THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Brilliant stop-motion wonder, but too intense for younger children.
Should You Watch It?
If you are looking for visual artistry, few films offer more. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 72-minute musical built from brilliant stop-motion animation, with eye-popping images and a striking fantasy premise.
But the film is much more focused on Halloween than Christmas. Its comic creatures and slapstick may still be highly intense, especially for younger children and anyone with a history involving the occult. The film also raises a poignant idea about darkness failing to understand light, then weakens that idea with a hyperkinetic finale.
See it with older children and adults who can handle the imagery. For children under 10, choose something gentler.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn a far-off forest, small groves of trees lead to lands devoted to different holidays. Jack Skellington, the king of Halloweentown, grows tired of Halloween and discovers Christmastown.
Jack decides to bring Christmas to his Halloween world. But he does not understand Christmas, and his efforts distort the holiday in dangerous ways.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this film is an exceptional visual and technical achievement. An army of inventive, patient puppeteers created the movie frame by frame through stop-motion animation, producing eye-popping, jaw-dropping entertainment.
The film’s chief weakness is its uneven focus. It spends much more time on Halloween than Christmas, filling the screen with intense images of spooks, bogeymen, bats, bugs, and spiders. Its allegory about darkness failing to comprehend light is poignant, but the hyperkinetic finale squanders some of that promise.
The Worldview
The film imagines separate lands devoted to the festivities of various holidays. Its central contrast is between Halloweentown’s darkness and Christmastown’s light. Jack wants Christmas, but he does not understand what it means, so his attempt turns the celebration into something distorted and evil-looking.
The movie’s redemptive conceit is that those steeped in darkness cannot easily comprehend light. That idea gives the story some moral weight. Yet the film focuses far more on Halloween’s spooks, witches, bogeymen, bats, bugs, and spiders than on Christmas itself. The review’s central concern is that Christmas might have been given deeper meaning if Jack had encountered a Nativity scene in Christmastown.
The film points toward a longing for light but does not clearly ground that light in Christ. Scripture says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Cartoon-style, slapstick violence throughout, involving a huge collection of Halloween creatures, witches, bogeymen, spiders, bugs, etc.; while the intent is comic, many images are far too intense for children under age 10; and extreme caution advised, especially for any who have been involved with, or abused by, the occult although there is a redemptive conceit that runs throughout the movie.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Jack wants Christmas but does not understand it. What does Christmas celebrate, and why does the Nativity matter?
Luke 2:10–11 · John 1:14The film contrasts darkness with light. Where does Scripture say true light comes from, and how does that differ from the film’s holiday worlds?
John 1:5 · John 8:12The story suggests that good intentions do not guarantee good results. How should we test our desires and plans?
Proverbs 14:12 · 1 Thessalonians 5:21Some images are comic in intention but frightening in effect. How can we show care for people whose past experiences make certain images or themes especially difficult?
Romans 15:1–2 · Philippians 2:4The Final Word
This is a remarkable piece of stop-motion filmmaking with a memorable contrast between darkness and light. Its Halloween imagery is also intense, and its Christmas vision never reaches the Nativity’s meaning. For older viewers, it is WORTH THE TRIP — AGES 10 AND UP. For younger children or those affected by occult themes, choose something else.
