The Nightmare Before Christmas:
In the land of Halloween, the pumkpin king, Jack Skellington, is bored of scaring people, wanting something new. He stumbles upon a portal, which shows him Christmasland. He immeadietly gets the land of Halloween to join him in his quest to give Santa a "break" this year, and to make Christmas their very own. Of course, when Halloween creates Christmas, there's inevitably going to be a few problems... The film is a classic, what can I say? The characters are amazing. Chris Sarandon plays Jack Skellington, and really brings out a relatable character. Everyone has that shitty job they grow bore dof, and Jack has the ultimate of that, he can't stop, because Halloween must come every year on October 31st. Composer Danny Elfman provides Jack's excellent singing voice. Catherine O'Hara provides the voice of Sally, a Frankenstein-like creation whom is Jack's love interest and is skeptical of Jack's Christmas plans. William Hickey is the voice of Dr. Finklestein, a mad scientist in the vein of Frankenstein. Glenn Shadix voices the Mayor, a bipolar, but sweet man who is too dependent on Jack, who really is the one running the city. His bipolar personality is represented by his face, how is literally shifts between sad and happy. Ken Page voices Oogie Boogie, the Boogeyman. He is a villainous gambling man, with a swinger-like personality, and a fixation on die and Vegas-style games of chance. His lair is reminiscent of a neon-lit gambling den. Ed Ivory plays the whimsical Santa Claus, and Paul "Pee-Wee" Ruebens plays Lock one of Oggie's impish, but devious children henchmen. The animation and sets are stunning, very stylized with that dark, Burton charm to them. The images are iconic and unforgettable, especially the twisting hll which Jack sings upon at the beginning of the film. They both haunt and mystify you at the same time. The animation is fluent and took thousands of hours to complete. Production started in San Francisco in 1990, and the film was released in 1993, that's 2 and a half years in the making, then releasing. The music by Elfman is great, raning from eerie, to light-hearted, to demented, to heart-warming, Elfman and Burton know how to make strange music seem warm and welcoming. The songs are timeless and have not been matched by an Burton muscial since, I don't think. That's how this film, and most of Burton's films feel, timeless. Burton knows how to take a setting from the modern worls and make it look like it could take place anywhere, at any time period. Funny enough, Burton did not direct, but wrote and produced the film, as he was busy with other films at the time. But don't be fooled, Burton was heavily involved, and it really does show in the finished product. But, to give credit, Henry Selick is a great director, and moved on to other stop-motion films like James and the Giant Peach, Coraline, and, more recently, ParaNorman. The Nightmare Before Christmas will continue to both frighten and enchant children and adults alike forever. 5/5 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment