Movie #41: "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
I'm fresh from a marathon of Christmas movies and I still feel guilty that I didn't do it during the original Chronological Animated Disney Canon posts.
Like "Roger Rabbit", you tend to forget just how amazing this movie really is. The DVD looks terrific, and I'm sure I saw sight gags that even Henry Selick wasn't aware of. Packed with terrific effects and wonderful music, this is a treasure. Plus everyone needs something a little weird during the holiday season.
The special features on the three-disc "Jack head" (not listed here, though it would certainly fit) are great fun to watch too, though they skip over one of the more interesting things about this movie: back when "Nightmare" first arrived in theaters, Disney had the damndest time figuring out how to sell it. It was actually originally released under their Touchstone banner. Toys were produced very briefly and quickly disappeared from Disney Store shelves. Fans had to wait for almost a decade before Disney woke up to the movie's cult hit status... and now they're marketing the hell out of it. And normally this would not make me sad (my Christmas decorations are sorely lacking in Halloweentown residents) but Disney seems to be marketing "Nightmare" memorabilia to a very specific demographic. That's why I say this year we steal this fandom back from
Merry Christmas to all! For more posts in this ongoing series, go here, or click the Chronological Disney Animated Canon tag below.
