Vanguard

Issue date: 10/29/07 Section: Entertainment

Summary
"The Nightmare before Christmas" has emerged as a new holiday favorite for moviegoers and Tim Burton fans alike. The animated movie delivers a tale of Jack, the pumpkin king and leader of all things scary in Halloween town. When Jack loses interest in his beloved Halloween festivities, he stumbles upon the doorway to Christmastown. Jack then decides he and his Halloween town friends need to reinvent Christmas. The result is a strange, slightly creepy and wholly entertaining animated musical--all in Tim Burton style.

Animation
The animation is what we all remember from the 1993 release of "Nightmare." The 3-D effect does not change the overall claymation feel of the film. The type of animation used is very appropriate for the creepiness factor needed to correctly portray Burton's vision of all of the undead characters found in Halloweentown.

Directing
Tim Burton brought his off-kilter vision of a Christmas gone askew very well. He and writer Michael McDowell wrote a simple but creative script that works well with the musical talents of the voice actors and musicians.

Voice-Acting and Music
The major voice talent of the film is Danny Elfman, who provides the singing voice of Jack; Chris Sarandon portrays the talking voice. Other voice talents include Catherine O'Hara, the voice of Sally, and Wiliam Hickey as the voice of Dr. Finklestein. The voices chosen for each character, especially Jack, were all perfect for the characters portrayed in the movie.

Overall
"Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D" is still the favorite we all enjoy. But, the addition of the 3-D effects are hardly more than subtle. While some scenes do receive a more three-dimensional feel, they still appear to be little more than paper cut-outs. Since I went in expecting a scene or two where something jumps out at me, I was somewhat disappointed by this fact. At least I got to keep the 3-D glasses as a momento of the 2007 re-release of the movie 14 years after it first appeared in theaters.

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