"(Tim Burton’s) The Nightmare Before Christmas” Did you know there’s a book?
Well, a poem, really, and you probably did, but regardless, we’re gonna have a look…
And ALSO and also, THE BIGGEST HIDDEN GEM
JACK IS A FATHER!?
Oh where to begin?
Yeah!
Did you know that our beloved “Booonneee Daddddy” could really be a, welp…
Bone Daddy?
As in a father to skeleton childrens?
From the movie, it’s pretty clear that Jack Skellington is quite popular with… everyone.
“Oh JACK!
You make wounds ooze and flesh crawl!”
He even sings about how he can “scare the pants” off of anyone.
(Ok, maybe I took that a bit out of context.)
Yet even still, he didn’t know about kissing until his adventure into Christmas Town?...
Once the cat's out of the bag on that one, maybe he and Sally just went nuts?
It COULD make sense that he WOULD have offspring eventually… there is just the teeny-tiny
matter of the life-dampening nature of Halloween Town itself that gets in the way of that but…
MORE ON THAT in a bit, though!
Now, since Nightmare came out, there have been expansions to the lore and world in the
form of a prequel (“Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas The Pumpkin King,” which
takes place earlier in the timeline - just before the movie), and a Sequel (“Tim Burton’s
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge, which takes place just AFTER the movie events
in the timeline, and where Jack defends his Pumpkin King title from OB yet again, and
a few illustrated gems and stories as well.
But today, we’re going to look at the poem that started it all - which, later turned
into a book that was written and illustrated by Tim Burton, and published in September of 1993 (I’m
using the 20th anniversary edition, by the way)
And another (VERY IMPORTANT) little forgotten lore Gem…
The original poem is sort of a twist on the “Night Before Christmas” poem, and was
originally intended to be a sort of short, “for TV” little Holiday special, and not
the longer movie we have today.
It was a short poem written by Tim Burton, which was later turned into a book illustrated
by him.
NOW we have the chicken and the egg problem with the illustrations - which ones were Burton’s
before production of the movie, and which ones were illustrated after the movie was
in near-final form, for the express purpose of the book, and influenced by the movie?
Many of Burtons’ drawings and sensibilities appear in the movie, which was directed by
Henry Selick, who also has awesome style!
Because I tend to overanalyze... everything, I did write many many more pages for this
video comparing the book illustrations to what ultimately ends up in the movie, but
because I cannot know for sure which drawings came first in each instance, I feel uncomfortable
doing that literal comparison without all the facts.
I hope you understand, and if you do know which drawings came when, I am so interested!
Please let me know in the comments.
Thank you!
All that said, we are now going to dive into the poem text (and sometimes visuals) vs.
the movie.
Brevity of the original vision and nature of poem in mind, I find it interesting to
see just what was kept, what was changed, and what was fleshed-out more to make a fuller-length
animation along the way!
Before getting in too deep, there ARE some differences between the original 1993 edition
of the poem book and the 20th Anniversary Edition, which I’ll bring up again during
our analysis as relevant.
Generally, typsetting/font, and placement of text v. illustration are different between
the versions (Like the text and image switch pages left and right.
Older text is sometimes on the images themselves), and some text appears grouped together on
different pages entirely.
Some illustrations that were full-page in the 1993 edition are now windowed, and some
that were windowed in the old version are now full-page images in the new version.
The 20th anniversary edition has new illustrations and (I think) reworkings of some of the older
sketchy ones.
The story does not change, we just get some more illustrations!
But because I’m looking at text primarily, none of that really matters…
Ok, into it!
No Halloween Halloween festivities here to kick things off here!
The book starts out “late one fall in Halloweenland,” with Jack, morose, alone, and bemoaning lack
of something new - a silhouette in full yellow moon, on the iconic spiral hill, jack-o’-lanterns
below.
This FEELS very similar to the movie.
