The Nightmare Before Christmas

1993 • 1h 16m •

Fantasy Animation Family

MOVIEVIBE Rating

★ 7.8/10

10,559 reviews

Your Rating

Tired of scaring humans every October 31 with the same old bag of tricks, Jack Skellington, the spindly king of Halloween Town, kidnaps Santa Claus and plans to deliver shrunken heads and other ghoulish gifts to children on Christmas morning. But as Christmas approaches, Jack's rag-doll girlfriend, Sally, tries to foil his misguided plans.

Top Billed Cast

Danny Elfman

Jack Skellington (singing) / Barrel / Clown with the Tear away Face (voice)

Chris Sarandon

Jack Skellington (voice)

Catherine O'Hara

Sally / Shock (voice)

William Hickey

Dr. Finkelstein (voice)

Glenn Shadix

Mayor (voice)

Paul Reubens

Lock (voice)

Ken Page

Oogie Boogie (voice)

Edward Ivory

Santa Claus (voice)

Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews

A Andres Gomez Verified TMDB Critic

2014-11-14

I suppose I missed watching it at the proper time so I will explain it as not surviving well after all these years.

The idea is daring, the stop motion is OKish and Danny Elfman's OST is quite good but even being only 70 min they were still too many for me. Specially, the songs were to close one to the next....

C CinemaSerf Verified TMDB Critic

2023-08-26

This is a cracking animation fantasy centring around "Jack Skellington" - the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. When he feels all just a bit deflated after one celebration, he happens upon Christmas Town and encounters Santa Claus preparing to bring jolity and happiness. "Jack" sends a few of his rather stupid henchmen to kidnap Santa, takes his place and proceeds to deliver Christmas gifts that... well... are not exactly typical. Can Santa be rescued in time?? The animation is wonderfully detailed, dark and enjoyable with plenty of characters including a mad scientist as well as a mummy, the tw...