The film opened and to my dismay, the film instantly went into song and continued throughout the entire film. Wait a minute, I wasn’t told this was a musical? How can a Tim Burton movie be a full of singing? This truly is scary! From that night I left the theater, I have yet to watch the film again.
Now out in a beautiful Blu-ray edition I thought I would give the film one more chance. I have to say my attitude has changed with my latest viewing of the film. Perhaps it is my age, perhaps it is knowing going into the film it is a musical or it’s just simply the amazing quality on Blu-ray that has contributed to my latest opinion. Regardless, The Nightmare Before Christmas is truly an amazing film that deserves all the critical claim it has received through the years.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is an unusual story that takes place in a dark little world called Halloween Town. Each year the local occupants plan their scary tactics leading up to October 31st and are lead by a tall lanky skeleton, by the name of Jack Skellington. After another successful Halloween, Jack wonders if there is more to life then just scaring people. Taking a walk to ponder his life, he stumbles upon a wooden door with a Christmas tree. Inside he is whisked into Christmas Town and his eyes are opened to a bright colorful world that is full of joy and happiness. Arriving home, he decides his new mission is to celebrate and eventually take over the Christmas holiday. So begins Tim Burton’s dark tale of morbid fun.
The Nightmare Before Christmas has just arrived on a new special edition DVD and Blu-ray edition, that includes a digital copy to be played on your computer or mp3 player. Along with the film, the DVD comes with a plethora of extras that makes it worth every dollar.
The DVD and Blu-ray have identical bonus features except for a 16 second introduction by Tim Burton on the Blu-ray edition that is completely unnecessary and shouldn’t even be listed as a Blu-ray exclusive on the packaging. Which is unfortunate since the studios should encourage consumers to buy the Blu-ray version by teasing them with additional bonus features. Regardless, the Blu-ray edition is the only way to go for the picture to the audio.
Even though Burton’s special introduction lacks any real insight in the movie, the commentary track that he participates in, along with director Henry Selick and composer Danny Elfman, more than makes up for it. It’s too bad they weren’t all in the room together at the same time to bounce off of each other. Still, it’s a worth while second viewing to hear them talk about their experiences on making the film.
If that isn’t enough, there is a 30 minute documentary on the making of the film, The Worlds of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas goes into more detail of the different worlds within the movie, deleted scenes, storyboard to film comparisons and theatrical trailers and posters to help give you a complete and wll rounded background of the film.
Still, to me that’s not even the best of the bonus features. There are also 3 short films that makes this DVD worth owning. First up we have a film Tim Burton made back when he was working in the animated department at Disney. Vincent is a 6 minute stop action film narrated by Vincent Price himself. It’s all very Tim Burton and filmed in glorious B&W. It’s hard to believe Disney let him go after looking at this film. It’s so unique and creative and has all the elements in place that Burton would use for films like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands.
The second one called Tim Burton’s Original Poem, is the original poem that became the inspiration for The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is narrated by the horror legend actor Christopher Lee. It is beautifully rendered into an over 10 minute animation based on Burton’s original drawings. This is equally as strong and entertaining as the final film.
Third, we have a new un-cut version of a live action film called Frankenweenie, which Burton made way back in 1984. It’s also a story idea that Burton is re-doing into a new stop-action animated film. The original is fun but very silly compared to Burton’s body of work. I look forward to seeing the new animated version.
Last but not least, we have a documentary on the Haunted Mansion ride in Disneyland. Every holiday season they transform the ride into the Holiday Haunted Mansion, which is the ride reinterpret to have a Nightmare Before Christmas theme. I having experienced it first hand at the park, did enjoy seeing the back story on the whole process.
Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas has arrived in a whole new and expansive way to home video. It’s a little strange to release it this time of the year, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth your time and purchase. Walt Disney continues to shine in the Blu-ray market by giving us a wealthy of extras to a film worth owning. It has also opened my eyes to a film that I walked away from in my youth and am happy to see with new clarity and eyes.
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annie
Written by Guest on 2008-10-31 13:33:50
tims work continues to amaze me.
a visionary indeed. |
alsie
Written by Guest on 2008-10-31 13:37:21
burton is good, seeing the old version of nightmare before christmas and the new hi def stuff is almost dissapointing.
i think the grittiness of the original is neccessart to get into Burtons head.
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