The poem mentions (and shows) Jack’s signature Bat bow tie, so that’s a Burton original,
and then Zero, who does have the glowing jack-o’-lantern nose, but who emerges from a slightly different-looking
tombstone.
Jack, feeling empty, wanders into the forest (which looks just like the movie hills and
trees!) accompanied by Zero and a jack-o’-lantern sunshine (which ALSO appears in the movie).
He stumbles upon “THREE massive doorways carved in wood.”
Now, the text does NOT mention what the doorways are, but the accompanying illustration shows
them to be a Heart, a Tree, and a painted Egg.
This is different that the movie, which opens with the 7 doors representing US secular holidays
as well as commercially popular christian holidays.
In the movie they don’t seem to be in calendar order in their circle arrangement.
So NOT QUITE a “wheel of the year” ordeal.
(That’s 8, by the way).
The poem only has 3 doors, maybe to keep the scope small?
Anyway, we’re going to reference these trees again in the later part of the video, so stay
sharp!
Jack opens “one special door” to “a white, windy flurry.”
(Just like the flakes from the movie!)
An illustration of him falling into a very similar portal as the movie, then Plop!
He’s in Christmas Town!
I like to think this book pumpkin-man influenced this movie Jack-snowman here, but Chicken
and Egg!
It’s cute all the same.
Just like in the movie, Jack is delighted by this new world, and steals “everything
that glows” so his friends won’t think him a liar.
My favorite from the poem that is not in the movie: Jack steals the letter “C” from
the “Christmas Town” sign, (making it “histmas Town” (Like a snake!))
He also swipes all other odds and ends, in the complete opposite spirit of the winter
holidays.
He steals it from people too: stockings full of presents, candy, toys, a picture of Santa
and the elves, lights, ornaments, snow, and even the main star from the tree.
In the movie he steals quite a lot more, including a vehicle to tow everything back home.
He also presents his findings at a town hall meeting as well, and the citizens gathered
DO look quite familiar (although, if they were drawn after or during the movie, that’s
probably why?)
Amid many sheet ghosts, I see the witches, a Dr. Finklestein-looking being and their
Sally-type construct, the devil, corpse kid, werewolf, tear-away-face clown, vampire, a
sack man (Hey Oogie?), and someone that looks like the Mayor!
Jack’s obsessive experimental phase lasts only one page in the book.
This is something that was much much more elaborate in the animation, and honestly,
some of my favorite scenes!
(That snowflake was so cool!)
Anyway, in the book the trick-or-treaters kidnap Santa next page.
The poem describes them as “weird little creatures in strange disguise.
They were altogether ugly and rather petite.”
So, not quite the details of Lock Shock and Barrel, although the drawing here looks very
very close to the scene in the movie.
(In the 20th anniversary edition, we get to see the familiar faces of Lock, Shock and
Barrel in a spot on the page opposite) They don’t accidentally bring the Easter bunny!
Anyway, Jack introduces Santa Claus (not Sandy Claws) to the citizens of Halloweenland, and
then, like the movie, just sorta states that HE is going to be Santing-this year!
Oh, and Santa can lay in Jack’s coffin and yell “Boo!”
Zero gets to be a Hero in the original poem too! - a nasty fog rolls in, and Zero saves
the day!
(Or, night?!)
In the movie, Sally tries a last ditch-effort to keep Jack from flying off and uses her
super-hidden stash of Fog Juice to thwart the mission.
Same result - fog for Zero to shine so bright in!
The poem absolutely makes reference to Jack’s “coffin sleigh” and “skeleton deer,”
and the accompanying illustration looks SOOOOOO close to the shot in the movie it’s scary.
The toys that Jack bestows are VERY close to what ended up in the movie.
While we don’t have a “making Christmas” song and scenes in the poem, we DO have a
“vampire teddy bear with very sharp teeth,” “a monstrous train with tentacle tracks,”
and “a man-eating plant disguised as a wreath.”
