Opening

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27% The Hangover Part III May 23
74% Epic May 24
97% Before Midnight May 24
73% We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks May 24
82% Fill the Void May 24
—— A Green Story May 24
—— Alyce Kills May 24

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86% Star Trek Into Darkness $70.2M
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50% The Great Gatsby $23.9M
46% Pain & Gain $3.2M
69% The Croods $3.0M
77% 42 $2.8M
55% Oblivion $2.3M
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36% Peeples $2.2M
8% The Big Wedding $1.2M

Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31
89% The East May 31

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

tomatometer

96

Average Rating: 8.2/10
Reviews Counted: 73
Fresh: 70 | Rotten: 3

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

95

Average Rating: 8/10
Critic Reviews: 19
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 1

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

audience

89

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 879,859

My Rating

Movie Info

Despite having recently presided over a very successful Halloween, Jack Skellington, aka the Pumpkin King, is bored with his job and feels that life in Halloweenland lacks meaning. Then he stumbles upon Christmastown and promptly decides to make the Yuletide his own.

Dec 2, 1997

$8.6M

Touchstone Pictures - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (73) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (76) | Rotten (3) | DVD (38)

This cautionary fable (Be True to Your Ghoulish Self) may be a little too twisted for little kids but anyone 8 or older will spot the friendly glint behind jack's empty eye sockets.

November 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Newsweek | Comment (1)
Newsweek
Top Critic IconTop Critic

I'm not sure I've ever seen a fantasy film that's at once so visually amazing and so emotionally dead.

September 7, 2011 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comments (20)
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A work of grand visual wit, clever songs, funny gags and genuine pathos, it is perhaps the greatest stop-motion animated film ever, a painstaking style of model animation that computers have all but completely done away with.

May 13, 2009 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
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A fun house of funereal glamour.

December 5, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The set designs are ingenious and the songs (music and lyrics by Danny Elfman) are fairly good.

November 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
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The dazzling techniques employed here create a strikinglook that's never been seen in such sustained form, making this a unique curio that will appeal to kids and film enthusiasts alike.

November 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety | Comments (2)
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

In the 13 years since it was released to a predictably puzzled family audience, Tim Burton's macabre stop motion musical has wound its way through cult affection (and survived mall-Goth appropriation) to earn its rightful place as a genuine classic.

November 7, 2012 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia
Empire Magazine Australasia

Tim Burton magic with just a touch of scariness.

January 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment (1)
Common Sense Media

...endlessly delightful, even as it deals in icky bugs and severed limbs.

October 21, 2009 Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm
LarsenOnFilm

O tom divertidamente sombrio da narrative, associado a uma direção de arte magnífica e à ótima trilha de Elfman, acaba resultando num conto de fadas que deve tanto aos Grimm quanto ao Expressionismo Alemão.

March 10, 2009
Cinema em Cena

The thin story (the denizens of Halloween Town take over Christmas) is overpowered by the deliciousness of the images.

November 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Irish Times
Irish Times

Let's hope the next time Disney re-releases this on home video... they will include the 3D version.

September 17, 2008 Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com
FilmJerk.com

inspiring, wacky, and infused with Burton's unique romanticism suffused with, but not subsumed by, a gothic sensibility

September 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews
Killer Movie Reviews

A twisted revamp of Rankin-Bass by way of Edward Gorey. [Blu-ray]

September 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews
Groucho Reviews

a brilliant feat of movie making

August 28, 2008 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures
7M Pictures

Burton says that he was impressed by the Blu-ray version because it 'brings out all the textures and nuances' of the artwork. And it's true. As good as the DVD looked, the Blu-ray captures the fidelity of details even in the murkiest scenes.

August 27, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

Leave it to Disney to bring a film back to life over and over again just to make a buck. Fortunately, Nightmare Before Christmas is good enough to withstand all of the reanimation.

August 25, 2008 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine

Tim Burton`s skewered sensibility finds excellent expression through the masterful stop-motion of director Henry Selick. The songs and score by Danny Elfman are wonderful; the characters are engaging; the visuals are enthralling.

July 8, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter
ESplatter

This hugely entertaining horror fable for all the family might suffer from pacing problems, but it's also a true original that still stands out from today's CGI-heavy crowd.

November 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4

Audience Reviews for The Nightmare Before Christmas

A lot of credit to Danny Elfman for creating such a memorable soundtrack. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a classic and one of the most iconic films ever made. With Tim Burton's imagination and Henry Selick's fine directing, you're bound to get something spectacular. A perfect film to watch on either Halloween or Christmas, but also a great one in general.
October 13, 2012
Market Man
Eric Shankle

Super Reviewer

A cult film that deserves its status.
October 27, 2012
Louis Rogers

Super Reviewer

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Latest News on The Nightmare Before Christmas

May 9, 2009:
Exclusive: The Art of Coraline with Henry Selick
Henry Selick, the animation mastermind behind such Certified Fresh classics as The Nightmare Before...

December 21, 2006:
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It's Day Four of RT's Five Days of Christmas Countdown, where we serve up a different list each day...

October 22, 2006:
Box Office Wrapup: Prestige Defeats Flags for #1 Spot
Three well-reviewed dramas fought over the weekend box office crown, but it was a pair of dueling...

Foreign Titles

  • Nightmare Before Christmas (DE)
  • The Nightmare Before Christmas (UK)
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