Though directed by Henry Selick, Tim Burton is usually accredited for the haunting film The Nightmare Before Christmas. This is no surprise. The Nightmare Before Christmas has everything typical of Burton’s stop-animation style. The scary and demented characters though the film is aimed at a younger audience, the out-of-the-ordinary world, Burton’s style only starts with this film.
The story opens on Halloween Town, a town that has lived up to its name all these years by… celebrating Halloween. While wandering in the woods the main character, Jack Skellington (Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon), comes across a portal to Christmas Town. Jack loves Christmas Town and the feeling of Christmas so much that he tries every measure to bring Christmas to Halloween Town. His attempts to kidnap Santa from Christmas Town fail and only end up putting characters in danger. Jack never actually brings Christmas to Halloween Town, but dazzles Halloween Town with some things he could take from Christmas Town—like snow. Everything is set right in the end and Jack ends up with Sally (Catherine O’Hara), a girl he has fallen in love with while trying to bring Christmas spirit to Halloween Town.
A big theme of this movie has to deal with wanting something to be what it is not. Halloween Town is, clearly, meant for Halloween and not Christmas. Though Christmas Town may be happy and wonderful, and Halloween Town dark and evil, Halloween Town cannot just switch to Christmas. This is obviously made apparent when Jack fails to bring Christmas to Halloween Town. But Jack is able to improve Halloween Town’s spirits by bringing certain aspects of Christmas Town to it, which means that something may be improved not by transforming it completely but by giving it new features so to speak.
This song shows Jack’s desire for something new and better. Though he is the Pumpkin King, he desires something he has not yet known.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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