(Tim Burton's) The Nightmare Before Christmas

US (1993): Fantasy/Animated/Musical

For those who never thought Disney would release a film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped and tortured, well, here it is! The full title is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which should give you an idea of the tone of this stop-action animated musical-fantasy-horror-comedy. It is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator, whose benignly scary-funny sensibility dominates the story. Halloweentown resident Jack Skellington (voiced by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), stumbles on a bizarre and fascinating alternate universe called Christmastown! Directed by Henry Selick, this PG-rated picture has a reassuringly light touch. As Roger Ebert noted in his review, "some of the Halloween creatures might be a tad scary for smaller children, but this is the kind of movie older kids will eat up; it has the kind of offbeat, subversive energy that tells them wonderful things are likely to happen." (Amazon.com)

· Achievement in Visual Effects 1993: Pete Kozachik, Eric Leighton, Ariel Velasco Shaw, Gordon Baker

1 nomination