For those new readers to my blog, the “Royale With Cheese Movie Club” was named due to my finally seeing Pulp Fiction about 20 years after everyone else saw it. Okay, so I was a bit late. But in doing so, I created a subsection on this blog of films that, if I mention the title, I know you’ll say, “Chuck, you’ve never seen [insert title here]? Everyone in the world has seen [insert title here]. What took you so long?”
So last night, I fired up the old Disney+ streaming service, and finally sat through Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
And my thoughts on this?
Well, I definitely can see that Tim Burton / Danny Elfman influence on this. It’s surreal, it’s magical, it’s a storyline that, in its universe, makes perfect sense. The Pumpkin King of Halloween, Jack Skellington, longs for something more in his life – when he accidentally discovers the realm of Christmas Town. Using only the knowledge of discovering it on that day, he tries to recreate Christmas in Halloween Town – with him as a skeletonized Santa Claus.
Needless to say, hijinks ensue.
Oh yeah, and apparently there’s a pining love interest for Jack Skellington in Sally, a necromanced re-stitched figure who continually tries to escape her duck-billed mad scientist creator. Oh, and there’s some mischievous kids who try to kidnap Santa Claus, and there’s a Big Bad named Oogie Boogie who definitely has some Cab Calloway-era “Minnie the Moocher” in his lineage.
So what did I like about this?
It’s visually stunning. The stop-motion animation is impressive. And the music feels like a demented Broadway musical, with tracks that are more spoken than sung. And yeah, if you’ve ever seen a Tim Burton film, you know that musical style and motif, all created by Danny Elfman. Oh, and Danny Elfman sings the Jack Skellington parts as well – seeing as Elfman was once the frontman for the band Oingo Boingo.
What bothered me about this film?
It’s almost like a Halloween-themed retelling of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Main character doesn’t understand the meaning of Christmas, tries to dress up like Santa Claus and do his own deliveries, discovers the true meaning in the final act, does something heroic, happy ending. Maybe I’m over-analyzing it, but it kind of felt the same.
And some of the other characters in the film seemed to have parts of their backstories left out. Why, for example, was Sally always trying to escape from Dr. Finkelstein? Why was she poisoning him with the deadly nightshade to escape? What was the point of Dr. Finkelstein building a new creation in his own image? If Halloween Town takes an entire year to recreate itself for next year, aren’t they going to run behind schedule for next Halloween if they’re out making Christmas gifts? What’s with the mayor and his happy/sad face that keeps twisting all the time? It’s like I want to know these things … and I just felt like all I could see were doodles and half-stories and things that just were left incomplete.
But maybe that’s where a sequel might answer some questions down the road.
Look, I enjoyed the film. I’m not sad that it took me 30 years to finally watch it … but I still saw it nonetheless. So The Nightmare Before Christmas is now part of my Royale With Cheese Movie Club.
And at some point, I’ll squint through the streaming services and try to find another film that everyone else has seen … except me. 😀
Chuck The Writer 
I just assumed that Dr. Finkelstein created Sally to be his literal f-doll. Who wouldn’t want to escape that?
As for creating a being in his own image? Classic narcissist.
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Having not seen a movie that “everyone has seen” is not necessarily a bad thing; it can save you a lot of irritation or annoyance. Like not eating bad food reduces your chance of stomach upset. Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s any good. Or right for that matter.
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