps it was back in 1993 when I first realized my obsession with the dark and morbid. Even as a small child, I had indulged myself with horror films and haunted houses; anything that would scare me to my wits end. They were fun while they lasted, but then they’d become a distant memory. Then Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas arrived right around Halloween of my freshman year in high school and I noticed something different about me. While most small children and friends my age couldn’t wait for Santa to start kicking butt and taking names, there I was cheering on Jack and hoping Halloween would prevail as the dominant holiday. That was when it was truly noticeable that there was a little something different about me.

Everyone has the specific holiday they are most looking forward to each year and I’d say that ninety percent of the time, it’s Christmas. Others look forward to Thanksgiving or Halloween or Easter or even Arbor Day, but we all have our favorites and like whatever rocks our boat. But what if you could only celebrate just one holiday every single year? What if you were assigned a particular holiday to enjoy every year, and that is the only one you could ever partake in? I don’t know about you, but to me that could get kind of boring even if you are obsessed with Halloween just like me. Meet Jack Skellington who just so happens to have the same obsession and is experiencing the same boredom that would befall you or me if we were in his situation.

Jack and the people of Halloween Town do the same thing year after year and that is scare the bejeebers out of people when October 31 rolls around. Starting the day after the annual holiday, everyone begins planning on how things can be bigger and scarier next year when time comes for Halloween once again. Halloween Town is a fun place (well, to some) that incorporates everything associated with the holiday that you can possibly think of. Ghosts, goblins, vampires, witches, werewolves, pumpkins, creepy babies, and anything else your demented little mind could come up with takes up residence in Halloween Town and has only one intention; making Halloween the best and scariest holiday of them all.

The problem is that Jack is unlike all of them in just one way, and that is he has grown tired of the same thing every year. He wants to do something different, but what is there to do when you live in a place named after the holiday you are supposed to work for? Jack stews over his problem and soon stumbles upon a solution that he never even knew existed, different holidays. While walking one night through the forest, he happens upon trees that have different shaped doors on them each representing a different holiday. He opens up the one shaped like a pine tree and “What’s this?” a whole new world of excitement and wonder for him to enjoy by the name of Christmas Town. Jack has all new experiences right before his eyes and shares them with his friends from Halloween Town. But will they be able to celebrate it with wonder and joy, or will Jack realize he’s made a mistake by bringing the fright and horror of Halloween Town where it doesn’t belong?

I honestly don’t think that there is much that needs to be said about The Nightmare Before Christmas that hasn’t already been said before. It is a masterpiece and one of the greatest stop-animation films of all time. It tells a wonderful story that incorporates horror, comedy, action, drama, and even some romance. Jack is the depressed hero of Halloween Town that wants something different. His unknown love lives up in a tower and is enslaved to an evil scientist. As soon as Jack stumbles across Christmas Town, he becomes the villain that is trying to bring evil to all the goodness that is the festive end of the year holiday. That is until he becomes the hero again by trying to stop his evil cronies after realizing how important it is to leave Christmas the way it was. Wow…just wow. It may sound childish to some of you, but it is an amazing story that takes you on a journey through every genre and does it well.

Nightmare is a nice early look into the mind of Tim Burton that would come to be somewhat commonplace as the years went on with titles like Sweeney Todd, Corpse Bride, and Sleepy Hollow. Burton knows how to bring his demented mind to life so effortlessly and let everyone watching be able to associate without feeling awkward or out of place. His attention to detail is another thing that is so evident in Nightmare, and that is clearly noticeable in all of the small things spread throughout the film that you may not focus on during your first watch through. Pumpkins all over that move and smile. Christmas decorations hung up with care. It’s a great film that can be appreciated and enjoyed by the entire family, and will be one that is around for a really long time no matter what time of year it is.

The film is shown in 1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and it is miraculously gorgeous. The visuals of the film were already so phenomenal that it would be very hard to not make this film look good, but this goes above and beyond what I expected. I have the “Special Edition” DVD release from 2000 and it looked good, but this is great. The colors are extremely vibrant and touched up tremendously while the darker scenes look amazing with never being too dark and always showing just enough light.

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and it also sounds better the earlier DVD release. The music booms through the surrounding speakers as sound effects of bats fluttering and beakers bubbling are right in your ears. All the music and singing is heard wonderfully while the whole film is experienced flawlessly.

DisneyFile Digital Copy – Feel free to get another version of the film for your computer or laptop by inserting the extra third disc into your DVD-ROM drive.

