With the festive season in full swing, The Nightmare Before Christmas is bound to be a mainstay on your December must-watch list. After watching this spooky Christmas special countless times, you may wonder what repeatedly draws us back to this timeless classic. On the surface, The Nightmare Before Christmas simply seems like a stylized way to warn people of the dangers of stealing, but there is something deeper within the folds of twinkling lights and carved pumpkins. Complexities and nuances are nestled within the characterization of the films' leads, making them intimately more human and hence influencing how the story is received.
Jack Skellington Is Painfully Human in 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'
Impulsive, inventive, and curious are all traits that define Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon; Danny Elfman), especially as he flits about Christmas town singing "What's this?" He is driven by these qualities when he decides to make Christmas his own, excited by the novelty of these new sights and experiences. However, "Jack's Lament" also re-frames how we perceive Jack's selfish impulses, as it taps into the all-too-relatable quality of being numbed by the same routine, year after year. Consequently, Jack's urge to branch out into something new is a completely human feeling, even if it is encroaching onto someone else's territory.
In the documentary series, The Movies That Made Us, Elfman explains relating to that aspect of Jack’s character, as he was growing "weary with the sound of screams" from his rock-star career. This informed how he sang Jack's songs in The Nightmare Before Christmas, with undercurrents of exhaustion, longing and eventual wonder when he finally finds an opportunity to escape the humdrum. This is what makes Jack so easy to connect with, as his character reflects the age-old discontent many people find with the repetitive 9-5 lifestyle.
Sally Is More Than a Love Interest in 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'
Image via Touchstone Pictures
Sally’s (Catherine O'Hara) character in The Nightmare Before Christmas took more time to flesh out as she began as a sort of femme fatale (The Movies That Made Us) but evolved into arguably the heroine of the film. When screenwriter Caroline Thompson was helping construct Sally's script and character, she recalls in an interview with the podcast ScriptApart "a sense of being left out, which later informed Sally enormously." Throughout the film, Sally is "seeking independence" from Dr Finkelstein, constantly escaping and fixing her patches up -- she is the epitome of self-reliance.
Looking back, Thompson also feels Sally was "sort of enmeshed and enslaved in her adoration for Jack" (via ScriptApart). While Thompson is slightly disappointed with that outcome, it actually makes Sally’s character more compelling and complex. Due to her isolation and fight for autonomy, Sally is an independent thinker, which is why she continuously disapproves of Jack's actions despite her heart and emotions being tied to him. On the surface, she may just seem like Jack's rag doll love interest, but the intriguing juxtaposition between her loyalty and quiet strength to disagree with him, encapsulated by "Sally's Song," allows her characterization to stand on its own.
'The Nightmare Before Christmas' Is More Than a Cautionary Tale
Layers of nuance also come into how The Nightmare Before Christmas characters approach Christmas, as they don't have malicious intentions and are certainly not trying to ruin the holiday season. Instead, they are truly just limited by their perspective and experiences; they try to bring joy in the only way they know how to. "And when Halloween Town tries to make presents for Christmas, they're doing their best!" explains director Henry Selick during the film's 30th anniversary. Just like in real life, most of the movie's characters aren't inherently evil, from Jack to Sally, they are simply engaging with the world with the knowledge they have.
Due to these more complex characterizations, the story really becomes a journey of characters ranching out of their comfort zones, armed with their restricted experience, and growing together through disastrous consequences. While the message of "not stealing" is certainly applicable, the intracacies of the human condition, the need for novelty, isolation and emotion come into play. As such, Jack learns there is a way to revitalize his life without taking away from others, once again, reflecting the ageless concept of over-turning the 9-5 cycle for something more fulfilling but without harming anyone.
This complexity also shifts their functions in the narrative, as Sally isn't necessarily the love interest Jack "wins" for completing his character arc. Instead, their love is both of their rewards, as Sally also maintains her steadfast resilience and autonomous thinking despite her emotional attachment to the troublesome Jack. Through these innately human experiences woven into these enigmatic and fantastical characters, it makes sense that we revisit The Nightmare Before Christmas time and time again.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
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Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.
Release Date October 29, 1993
Runtime 76 minutes
English (US) ·