Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

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Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

PG

1993

1h 15m

Kids & Family

Holiday

Fantasy

Comedy

Animation

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

95%

Tomatometer

107 Reviews

91%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

The film follows the misadventures of Jack Skellington, Halloweentown's beloved pumpkin king, who has become bored with the same annual routine of frightening people in the "real world." When Jack accidentally stumbles on Christmastown, all bright colors and warm spirits, he gets a new lease on life -- he plots to bring Christmas under his control by kidnapping Santa Claus and taking over the role. But Jack soon discovers even the best-laid plans of mice and skeleton men can go seriously awry.

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Critics Consensus

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a stunningly original and visually delightful work of stop-motion animation.

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Chris Stuckmann

ChrisStuckmann.com

Apr 13, 2018

A

I'm blown away by just the construction of the scenes, and by all of the effects that have been incorporated to make everything move fluidly; and there's also this charming imperfection to the animation that just makes it so gorgeous.

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Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

Dec 3, 2013

Part avant-garde art film, part amusing but morbid fairy tale, it is a delightfully ghoulish holiday musical that displays more inventiveness in its brief 75 minutes than some studios can manage in an entire year.

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Anthony Lane

The New Yorker

Dec 3, 2013

This full-length animated movie was shot in stop motion, with all the febrile, twittery fascination that the medium exerts; it has a magic-toy shop feeling, with unexpected objects stuttering into life.

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Charlotte Simmons

The Treatment (Substack)

Nov 24, 2025

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a robustly metamodernist examination of the intersections between Christianity, paganism, scientific thought, and mythopoeic thought (and what that all means for the human condition)

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Kristy Strouse

Wonderfully Weird and Horrifying

Nov 14, 2023

The Nightmare Before Christmas is unique and timeless, a magical adventure that’ll delight the senses and steal your heart.

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Lauren Veneziani

DC Film Girl

Oct 30, 2023

5/5

One of the best films of all-time, the gorgeous stop-motion animation and story of Jack Skellington longing for something more leaves us breathless, happy and fulfilled.

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Denise

23 hrs ago

Just as awesome as I had remembered and I really enjoyed the 3D!

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Adrianna

1 day ago

Wonderful film, it’s always been one of my favorites. It was fantastic to see it in 3-D.

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Cesar

3 days ago

Best Halloween movie ever!!😎🤙

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Afton

4 days ago

Loved it! Made the original even better!

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Deen

4 days ago

Been a while but enjoyed myself

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Ricardo G

4 days ago

First time 3D experience, it was just another moment with this favorite childhood Disney film, was the best.

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Henry Selick

Director

Danny Elfman

Jack Skellington

Chris Sarandon

Jack

Catherine O'Hara

Sally

William Hickey

Evil Scientist

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Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

The film follows the misadventures of Jack Skellington, Halloweentown's beloved pumpkin king, who has become bored with the same annual routine of frightening people in the "real world." When Jack accidentally stumbles on Christmastown, all bright colors and warm spirits, he gets a new lease on life -- he plots to bring Christmas under his control by kidnapping Santa Claus and taking over the role. But Jack soon discovers even the best-laid plans of mice and skeleton men can go seriously awry.

Director: Henry Selick
Producer: Tim Burton, Denise Di Novi, Kathleen Gavin
Screenwriter: Michael McDowell, Caroline Thompson
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Production Co: Touchstone Pictures, Skellington Productions
Rating: PG (Some Scary Images)
Genre: Kids & Family, Holiday, Fantasy, Comedy, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 29, 1993, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Oct 22, 2025
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $6.1M
Runtime: 1h 15m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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