Rating:

Beautiful. That’s the best way to describe this new release of the Henry Selick/Tim Burton masterpiece that is The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Jack Skellington is a member of Halloween Town—the group responsible for creating scares and causing Halloween mayhem every year. Just like Easter has the Easter Bunny and Christmas has Santa Claus, we are to believe that Halloween is linked to the inhabitants of Halloween Town.

After years of scaring children, jack has grown bored with his “job” and longs for something new. That something arrives in the form of mysterious doors in the woods representing the holidays of Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and St. Patrick’s Day.

Jack enters the world of Christmas Town and is immediately transfixed by the bright lights and beauty. He returns to Halloween Town with a new mission – to take over Christmas. To achieve that goal, Jack hatches a good-natured (in his eyes) plan that involves kidnapping Santa Clause and having the inhabitants of Halloween Town make all of the toys to be delivered for Christmas.

Needless to say, things don’t work out exactly as Jack had planned. The devious nature  of Halloween Town’s inhabitants arise to thwart Jack’s best laid plans and it’s up to Sally—the Bride of Frankenstein-esque heroine—to help Jack save Christmas.

If you’ve not seen the film, it’s visually hard to describe. Imagine a Tim Burton drawing come to life. Burton’s visuals flow throughout the film and there are several stunning sequences that showcase the amazing stop-motion work of Selick and his crew. In particular, look for “Kidnap the Sandy Claws” and  Jack’s graveyard dance to see what I mean.

This is the third release of this new Disney classic on DVD (with the previous 2 versions being difficult to find) and it’s well worth purchasing again. The video quality alone is beautiful and greatly improved over the original version (which I still have). The video is presented in a a true 1:66 Widescreen – which, again, is better than the original release.

Extras

This set really shines with the extras, but one is a little disappointing.

The commentary track from Burton, Selick, and composer Danny Elfman is newly recorded—but each was recorded separately and edited together. It’s a less interesting commentary, as they reminisce about the film but cannot play off of each others comments and remembrances. Sadly, the original commentary track from the first DVD release is not present.

The Making of Nightmare Before Christmas is a series of shorts the go behind the scenes of the picture and detail the incredible amount of work that goes into making a stop-motion feature.

Also on the first disc for your viewing (or listening) pleasure is Tim Burton’s original poem narrated by Christopher Lee. It’s accompanied by sketches and drawings, but Lee’s voice is commanding enough that the visuals aren’t really needed.

Disc Two offers up the outstanding Tim Burton short films Frankenweenie and Vincent. As entertaining as the main feature, both films should not be overlooked. Frankenweenie is the tale of a boy and his dog, albeit with a Tim Burton twist. Vincent is a poem about an odd little boy narrated fantastically by Vincent Price. Both show many themes that continue to permeate Burton’s movies.

The World of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas is an up close look at the test footage and pre-visualization art that went into creating the three worlds (Halloween Town, Christmas Town, the Real World) in the film.

There are also a few deleted scenes and image galleries, but neither one contains any information worth mentioning.

Lastly, disc 3 contains a digital version of the film for you to play on your iPod (iTunes) or Windows PC. It’s a nice (and unique) feature that essentially lets you take the movie with you.

This DVD set is an absolute must if you’re even a casual fan of the film. The basic enhancements in picture (and sound) alone are worth the price. Add in the phenomenal extra content and you’ve got a great DVD set or a great film at a great price. Pick it up today.