This is Halloween, This is Halloween!
By Andrew M.
Halloween is just around the corner! Yes, it’s almost time for Trick or Treating, Jack-o’-lanterns and watching our favorite movies for the spooky season. So in the spirit of Halloween, here’s some fun facts about the beloved Tim Burton classic “The Nightmare Before Christmas”.
- Tim Burton wrote a three-page poem titled The Nightmare Before Christmas when he was a Disney animator in the early-1980s. Burton took inspiration from television specials of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer(1964), How the Grinch Stole Christmas!(1966) and the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas. On the 2008 Special Edition Blu-ray/DVD release, Christopher Lee narrates this poem with a new animated visual accompaniment.
- In 2001, Walt Disney Pictures began to consider producing a sequel, but rather than using stop motion, Disney wanted to use computer animation. Tim Burton convinced Disney to drop the idea. “I was always very protective of [Nightmare] 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.”
- Danny Elfman found writing Nightmare’s 10 songs as “one of the easiest jobs I’ve ever had. I had a lot in common with Jack Skellington.”
- Chris Saradon was cast as Jack Skellington because his speaking voice matched the singing voice of Danny Elfman.
- It is stated in “The Making of…” book that the most difficult shot to film in the entire movie is the shot in which Jack is reaching for the doorknob to Christmasland. Viewers can see the perfect surround reflection of the forest around Jack in the background.
- Oogie Boogie was originally intended to be Dr. Finklestein in disguise. Reportedly, Tim Burton was so infuriated by this idea that he literally kicked a hole into the wall.
- In the first few seconds after the title is shown, you can see that there are actually 7 Holiday Doors. Going counter clockwise, the doors are: A Pumpkin (for Halloween), A decorated Christmas Tree (for Christmas), A turkey (for Thanksgiving), A brightly colored egg (for Easter), a green four leafed clover (for St. Patrick’s Day), a red heart (for Valentines Day), and a red and white and blue firework that can only be seen at the very beginning for just a few seconds. This door could be for American Independence Day or British Bonfire Night.
- Originally, a longer version of Jack trying to get to the true meaning of Christmas through science was fully animated. Some of the best gags, including a scene of Jack doing illustrations of Santa and his “monster” form, were cut simply due to time purposes.
- It took a group of around 100 people three years to complete this movie. For one second of film, up to 12 stop-motion moves had to be made.
- Zero’s nose is actually a tiny glowing jack-o’-lantern.
I hope you enjoyed this little bit of info on this fan favorite movie! Stay tuned for more fun facts soon! Happy Halloween!
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