Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 stop motion fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton.
It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to "Christmas Town".
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Nightmare Before Christmas Characters Guide
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Jack Skellington is generally a tall, vivacious, charismatic gentleman — a stark contrast to his undead status — and is fond of grand theatrics, which is likely a significant part of what makes him the best at his trade. He is quick and eager to make new friends. Jack also appears prone to mood swings, wherein he becomes depressed at a failure only to become enthusiastic when a novel idea inspires him. Jack is also self indulgent at times when thinking of himself. Jack appears to believe in using violence only as a last resort.
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Sally is Jack Skellington's love-interest. She is a ragdoll originally patched together by Doctor Finkelstein. She is the only one to have doubts about Jack's Christmas plan, and is constantly imprisoned by her creator. Despite her makeshift appearance, Sally is a determined individual with a good feel for what is right. Sally's voice was played by Catherine O'Hara throughout the movie, Rita Rudner in Kingdom Hearts, and Kath Soucie in the video game spin-offs. Fiona Apple provides the vocals for "Sally's Song" on the 2006 special edition of The Nightmare Before Christmas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, while Amy Lee provides the vocals for "Sally's Song" on Nightmare Revisited. She also appears in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. |
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Oogie Boogie (also known as the Boogie Man) is a large insect-containing sack who acts as the antagonist of the story. Oogie enjoys making the lives of the townsfolk miserable and doesn't seem to like Jack. He is voiced by Ken Page[3][9] in the movie and in Kingdom Hearts appearances. He is the titular villain in The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge.
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Doctor Finkelstein is a resident of Halloween Town, the wheelchair-bound mad scientist and creator of Sally. Overprotective of his creation, he forbids her from leaving the house, and forces her to serve as his housekeeper. Frustrated at Sally's frequent absconding, Finkelstein eventually gives in and creates a new woman to replace her. Finklestein was voiced by the late William Hickey in the filmand by Jess Harnell in the video game spin-offs. He also appears in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. |
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Lock, Shock, and Barrel are a group of young, mischievous trick-or-treaters. They usually work as Oogie Boogie's 'henchmen' but don't often listen directly to his orders. They wear masks, despite them being almost exactly the same as their real faces. In the movie, Lock was voiced by Paul Reubens, Shock was voiced by Catherine O'Hara, and Barrel was voiced by Danny Elfman. In video game spin-offs, Lock was voiced by Jess Harnell, Shock is voiced by Kath Soucie and Barrel is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker and Jeff Bennett. They also appear in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge.
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The Mayor appears to have two faces: a happy face on one side, and a white sad one on the other, switching between them depending on his mood. He is only an elected official and cannot make decisions without Jack. He is voiced by Glenn Shadix in the film, and by Jeff Bennett in Kingdom Hearts. He is portrayed as clumsy and highly anxious. He also appears in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge.
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Zero is Jack's faithful ghost-dog who floats about freely and follows Jack wherever he goes. His nose also doubles as a bright light. This of which he uses to light the way for Jack's Christmas sleigh, in a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer fashion. He also appears in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge.
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Santa Claus (or Sandy Claws as Jack calls him) is the leader of Christmas Town. When Jack stumbles upon the town, he becomes mesmerized with the holiday and he tries to bring Christmas to Halloween Town. In order to do so, Jack orders Lock, Shock, and Barrel to kidnap Santa on Christmas Eve so he can be informed that he can take the year off as Jack will fill-in for him this year. The three then take Santa to Oogie Boogie where the holiday figure's life is threatened. A last minute rescue helps save not only Santa, but the entire holiday of Christmas as well. Santa Claus is voiced by Ed Ivory in the movie and by Corey Burton in the video game spin-offs.
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The Plot
"Halloween Town" is a dream world filled with citizens such as deformed monsters, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, vampires, werewolves, and witches. Jack Skellington ("The Pumpkin King") leads them in a frightful celebration every Halloween, but he has grown tired of the same routine year after year. Wandering in the forest outside the town center, he accidentally opens a portal to "Christmas Town". Impressed by the feeling and style of Christmas, Jack presents his findings and his (somewhat limited) understanding of the holiday to the Halloween Town residents. They fail to grasp his meaning and compare everything he says to their idea of Halloween. He reluctantly decides to play along and announces that they will take over Christmas.
Jack's obsession with Christmas leads him to usurp the role of Santa Claus. Every resident is assigned a task, while Sally, a rag doll woman who is created by the town's mad scientist, begins to feel a romantic attraction towards Jack. However, she alone fears that his plans will become disastrous. Jack assigns Lock, Shock, and Barrel, a trio of mischievous children, to abduct Santa and bring him back to Halloween Town. Against Jack's wishes and largely for their amusement, the trio deliver Santa to Oogie Boogie, a gambling-addict bogeyman who plots to play a game with Santa's life as the stake.
Christmas Eve arrives and Sally attempts to stop Jack, but he embarks into the sky on a coffin-like sleigh pulled by skeletal reindeer, guided by the glowing nose of his ghost dog Zero. He begins to deliver presents to children around the world, but the gifts (shrunken heads, Christmas tree-eating snakes, etc.) only terrify the recipients. Jack is believed to be an imposter attempting to imitate Santa, and the military goes on alert to blast him out of the sky. The sleigh is shot down and he is presumed dead by Halloween Town's citizens, but in fact he has survived the crash. Although he is depressed by the failure of his plan, he quickly regains his old spirit, having come up with new ideas for next Halloween. He then rushes back home to rescue Santa and put things right.
Meanwhile, Sally attempts to free Santa but is captured by Oogie. Jack slips into the lair and frees them, then confronts Oogie and unravels his outer covering to spill out all the bugs that live inside him. With Oogie gone, Santa reprimands Jack before setting off to deliver the right presents to the world's children. He makes snow fall over Halloween Town to show that there are no hard feelings between himself and Jack; the townspeople are confused by the snow at first, but soon begin to play happily in it. Jack reveals that he is attracted to Sally just as she is to him, and they kiss under the full moon in the cemetery.
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