Academy Awards, USA 1994
| Nominated Oscar | Best Effects, Visual Effects Pete Kozachik Eric Leighton Ariel Velasco-Shaw Gordon Baker |
Buena Vista International
Directed by Henry Selick
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Disney)
Animated musical fantasy set in "Halloween Town", whose inhabitants are dedicated to the annual holiday. Their leader, Jack Skellington the "Pumpkin King", becomes bored with the whole thing, but while walking in the woods one day falls through a door which leads to the similar "Christmas Town". Unable to fully comprehend those traditions, he instead decides to take it over. He sends three trick-or-treaters to kidnap Santa and lock him up with a creature who tortures and threatens to kill him. Meanwhile, Jack adapts the persona of Santa and sets out on Christmas Eve to deliver presents, only with cruel Halloween twists. Vivid production design brings these fantastical worlds to life through stop motion animation. Danny Elfman's music, however, is not aging well. It too often overwhelms the story, the lyrics are simple and the melodies repetitive. A subplot involving a rag doll woman who falls in love with Jack is underdeveloped and unconvincing. Still, it's a lot of fun around Halloween or Christmas, or both, providing a good antidote to the traditional stop-motion animation specials from Rankin-Bass.
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