The Nightmare before Christmas is an odd ball animated tale by Tim Burton. It is a love story trapped inside a dark haunted tale of Jack the Pumpkin King who has grown tired of only celebrating Halloween. He has the not so brilliant idea to kidnap The Sandy Claws and take his place delivering toys to all the boys and girls of the world. What Jack doesn’t realize yet is that everyone has their own role to play in life and even though you may get weary, you can only be you.
In the middle of all of this turmoil is Sally, a beauty who is in love with Jack. She tries to warn him what a mistake he is making, but like the typical male he must learn his lesson the hard way. He hires some hooligans to do his dirty work, but of course they betray him and involve Oogie Boogie in the plans. Jack has is all set in his mind; he gathers the people together and each has a task to complete such as making a sleigh out of a coffin or designing ghostly reindeer made only of bones. He takes to the skies on Christmas Eve delivering toys to the children, but there’s a catch he is in the mindset of Halloween so everything he does is scary. The toys he leaves behind start attacking the families and the military is brought in to restore order.
At first Jack thinks the booms he hears are fireworks and the people are celebrating him, but he soon realizes they are trying to shoot him out of the sky. The military is successful in shooting him down. Meanwhile back in Halloween town, Sally attempts to help The Sandy Claws escape the lairs of Oogie Boogie, but is caught in the act. Jack makes it there in the nick of time to save the day. Sandy Claws returns to the world and saves Christmas!
With Sally’s help Jack realizes he was wrong and that he must be himself in order to be happy. Jack and Sally declare their love for each other. They are Simply Meant to Be!
Lisa W. Tetting 