The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) Review
It’s Halloween time, and I want to talk about some great Halloween and spooky season movies. One of my favorites is the Disney animated classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s gained a cult following over the years, and in 2026, many people love it and consider it one of the greatest Disney animated movies. But what do I think of the movie? Let’s talk about it!
The Review
This movie is fairly short and feels different from other movies. I don’t feel like I can talk about this movie in the normal sense that I do, so I’m just going to share my thoughts on the film. When it comes to The Nightmare Before Christmas, the thing I love about this movie is that it’s so visually creative and distinct. It is one of the most iconic stop-motion movies made, so it has that creativity, and since we don’t have a lot of stop-motion movies, it stands out for that reason. Beyond that, it uses the claymation style, with Tim Burton, who brings such a distinct and unique gothic vibe to his movies. Now, he didn’t direct this movie; he was a producer on the film, which is why it’s titled Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. So, in many regards, it’s one of the most visually creative animated movies out there. When we live in an era where so many movies can feel so generic and like corporate products, you watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. It doesn’t at all feel like the flaws that so many recent animated movies, especially Disney and Pixar animated movies, have.
Despite my watching this movie later in my life (that makes me sound old). I didn’t watch this movie until 2017 or 2018, so I was already a teenager when I watched this movie for the first time. I do have this nostalgic feeling towards this movie. Part of that is that one of my favorite rides at Disneyland is Haunted Mansion, specifically during fall when it’s decorated for The Nightmare Before Christmas. Every time I watch this movie, I’m constantly thinking about the Disneyland ride, and that brings me happy memories of the happiest place on Earth. Also, there’s a mobile game I use to play with my mom titled Disney Magic Kingdoms, where you build your own Disneyland park, and The Nightmare Before Christmas is featured in that game, which is great. So that doesn’t really affect the overall quality of this movie, but I think it’s a reason why I love this movie and why I constantly go back to it; I have these nostalgic and happy memories tied to it.
Building off of that, something is charming about this movie. Maybe charming is a weird word to use to describe this movie because it’s not a super bright movie. It’s a little bit darker and slightly creepy; it has Tim Burton’s style all over it. But from the world-building to the characters to the songs, I find this movie super rewatchable and always engrossing to watch. They created this fun world that has different worlds within it, where you have a Halloween world, there’s a Christmas world, and there’s the Easter world. We explore some of them, mainly Halloween and Christmas, but I feel like this movie and this world have room for sequels. There are different stories to tell related to different holidays, and with the following, the movie has earned over the years. If a sequel were to be made, it would do well because there’s so much love and passion for this movie. Even introducing these two holidays together, Halloween and Christmas, is fun and interesting, as they’re very different holidays in terms of the color palette and their purpose. You can see how the Christmas magic and spirit can change these Halloween characters who maybe don’t have a lot of fun spirit inside of them. There are character arcs and growth that happen in this movie because of the Christmas magic and spirit, which makes it a Christmas movie. But since it’s also focused on Halloween and largely takes place in Halloweentown, it also functions as a Halloween movie and a great movie to watch in October.
One final thing I love about the movie is the music for it. I think this is one of the most underappreciated movie soundtracks that Disney has produced. Maybe some of that is because this movie wasn’t given the same money and production that the Disney Renaissance movies were given, like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. But even though it wasn’t given the same production, it still has great songs, and the music is what helps make the movie what it is because it follows the structure of a musical. When the opening is “This is Halloween” it lets the audience knows the rules of this town and what these characters a like, which when you’re doing a musical that’s what all great musical should do is have the songs explain to the audience the information they need to know. I think the other things in here also do a nice job of doing that. When Oogie Boogie gets his song in the back half of the movie, it explains his motivations and who he is instead of lecturing the audience for five minutes or whatever about it. That’s smart, and that’s how you do a musical right.
Final Thoughts: Overall, The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite Halloween movies; it’s one of my favorite Christmas movies, it’s one of my favorite animated movies, and it’s one of my favorite movies of all time. I think it’s so rewatchable, and I love so much about it. Maybe it’s not for everybody because of how weird and different it is, but I love it, and I think it holds up really well 33 years later.
The Score: 9.5/10 (A)
Comments