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: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 Academy Award-nominated, stop-motion animated musical film about the inhabitants of Halloween Town who take over Christmas, directed by stop-motion animator Henry Selick. The film is loosely based on drawings and a poem by Tim Burton, and he served as co-producer. He did not direct the film as is sometimes believed, but he was heavily involved.

: The film was originally released by Touchstone Pictures, a label owned by the Walt Disney Company, because it was considered inappropriate to use the Walt Disney Pictures banner due to the darker content displayed in this film.

: The remastered 3-D version of the film was re-released by Walt Disney Pictures on October 20, 2006. Note that it is 3-D via 3-D glasses and not CGI.[1] With a total of over 600 theaters now equipped with the Real D projectors, the film will be re-re-released once again on October 19, 2007. [2] A preview for the re-release was presented before Meet the Robinsons
: Plot
: At the beginning of the film, we are introduced to Halloween Town, an alternate world where the annual holiday of Halloween is constructed, and to its biggest celebrity and the film's main character, Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King. Although Jack is loved and respected by the townspeople, he has grown tired of the repetitiveness of Halloween and feels that there is something missing from his life. While wandering in the woods after one such Halloween, with his loyal ghost dog, Zero, Jack discovers a circle of trees he has never seen before, a nexus to several holiday-themed worlds. Each tree has a door on it with different icons from the holiday seasons, such as a four leaf clover or a heart, but Jack is immediately attracted to the door in the shape of a Christmas tree. When Jack opens this Christmas tree door, he is sucked into a town filled with snow, lights, and happiness. Jack is mesmerized by all the colors and cheerfulness, and realizes that this may be what he has been searching for.

: Upon his return to Halloween Town, Jack immediately calls for a town meeting. During the meeting he reveals several of the artifacts he brought with him from Christmas town. Unfortunately, the denizens of Halloween Town only think in terms of how these toys could be used for Halloween. Frustrated from the misunderstandings, Jack describes the ruler of Christmas Town in the only way the town members can understand: as a lobster-red creature possessing a deep voice and riding his sleigh "like a vulture in the sky," his name, "Sandy Claws". Distraught by his friends' inability to understand Christmas, Jack locks himself in his house and performs multiple experiments to try to understand the meaning of Christmas. He finally comes to the realization that believing in Christmas is all it takes and he informs the town of his intention to take over Christmas for that year. Sally, who is secretly in love with Jack, has a vision about the disasters to come and tries to warn him that taking over something he knows nothing about may be a bad idea. However, Jack is too wrapped in his fantasies to listen.

: Jack assigns each of the townspeople certain duties in order to make Christmas theirs, including having Sally sew Jack a Santa Claus outfit and having Dr. Finklestein bring several skeleton reindeer to life. In order to complete this takeover, Jack enlists the help of a trio of young trick or treaters named Shock, Lock, and Barrel to "Kidnap the Sandy Claws." After mistakenly kidnapping the Easter Bunny, the trio bring Santa Claus to Jack, who warns them not to take Santa to their master, a gambling addict bogeyman named Oogie Boogie, but they end up doing so anyway. Despite Jack's efforts to make their Christmas joyful, the townspeople end up mixing the ideas of Christmas and Halloween, creating twisted toys and decorations.

: Now Christmas eve, Jack embarks from Halloween Town to share Halloween Town's toys with the whole world. Sally attempts to stop Jack's departure by creating a fog bank, but Zero's glowing jack-o-lantern nose allows Jack to see through the thick fog. The citizens of the real world are not so receptive to the Halloween-themed toys Jack delivers and begin to call police reporting attacks from toys and a "flying skeleton." Soon after, the military is called in to deal with the Santa Claus impostor, eventually shooting Jack out of the sky. At the same time, Sally sets off to rescue Santa Claus in order to set things right. However, during her rescue attempt she is also captured by Oogie Boogie who perversely gambles with both of their lives over a large cauldron of lava. The other citizens of Halloween Town witness Jack being shot down, and, fearing the worst, begin to mourn his death. Meanwhile, the citizens of the real world are being informed that since the real Santa Claus can't be found Christmas must be canceled.

: Upon regaining consciousness in a graveyard amongst the wreckage of his failed Christmas, Jack hears the news of the cancellation of Christmas and realizes his foolishness. He realizes that his role in life is to be the Pumpkin King and vows to make the next Halloween the best ever. In an effort to save this Christmas, Jack returns to Halloween Town to save Santa Claus. He rushes to Oogie's lair to rescue both Sally and Santa Claus and in defeating Oogie reveals him to be nothing more than a sack full of bugs. The villain meets a terrible demise in the lava pit, and the only remaining bug is crushed under the foot of Santa Claus himself. After scolding Jack and telling him that Sally is "the only one who makes sense in this insane asylum", Santa magically floats out the chimney and restores peace to the real world by replacing all of Jack's presents. Jack returns to Halloween Town to the great joy of its citizens. As he returns, Santa flies over Halloween Town, and with a greeting of "Happy Halloween", he brings snow to the town. Thus, the citizens of Halloween Town finally understand the Christmas spirit.

: In the end, Jack finally comes to appreciate what Sally has attempted to do for him. Even though she still cannot admit her feelings, he can, and he makes the first move. The final line of the movie has the two of them realizing that they are "meant to be". They embrace and kiss on the curly Moonlight Hill while Zero watches from afar.



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