The Poster Memorabilia blog

The Dreamy Nightmare that Once Rivaled Disney

A night at the Bowl with Jack and Sally themselves, and a poster years in the making.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

A hill I'm always willing to die on is that The Nightmare Before Christmas is Tim Burton's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After making a name for himself in several exciting live-action films, he finally found his niche with this weird, fascinating, and fun animated feature. I still wish he'd make more of them.

Very few animated films, or the filmmakers who made them, managed to overshadow Disney's Renaissance era in the 1990s. Tim Burton was one of them when he wrote and produced this unique release, which is just as much a Halloween flick as it is a Christmas movie. Henry Selick directed it, and between the two of them they made something nobody has really copied since.

While there's no arguing that Disney dominated that era, The Nightmare Before Christmas became just as iconic. It blended genres, mixed vibes, and became a movie that the whole family can enjoy in two different parts of the year. Can you say that about any other cartoon?

Even the cast knocked it out of the park. Tim Burton rightfully gets most of the credit for it, but I also have to shout out Chris Sarandon and Danny Elfman as Jack Skellington and Catherine O'Hara as Sally the ragdoll. Their performances helped set the right vibe for a movie about eerie, haunted characters who want to celebrate Christmas.

“I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.”

This was actually the first film I watched from any of them, and I became an instant fan. So when I heard Catherine O'Hara and Danny Elfman would reunite for the film's 25th anniversary concert at the Hollywood Bowl, I just had to be there. I wanted to see them in person, watch them perform the film live, and get their autographs on my poster.

The concert was everything I hoped it would be. It was a great performance, and I saw how much fun those actors had portraying their iconic characters. And I'll never say no to a Nightmare Before Christmas screening. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it, no matter how many times I watch it.

I eventually met and got their autographs that night, and it more than made up for Chris Sarandon's absence at the event. Elfman was great as Jack Skellington's singing voice, but Sarandon's acting was always my favorite part of the character.

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Fortunately, I still got to meet him at SacAnime in 2016. Because he wasn't at the Bowl concerts, I was worried that he might no longer want to be associated with the franchise. I was nervous that seeing my poster would sour his mood, but I couldn't have been more wrong. He not only loved that I had it, but he also happily signed it.

I also eventually got autographs from Tim Burton at the New York premiere of his 2014 film, Big Eyes, and from Greg Proops, who voiced a few of Halloween Town's residents and turned up years later to host the costume contest at one of the Bowl shows.

With so many 90s movies and TV series getting reboots, remakes, or long-awaited sequels these days, I used to hope that The Nightmare Before Christmas would get the same treatment. But now, with the lovely Catherine O'Hara gone, I don't think it's a good idea anymore.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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