The Nightmare Before Christmas

1993 1h 16m EN

🙌

7.8

BANGER

🔥

95%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.8TMDB · 10,687🍅95%Rotten Tomatoes●82Metacritic★7.9IMDB · 409,668

FantasyAnimationFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Tired of scaring humans every October 31 with the same old bag of tricks, Jack Skellington, the spindly king of Halloween Town, kidnaps Santa Claus and plans to deliver shrunken heads and other ghoulish gifts to children on Christmas morning. But as Christmas approaches, Jack's rag-doll girlfriend, Sally, tries to foil his misguided plans.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Danny Elfman
Jack Skellington (singing) / Barrel / Clown with the Tear away Face (voice)
Chris Sarandon
Jack Skellington (voice)
Catherine O'Hara
Sally / Shock (voice)
William Hickey
Dr. Finkelstein (voice)
Glenn Shadix
Mayor (voice)
Paul Reubens
Lock (voice)
Ken Page
Oogie Boogie (voice)
Edward Ivory
Santa Claus (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Henry Selick
Writers: Jørgen Klubien, Caroline Thompson, Tim Burton
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 76-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

33 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Henry Selick, shot by Pete Kozachik. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Stan Webb shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon and Catherine O'Hara carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0107688 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Henry Selick directs. Pete Kozachik behind the camera. Danny Elfman scores. Stan Webb cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 76-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Made its money back 4.2× over at the box office.
333 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Henry Selick, shot by Pete Kozachik. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Stan Webb shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon and Catherine O'Hara carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0107688 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
910,687 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "skeleton", "fire", "magic", "holiday".
11Released under 27 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Pete Kozachik
Original score: Danny Elfman
Editing: Stan Webb
Sound: Shawn Murphy
Runtime: 76 min · 1h 16m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $18,000,000
Box office: $75,634,409
Return: 420% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 82/100
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 409,668 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 7 wins & 17 nominations total

Also by

Henry Selick

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2014-11-14
★ 6/10
I suppose I missed watching it at the proper time so I will explain it as not surviving well after all these years. The idea is daring, the stop motion is OKish and Danny Elfman's OST is quite good but even being only 70 min they were still too many for me. Specially, the songs were to close one to the next.
CinemaSerf2023-08-26
★ 7/10
This is a cracking animation fantasy centring around "Jack Skellington" - the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. When he feels all just a bit deflated after one celebration, he happens upon Christmas Town and encounters Santa Claus preparing to bring jolity and happiness. "Jack" sends a few of his rather stupid henchmen to kidnap Santa, takes his place and proceeds to deliver Christmas gifts that... well... are not exactly typical. Can Santa be rescued in time?? The animation is wonderfully detailed, dark and enjoyable with plenty of characters including a mad scientist as well as a mummy, the two-faced mayor and plenty of witches and demons. Not for the first time, Tim Burton shows a visionary imagination that I couldn't help but smile at - and coupled with a marvellous score (and lead vocal) from Danny Elfman we are presented with a thoroughly engaging Christmas story with a bit of a twist. Interesting that in the cinema recently, it struggled to hold the attention of the youngsters which was a shame. Perhaps the intervening years have made this more suitable for adults now?