Movie Review: "A Nightmare Before Christmas"

Christmas and Halloween often fight for the coveted title of “Kids’ Favorite Holiday”; it’s hard to beat having people hand you free candy for dressing up as a monster or waking up to a mountain-sized pile of presents under the Christmas tree. So it should come as no surprise that a former Disney animator found the perfect mix of the two holidays and created a world that would soon become every kid’s favorite worst nightmare. Tim Burton’s “A Nightmare Before Christmas” is a children’s classic about a skeleton named Jack who, in trying to bring Christmas to the city of Halloweentown, ends up putting Santa’s life in danger and almost canceling Christmas. It’s been a favorite among children since its release in 1993, and gained a resurgence in popularity in 2006 when it was re-released by Disney in 3D.

It doesn’t take much effort to understand why the movie is so popular, especially among kids. The movie is fast-paced and the animation is detailed; there are never any real extended breaks in action that aren’t at least filled with singing, making it difficult to lose interest. There are a couple of different story lines that run together at times and break apart at others; For example, the movie will sometimes break from its main focus on Jack’s adventures to follow Sally, a rag doll created by Halloweentown’s mad scientist and Jack’s love interest. The movie strikes a good balance between frightening and funny, pairing frightening villains with somewhat-incompetent henchmen and, of course, finishing off with the always-anticipated happy ending.

 While “A Nightmare Before Christmas” gets a 5 out of 5 Santa-hat-wearing skeletons for being the epitome of a solid kids’ movie, there wasn’t a whole lot that took it from a kids’ movie to a family movie. Coming from a family that rarely went to see movies unless there was something in it for both the parents and the kids, I didn’t feel like there was a whole lot to keep the parents’ attention; even in movies like Toy Story, there was always a little bit of humor that went right over kids’ heads to keep the adults in the room entertained. The best family movies strike a good balance, and I felt like this movie was a little light on the parents’ end. All in all, I’d give this movie a 3 out of 5.

-Caroline