The Nightmare Before Christmas

"Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" is the original title of this original puppet film, which mixes horror, musical, drama and comedy into an innovative cocktail.

Jack Skellington is king of Halloweentown, but he is finding it increasingly hard to get excited about planning Halloween on 31 October, since it is the same monotonous work every single year. When he discovers Christmastown by chance, he decides to let the ghosts, witches and monsters of Halloweentown take over Christmas. He has Santa Claus kidnapped so that he can play the part himself. Only the girl Sally, who secretly harbours deep feelings for Jack, has misgivings.

Although Tim Burton did not direct, his hand is clearly felt, especially in the dark, expressionist Halloween universe. Moreover, his house composer Danny Elfman is responsible for the music. The lyrics are witty, but unfortunately the songs are not melodic enough to become real earworms, and any self-respecting musical ought to have at least a couple of those.

The plot of this unconventional Christmas film is another problem, for it is so thin that it can barely justify a feature-length film. Only the youngest viewers are likely to be satisfied with it, while the bright spots for adults and slightly older children are the film's humour and its fantastic universe.