All-New Audio Commentary – Tim Burton, director Henry Selick, and music director Danny Elfman sit down for commentary, which is just awesome compared to the earlier DVD release which only had Selick. What would have been even better would be all three sitting down “together” for commentary instead of just doing it solo and then having it pieced all together. Still there is a lot of good information and great hidden tidbits that we’d never know otherwise. Elfman also likes to sing a lot during his parts which is no problem on my end because I’ve always loved his work. Oingo Boingo rocks. (As a little DYK: Oingo Boingo makes an appearance in the ’80s classic Back to School.)

What’s This?: Jack’s Haunted Mansion Holiday Tour – The famed Haunted Mansion ride at Disney theme parks has been decorated and themed with the world of The Nightmare Before Christmas. In what is a really fun feature, you can take a trip throughout the entire ride from Disneyland and listen to the actual narration from the ride or a trivia track. The two ride-throughs run about seven minutes and fifteen seconds each.

Additionally there is a “making of” feature that goes into great detail about how the Haunted Mansion was transformed to fit with the film. This part of the feature lasts thirty-seven minutes and twenty-two seconds.

Frankenweenie (Uncut Versions) With New Introduction From Tim Burton – Burton just gives a little intro of his 1984 film which he directed and created. It is a great story that retells the tale of “Frankenstein” in Burton’s own way and with the help of a little dog. It’s thirty minutes in length and well worth checking out.

Vincent – Short Film – This six minute film is narrated by Vincent Price and tells the story of a little boy who is quite normal, but wants to be just like Price. Very cute.

Tim Burton’s Original Poem Narrated By Christopher Lee – Tim Burton gives a nice introduction on how he gets his inspiration for his stories, and then talks about how he came up with The Nightmare Before Christmas. I’m not sure they could have chosen a better person to read the poem then Christopher Lee for he does it masterfully. It is illustrated with original concept art from Burton which is loosely animated in Dr. Seuss fashion making this feature the best thing in this entire set. The reading lasts ten minutes and fifty-seven seconds.

Behind The Scenes Making Of “Tim Burton’s” The Nightmare Before Christmas – There is a lot of information into this six-part, twenty-five minute feature that discusses production, voice acting, songs, music, artistry, and so much more. Everything you could possibly imagine going into the making of this film did and then some. A lot of really good stories on doing the stop-motion animation and how tedious all of it was.

The Worlds Of “Tim Burton’s” The Nightmare Before Christmas Including: Halloween Town, Christmas Town, and The Real World – A nice still image gallery that takes you through all the art of everywhere included in the film. Some really great pictures such as the backgrounds, buildings, and decorations are in this gallery and look beautiful when presented in this fashion.

Deleted Scenes – These scenes are shown in two ways: deleted storyboards (three) and deleted animation sequences (four). Not much is too different from what actually ended up in the film, but one does stand out in particular and that’s an alternate identity to Oogie Boogie.

Storyboard-To-Film Comparison – Quite short at just less than four minutes and it simply shows the storyboards on top of the screen with the finished animation at the bottom.

Original Theatrical Trailers And Posters

TrailersSleeping Beauty: Platinum Edition, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and Wall-E


If some of the special features hadn’t simply been picked off the old DVD and placed onto this one, then the score would have been off the charts but I just can’t fully reward monotony. The film is a classic and deserves the highest ranking because it is just so much fun. Nightmare is a great story that is told in one of the most unique ways (for the time) and does it in a fashion that everyone young and old, boys and girls can really understand and appreciate. The special features aren’t bad though so don’t think that is where I’m going with this. Some really fun extras are included here and they put worth a lot of backstage information and make for hours of extra viewing time, but so many of them are just carried over from the original DVD release. Another problem is that the commentary track is three guys sitting alone and then making it seem like they’re together, but you’ll notice quickly that they never quite interact. If you could get them all together, then you could wait a little longer to get them all together in the same room at the same time. That’s all I’m saying. Nonetheless, fans of this film will want to pick up this new 2-disc edition even if you already own the first copy. Those that have never caught it before, then make sure this is the version you get because it is the better of the two.

And for you die-hard fans out there, a special edition giftset is available that has this entire 2-disc version (three if you count the digital copy) set into a bust of Jack Skellington himself. It’s an awesome collectible that even comes with some accessories. Enjoy this or whatever version you get because Halloween is just around the corner and it’s only a matter of time before you hear “Ho-Ho-Ho Merry Trick-Or-Treat!”

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Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment presents The Nightmare Before Christmas 2-Disc Collector’s Edition. Directed by: Henry Selick. Starring (voices): Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, Paul Reubens, Glenn Shadix, Greg Proops, and many more. Written by: Tim Burton (story) & Michael McDowell (adaptation). Running time: 76 minutes on 2 discs. Rating: PG. Released on DVD: August 26, 2008. Available at Amazon.com