Without a doubt, one of the holiday’s favorite directors is Tim Burton. Spooky or not, Burton has brought many stories to this holiday, such as an adaptation of Sleepy Hollow, the stop-motion feature Corpse Bride, and even the musical Sweeney Todd. One that has become a must-see during Halloween and Christmas is the dark fantasy musical The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s hard to believe that such a classic hasn’t got the honest trailer treatment before, but the time has finally come.
Screen Junkies’ new victim is wrongly believed by many to be directed by Tim Burton, something Screen Junkies were quick to point out at the very beginning of the trailer. In fact, the movie was produced by Burton and it’s based on a story and characters by him, but was directed instead by Henry Selick and written by Caroline Thompson. Once that point is made clear, they jump right into the story.
In a forest where all the holidays can be found (except, as mentioned in the video, Jewish holidays), the story goes straight to Halloweentown, where the #1 thing to do is… celebrate Halloween, and the rest of the year is all about preparing for it. When Jack Skellington gets tired of this, he pulls a “cultural appropriation” move and hijacks Christmas, hence making this movie appropriate for both Halloween and Christmas.
The trailer also mentions the one-sided romance between Sally and Jack, in which Jack never listens to what Sally says but they end up falling in love after not much interaction throughout an hour-long story. As in every honest trailer, not everything is about the bad stuff: they praise Danny Elfman’s now-classic score and songs… without leaving their trademark humor behind.
In the end, one questions remains: is this a Halloween story or a Christmas one? What is undeniable is that The Nightmare Before Christmas has left its mark on both holidays and made way for many other darkly themed stop-motion movies, and made it clear that when it comes to creating fantasy characters, Burton’s imagination knows no limits.
Source: Screen Junkies