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The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Starring Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, and Paul Reubens. Cinematography by Pete Kozachik. Edited by Stan Webb. Produced by Tim Burton and Denise DiNovi. Written by Tim Burton, Michael McDowell, and Caroline Thompson. Directed by Henry Selick.
“It was late one fall in Halloweenland, and the air had quite a chill. Against the moon a skeleton sat, alone upon a hill. He was tall and thin with a bat bow tie; Jack Skellington was his name. He was tired and bored in Halloweenland.” So begins Tim Burton’s poem “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, the inspiration for the stop motion animation film. It’s the story of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, and his attempt to have a Christmas celebration in his Halloweenland.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is a revolutionary film in a number of ways. New stop motion animation techniques and technologies were developed for use in it’s production. One of the major developments was the computerized motion control camera, or a “mocon”, used to shoot the animated characters. In the past, stop motion animation was filmed by a stationary camera and characters would move within the limits of the frame. But with the “mocon”, the camera could pan, tilt, and swivel in unison to the characters movement, giving the shot more of a live action feel.
Burton’s poem is a marriage of Clement Clarke Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas” and the works of Dr. Seuss. Burton was unable to direct the project himself as he was scheduled to start production on Batman Returns. So he chose Henry Selick, one of his co-workers from his early days at Disney and a talented and imaginative animator, to take the lead. Over the film’s three year production fourteen animators used nineteen stages, over two hundred sets, and over two hundred puppets to produced the seventy six fantastic minutes of footage used in the film. The Nightmare Before Christmas is unlike anything ever seen before and has become a cult classic for Halloween and Christmas enthusiasts alike.
Budget: $18,000,000
Total US Gross: $50,408,318
Genre: Musical
Runtime: 76 Minutes
US Release Date: 10/29/93
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Awards: Academy Awards: Nominated for best visual effects. Golden Globes: Nominated for best original score.
Tagline: A Ghoulish Tale With Wicked Humor And Stunning Animation.
Quote: “Now you've probably wondered where holidays come from. If you haven't, I'd say it's time you begun.”
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