The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) movie poster

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

ThumbScore
👍 89%Google users liked it ⓘ
Critics Score
🎬 88%
FantasyAnimationFamily

Seen it? Rate it in one tap.

FavoriteLoved itLiked itIt was OKNot for me

Rate 5 films and ThumbScore predicts your score for every other one. Not seen it? Get your predicted score →

Where to Watch

Streaming
Disney+fuboTV
Rent / Buy
AmazonApple TVGoogle PlayYouTubeFandango at Home
See all watch options on TMDB
Subtitles on OpenSubtitles.com: English · Español · Español (Latinoamérica) · Español (España)
Most Spanish subtitles are not marked by region.
Full of ads, or out of sync? Fix it free, in your browser
Director
Runtime
1h 16m
Rated
PG
Country
United States of America
Language
English
TMDB Rating
7.8/10 (10,221 votes)
Rotten Tomatoes
95%
Metacritic
82

Cast

Danny Elfman as Jack Skellington (singing) / Barrel / Clown with the Tear away Face (voice)
Chris Sarandon as Jack Skellington (voice) · 79% avg
Catherine O'Hara as Sally / Shock (voice) · 72% avg
William Hickey as Dr. Finkelstein (voice) · 78% avg
Glenn Shadix as Mayor (voice) · 77% avg
Paul Reubens as Lock (voice) · 74% avg
Ken Page as Oogie Boogie (voice)
Edward Ivory as Santa Claus (voice)

Is The Nightmare Before Christmas good?

Yes. 89% of real audiences liked it, by Google's archived audience score. Critics agree, scoring it 88%.

Where it ranks on ThumbScore

Rank in its genre
#71 / 937 · Fantasy
Rank in its year
#14 / 95 · 1993

By audience score, among films with 500 or more votes.

Overview

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. Wikipedia ↗

About the Film

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Henry Selick from a story and characters by Tim Burton. The film follows Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, who has grown weary of the same annual routine of scaring people and accidentally discovers Christmas Town, a vibrant land of joy, snow, and presents. Enchanted by this foreign holiday, Jack decides to take over Christmas, kidnapping Santa Claus and delivering his own twisted versions of Christmas gifts to the children of the world — with predictably disastrous results.

The Nightmare Before Christmas was a technical marvel of stop-motion animation, requiring three years of painstaking work with over 400 heads for Jack alone to achieve his range of expressions. Danny Elfman composed the score and provided Jack's singing voice, creating songs including "This Is Halloween," "What's This?," and "Oogie Boogie's Song" that have become Halloween and Christmas staples. Tim Burton conceived the story and characters while working as an animator at Disney in the early 1980s, and while he produced the film, it was Henry Selick who directed the actual production — a distinction that has been a source of ongoing credit debate.

The film earned $91 million worldwide and has grown into one of the most enduring cult films in animation, occupying a unique position as both a Halloween and Christmas classic.

Movies You Might Like

r/

What Reddit Thinks

r/movies
⬆ 54,976💬 2,426 comments
The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick is humbly asking for a little bit of credit
Top comment: "Henry Selick: “That was a little unfair because it wasn’t called Tim Burton’s Nightmare until three..."
r/MovieDetails
⬆ 27,988💬 222 comments
In The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), during the "Making Christmas" number, the Cyclops ends up vanishing after a box comes in frame. Spooky!
Top comment: "Interesting how that would happen. Being stop motion someone would have to remove the cat half way..."
← Browse All Movies | Free Movies | Best Movies | New Releases
💬 Feedback