Learn More About Me: My Favorite Movie
Posted on August 14, 2018 Posted by Athena Scalzi 27 Comments
Hey, everyone! Today I thought I’d share something important to me, that being my all-time favorite movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Though it is technically Disney, anytime someone asks me what my favorite Disney movie is, I always forget to say The Nightmare Before Christmas, and usually say Mulan or Tangled instead, because I really think of The Nightmare Before Christmas as a Tim Burton movie, which it is, but, y’know.
There’s something about stop motion that I just love, and come to think of it, my love of it probably stemmed from The Nightmare Before Christmas, since I’ve been watching it for as long as I can remember. The Nightmare Before Christmas has some of the most interesting characters I’ve ever seen, and part of that fantastic-ness comes from their design and the way they look overall. Halloween Town is an amazing setting to begin with, and all of the characters that call it home are even cooler looking.
Besides how awesome the visuals are, the soundtrack is to die for. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past several decades, Disney has the greatest songs, like, ever, but the greatest of the great can be found in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Danny Elfman is pretty much the best composer/musician/singer in existence. Though it’s difficult to choose a favorite song out of all the amazing ones on the soundtrack, I’d have to say the best is “Jack’s Lament”, which even if you haven’t seen the movie, is pretty good on its own (you can watch it on YouTube).
This movie has had merch available at places like Hot Topic and F.Y.E. for forever, and believe me when I say I have my fair share of stuff. There’s even video games that came out around 2005 or so.
The Nightmare Before Christmas has been my favorite movie for as long as I can remember, and I’m fairly certain it always will be. I wish I had been able to see it in theaters when it first came out, alas, it was before my time of being alive. Have you seen it before? What are your thoughts on it? What’s your favorite song from it? Is Jack your favorite character? Let me know in the comments, and as always, have a great day!
I like that movie. The design and art are good! :) The Halloween Christmas! ;)
I like the movie but I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite. I will say that Oingo Boingo is my favorite band and completely agree that Danny Elfman is one of the best musical artists of his generation. I got to see them a couple of times and it was awesome. And now I am off to click that link.
I saw it in the theater when it came out. I like Sally and my favorite song is Sally’s Song. It’s a fun film.
I have always LOVED The Nightmare Before Christmas. I didn’t get to see in in theater but I have watched or “listened” to it for years because my kids love it too.
I’ve never thought about it in terms of who’s my favorite character, but upon reflection, it’s probably Oogie Boogie. What a suitably creepy villain, a bag full of bugs! Sally’s song is my favorite, but it’s a hard pick, there are no bad songs on the soundtrack. One of the things I like best about the movie is its longevity. For a film made 25 years ago it is still tremendously popular. As you pointed out, themed merchandise sells well at places like Hot Topic, Spencers, and sci-fi conventions. The movie appeals to people my age, (mid-50’s) and older, and to preteens, and everyone in between. Not many movies have that power. The production values were groundbreaking. They did a lot of things that no one had seen before, tracking shots in stop motion, where the camera moves; the use of black lights and fluorescent paints on certain sets. There is still nothing quite like it.
It is an awesome movie that I probably watch a dozen times between October & December every year. I’m old enough that I COULD have seen it in the theater, but I didn’t find out about it until a friend dragged me to see it at a movie night at my college.
Jack is amazing – who wouldn’t love him? But I also have a soft spot for the Mayor for some reason.
“What’s This?” is my favorite song…Jack’s sense of wonder is infectious. But there are no bad ones in the soundtrack.
Nice post. Thanks for sharing.
It’s one of my favourite, too. And I didn’t know it’s a Disney movie until you mentioned it. I just think Tim Burton and that’s it.
I agree with Paul. No bad songs on the soundtrack, but “What’s This” is my favorite.
My daughter (six years younger than you) loves The Nightmare Before Christmas. She dressed as Sally for Halloween two years ago.
I like Danny Elfman too. I see from the Guardian newspaper that Nightmare is his favorite Tim Burton work. For road trips I like his soundtrack for Alice in Wonderland, even though it has only one song (Oh Alice dear where have you been… etc.) with lyrics. (No Avril Lavine song)
So much yes.
I firmly believe anyone of sound judgement wishes secretly to be the Pumpkin King.
https://youtu.be/8qrB9I3DM80
I’m a 41-year-old man and Nightmare is one of my all-time favorite movies. I even have plenty of Jack Skellington clothing.
I AM the Pumpkin King!
We’re so used to thinking of it as a Tim Burton film (which in many ways it is) that all too often people forget that it was directed by Henry Selick, who went on to make Coraline among other stop-motion films. He doesn’t always get the credit he deserves for this film.
If you like the music, you should look for the album “Nightmare revisited” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmare_Revisited ). Popular Rock and Metal bands cover the iconic songs, which is quite interesting.
Definitely one of my favorites. We always watch it around Halloween. So many things to love! Lock, Shock and Barrel are fun characters and I love Kidnap the Sandy Claws. I think of it as speaking to the Jewish experience of being in America at Christmas time, though it would apply to anyone from a different culture trying to understand it. I wish we could explore the other doors in the holiday forest! Which one would you pick?
My husband and I love TNBC too. My favorite songs are Oogie Boogie’s song and What’s This? When we first saw it in the theater, I was delighted that Danny Elfman was singing Jack’s songs, and equally crushed that they couldn’t have found a better actor for Jack’s speaking voice. My favorite character is Sally; I love her potions, her determination, and cleverness. It certainly is one of those perfect, landmark movies that stands up to multiple viewings.
My wife’s favorite movie too, and one of mine. We saw it in the theater when first released while we were dating. This led to a healthy addiction to all things Tim Burton, as well as most things stop motion (Laika Studios, Wes Anderson’s stuff, etc.) She’s been drooling over the FP releases for Coraline lately and we were just looking at the NBC 25th ann stuff this morning. If you do like the Laika studios work, check out their new studio store for some cool collectibles. Boxtrolls may be my favorite but there’s not much swag out there for it.
Part of the reason it’s not thought of as a Disney film is that Disney initially didn’t embrace it as one–they released it under their Touchstone Pictures label, which they’d initially created as an outlet for films intended for adults that didn’t fit the family-friendly Disney brand. I think they thought of it as a little too weird, dark and off-image to be Disney. The movie did OK at the box office but wasn’t a monster hit.
Of course, it eventually became a huge cult hit on video, and Disney came around.
I too love this film. (I’m 70…)
Wonderful, wonderful movie. Our favorite holiday film and the soundtrack is one of our holiday standards. I’d say “This is Hallowe’en” is my favorite song from it but I can sing almost the whole thing if I put my mind to it so it’s really hard for me to decide. Sally is my favorite character, actually… “She’s the only one who makes any sense around this insane asylum!”. And we always mock Christmastown for being a sugar-coated dystopia…
Mostly your recommendations don’t appeal to me at all (and get off my lawn–except it’s your lawn here) but this is a fantastic movie. And yes, I think Tim Burton, not Disney.
I’d probably rate Star Wars above this on a favorite movie list because I was there for the first run of the first Star Wars and I think all of film history can be divided into pre-StarWars and post-StarWars. This may be because what I want most in a movie is great visuals.
BUT, I still would rewatch Nightmare now and then, and I don’t have time to rewatch Star Wars.
In the rare category of fave superhero live-action musical gotta go with Joss Whedon’s pre-avengers 2008 “Dr Horrible’s Singalong Blog”, featuring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day. Debut streamed on the internet, but dvd/br still available free from better public libraries everywhere. Signed, fanboy
Not my favorite, that Princess Bride but definitely in the Top 5