A fertile mind gave Tim Burton an extraordinary ability to set up a series of weird and mysterious images which embody brilliant colors as well as exquisite quality. The Nightmare Before Christmas, regarded as the first full-length Claymation Animation, reflects Burton's black humor with a “Broadway” way and gloomy, creepy frames.
Pumpkin King, Jack, a representative of Burton's fantasy, is the leader of the dark and bleak Halloween Town where monsters and ghosts reside in whose sole mission is to prepare for the annual Halloween. As romantic as poets, Jack is eager to live a life very different from the one in this evil town. Without being understood, Jack made his way to the woods, in which he discovered several strange doors on tree trunks. Attracted by a Christmas tree carved on one door, Jack opened this magic door and fell onto a mysterious land in white--the Christmas Town. He was so obsessed with street lights and colorful buildings as well as a joyful atmosphere which he had never experienced. In order to bring happiness to humans, Jack decided to kidnap Santa Claws and commanded monsters in Halloween Town to produce Christmas “presents”. However,things didn't go on the right track as Jack had expected.
From the technical perspective, this movie used a tremendous amount of manpower and material resources. In order to present every single movement and facial expression of the characters, character designers built thousands of claymations, among which models for Jack, the Pumpkin King, accounted for over 400. In addition, a special technique was used for shooting which was called steady state something, which was very time consuming because it took 3 days to produce a five-second-animation. Frames and images were presented one by one smoothly which seemed like real movements. In addition to complicated modeling stages, we can easily identify the settings plus subtle texture of each character with lights coming from different directions which apparently was conducive to presenting distinct details like hair. Equally amazing is the use of scenes.Viewers are able to experience the classical horror combined with fantasies, fairy tales which significantly reveals the unique idea Tim Burton had in this movie. This movie was thus awarded the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Needless to say, it was an amazing masterpiece in the 90s.
As an amateur for movies, I will not criticize Burton's brilliant ideas and technical hard work because it really did impressed me so much with its effects and plots. However, I must say, the soundtrack of the movie is somehow a spoiler. I don' t mean that the “Broadway” way was not pleasant to the ear but it seemed to me that some sounds popped at the wrong place which were so abrupt that viewers might feel startled. Johnny Depp's dubbing was absolutely fantastic, though.
Movies are made for not only entertainment, but also education. No matter how old the viewers are, they are bound to learn something. Otherwise the movie must be meaningless. The Nightmare Before Christmas successfully taught its viewers several lessons.
Jack, well-meaning though, caused an unpleasant Christmas experience for humans which indicates that everyone has their position and should not go beyond their abilities and comprehension. Sometimes it could be painful if one offers wrong help or service although he or she is obliging. Also, when Sally gave Jack her advise, she was turned down immediately as Jack was busy arranging the preparation. Although Jack had realized his mistakes, everything went wrong and could hardly be redeemed. People must listen to others' advise so as to avoid unnecessary mistakes.
I was born in the year after this movie was produced and I have been hearing people talking about it since elementary school. I don't know what was wrong with me that I haven't even watched a clip of this movie until now. However , I believe when I was a kid, this movie would already be very appealing to me and I would as well learn from this movie the principles as I mentioned above but perhaps it would be more inspiring to me now as an adult. I strongly recommend The Nightmare Before Christmas to people of all ages for it's not merely an animation for children but also an educational story for grown-ups.
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