(Note: the wreath illustration was NOT in the 1993 version of the book that I’ve seen,
but it IS drawn in the 20th Anniversary Edition, still lookin hungry!)
Also, bonus poem toys, “baby doll possessed by a demon,” “a ghoulish puppet wielding
and ax,” and “a gumby and pokey from the grave?”
Illustrations present that are not explicitly mentioned in the text: the Cat-Jack-in-the-Box,
which IS in the movie.
Just like in the movie, Jack mistakenly thinks missiles celebratory fireworks and gets blasted
out of the sky, says “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night” after being
shot down, landing in a graveyard to have a good cry.
He is MUCH more melodramatic in the movie, but we don’t have time for that in a short
poem so…
Anyway, Santa somehow meets him in the graveyard, gently scolds him, and sets off to make Christmas
right.
Jack does NOT have to save Santa and Sally from Oogie, but regardless, Santa brings Christmas
to Halloween.
13b) Taking the poem as written text by itself, what bringing “Christmas to the land of
Halloween” means is open to interpretation.
Presents?
Candy?
But if you look at it in combination with the illustration, it means snow.
Snow means Christmas I guess.
Anyway, Look at that hill!
Look at this shot!
Chicken or Egg!?
They look so similar!
Cool!
This is the end of the poem, but in the movie, with this snowfall, every citizen now finally
understands the wonder that Jack was trying to impart.
Guess all he really wished for was snow in autumn land, so… climate change?
Does this whole planetary mess have to do with Jack Skellington’s meddling in other
holidays?
Kidding of course.
It’s irresponsible to blame fictional characters for real-world problems.
Anyway, The End.
In both the poem and the animation, Jack has a Mid-afterlife crises?
Mid-death crises?
The story beats stay mostly in tact between them, even if the Poem is more of a literal
skeleton of a story.
Sorry.
The animation is SO MUCH RICHER - characters, songs, world-building, romance, betrayal,
super spooky science, a buggy villain, and even a redemption arch, because it COULD be,
and because it HAD to be.
In the poem, we never see how Christmas was made right, but for the movie, Selick made
sure all the creepy macabre toys were replaced with happy, age-appropriate ones.
Another change that was made to make the movie less... nightmarish(?) - the clown with the
tear-away-face originally had a REALLY bloody and awful face beneath, but was deemed to
“rough,” so it ended up being the super-NOT-nightmare-inducing gaping hole of void with a deep disembodied
voice instead.
So, that was all fun, but my most recent obsession within Nightmare came from… inside a bargain
bin.
From a gem in a jewel case…
And it takes place MANY YEARS LATER in the movie/game lore timeline.
Story time!
Hang in real tight and buckle up because we need to take two quick memory lane detours.
I saw Nightmare in theatres when it first came out.
Should I have been there?
Probably not.
But you see, my uncle was a Christmas fa nat ic.
He was the jolliest guy and even had Santa’s belly AND bowl-of-jelly laugh.
Needless to say, if there was a christmas movie playing, we had to see it.
And NightmareBC has “Christmas” in the title, so you KNOW we were there.
He had no clue what it was about beforehand and also had the unfortunate habit of falling
asleep 2 minutes into the trailers.
So.
Baby me.
Face to face with deathly specters, skinless skeletons and the literal stuff of nightmares.
Thinking What.
Is.
This?!
So much of myself was formed that day and I didn’t even realize it.
I must have blacked out most of it after watching the film, but avoiding that under-bed monster
and stair fiend worked their way into my unconscious daily quirks for years
Anyway, all that to say, I was a baby and had zero purchasing power for extras when
the movie came out, and I was unaware of the extras, too.
Flash forward to THIS very spooky season and…
I'm pursuing the bookstore like you do, gathering up literary treasures when I get a funny feeling
to check the cds.
When was the last time I even bought a cd?
Heck if I know.
I had no idea what I was searching for, but I knew when I found it: TB’s NBC OST.
From 1993! WITH all the original printed materials.
