‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Is a Great Thanksgiving Movie

It’s also Danny Elfman: The Musical.

It’s billed as Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, but it could just as well be called Danny Elfman’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Tim Burton developed the story and characters, but he didn’t adapt them for the screen (Michael McDowell did). He didn’t write the screenplay either (Caroline Thompson did). The mood and aesthetic resemble what you’d expect from one of Burton’s movies, but he didn’t even direct it (Henry Selick did).

Burton especially did not write the score, songs, or lyrics. Danny Elfman did all of that—in addition to performing the singing voice of the main character, Jack Skellington. The story is creative, memorable, and efficient, and Elfman’s distinctively off-kilter musical style elevates it to a holiday classic.

I was just commending John Williams the other week. You might say that if Williams is the Superman of movie composers, Elfman is the Batman. No composer was better suited for a movie that forces Halloween upon Christmas.

Here, though, Elfman goes several steps further than usual. He crafts a Broadway-style musical around the concept, with songs that drive the plot and advance the characters. Musical flair joins the visual flair of the stop-motion animation.

The Nightmare Before Christmas imagines holidays as towns existing in their own separate realms. Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King, and he’s quite a big deal in the town of Halloween.

Jack, however, has gotten a little too good at pulling off an exceptional Halloween. He’s long since mastered his craft and is now trapped in a cycle of performing the same routine over and over. The excitement is gone; he sings that he’s “grown tired of the same old thing.”

Oh, there’s an empty place in my bones

That calls out for something unknown

The fame and praise come year after year

Does nothing for these empty tears

When he discovers Christmas Town, all the new sights and sounds inspire him to try something different. This year, Halloween will be running Christmas, and Jack will sub for Santa Claus.

Though Jack excels at Halloween, he’s utterly incompetent at Christmas. He’s so incompetent that he’s blissfully unaware of his incompetency. Maybe don’t leave the giant snake monster under the tree, Jack. Halloween simply doesn’t fit into Christmas.

Who ever heard of a skinny Santa?

And neither does Christmas fit into Halloween. A trio of demented trick-or-treaters kidnaps Santa (whom they refer to as “Sandy Claws”), and they leave him to the not-so-tender mercies of Oogie Boogie, who’s literally a fat sack of insects. So, if you ever wanted to see a gambling-obsessed bug monster torment an archetypal Santa, this is the movie for you!

Santa’s long dark night of the soul.

Given the concept, you might wonder, Is this supposed to be a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie?

Trick question! The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Thanksgiving movie.

Consider the arc of Jack’s character. His adventure in Christmas ultimately renews his appreciation for Halloween. This vacation from his routine inspires him anew.

He sings:

And for the first time since I don’t remember when

I felt just like my old bony self again

And I, Jack, the Pumpkin King

That's right, I am the Pumpkin King! Ha, ha, ha, ha!

Jack becomes thankful for what he already has. He simply needed to take a step back and view everything with fresh eyes.

We can also infer that Santa returned to Christmas Town with an enhanced appreciation for that magical land and its ghoul-free population.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Speaking of the holidays …

What do you get the superhero fan who has everything?

Superhero novels they’ve never heard of!

I wrote two of them: The Flying Woman and The Silver Stranger. Check out my website for more information, or head right over to Amazon to find either the ebook or paperback editions. (And be sure to keep up with the ongoing continuation on this very site!)

The basic pitch: How do you act like a perfect person when you know you’re only human? In The Flying Woman, a young woman gets powers and has to become this seemingly perfect superhero even though she feels nowhere near qualified.

Then, that character’s best friend is the lead of The Silver Stranger, but this friend hates the whole idea of superheroes—thinks they’re too ridiculous and dangerous—so she teams up with a supervillain to try to eliminate all super-powers from the world.

The superhero fan in your life will politely thank you … and then, hopefully, sincerely thank you after reading.