I popped that puppy into the car CD player so fast (err I paid for it first…
I am no longer a baby) and expected to start singing along but….
no!
There was an Opening (that is not quite the poem I knew) read by none other than Sir Patrick
Stewart!
A Trick?
NO!
A treat!
Then of course all the movie songs and scores, but then… something in the Closing (also
read by Stewart) made me stop 30 feet before a stop sign: Jack has kids.
What?!
I'll tell you the lines in just a second, but there is NO transcript of them online
that I found so far.
Even in the Original Soundtrack CD jewel case with all original booklets and materials intact,
there is no transcript of Stewart's lines.
All the song’s lyrics are printed, but not this mysterious Opening and Closing…
Imagine a wistful, reminiscing Santa figure saying the line:
“I’m still rather fond of that skeleton man.
So, many years later, I thought I’d drop in!
And there was Old Jack, still looking quite thin
With 4 or 5 skeleton children at hand, playing strange little tunes in their xylophone band.”
I saw two paths before me and I strayed out of thought and time.
Pumpkins wheeled overhead, and every second was as long as the life age of the earth.
Then I snapped out of it, finished the drive home and have been obsessing about those lines
since.
I see two possibilities here: One: Those skeletons are from the hanging tree, just chilling and
filling the downtime between Halloweens with some beats.
Jack clearly also likes to sing - Nightmare is a musical, afterall!
Maybe they have their own spooky band.
They seemed like smaller skeletons than Jack in the movie, maybe giving off the appearance
of “children?”
OR Two: These skeletons are Jack’s “offspring,” as it were.
But for this to be the case, major work arounds MUST have been in place.
For Halloween town is in a perpetual state of frozen decay.
What do I mean by that?
Nothing grows, nothing dies, but everything just IS in a limbo state.
Autumn is my favorite time of year - but peak season only really lasts 1 week.
Why?
The things I like best are those same things in transition - leaves changing, crops ripening,
what was growing all summer is now going back to seed - decaying, rotting, back to the earth.
It’s a tricky time; blink and you’ll miss it.
Halloween Town, however, has all the best the season has to offer, without the fallout
- it’s like that perfect Autumn Week frozen in time - the pumpkins and jack o lanterns
don't seem to rot, no leaves grow or fall.
We don’t see the beginnings of growing things, or their endings.
Halloweentown is like a single moment in time, but time absolutely passes, as we can see
by the moon phases (which is full on Halloween, then a crescent, then full near christmas)
and the constant turning of the clocks in both Halloween and Christmas towns, but nothing
seems to age.
Deadly poison doesn't kill, and that’s not for Sally’s lack of trying - “Deadly Nightshade”
just “wears off” of Dr Finklestein.
No one dies here.
They joke about it, and use “I hope he hasn’t died” as a colloquialism, but nothing does.
Nothing decays either, it seems - perpetually dead and dried thistles make a few appearances
throughout the movie (the ones that give Sally her premonition and then later, are used for
her own petal divinations), but they’re never FRESH thistles.
I think things are not born, (that seems more of a “spring” holiday theme.)
they just ARE.
I think the Corpse Children are always Corpse Children, and will always be Corpse Children.
Dr. Finklestein CAN animate piles of bones and whatever Sally is made of (fabric and
stuffing?)
But I think nothing new is organically made.
It seems to me the only way to create new life and break this non-cycle is through Dr.
Finklestein’s machinery.
The citizen count of Halloween town does not seem to go up, even though Jack is popular
in a wow wow way with many citizens.
(Not to put all that on Jack.
Just saying, there is clearly a... drive… alive in town…)
Sally also has a thirst for him, and they do share a connection.
I'm going to posit that Jack and Sally are in fact spending their eternity together,
now and forever.
Maybe they eventually wanted kids.
Physically, I don't know how that would work between a (presumably) seedless skeleton and
a stuffing filled sewn marvel.
(I mean, I guess Jack DOES have bone eyelids?
Anything is possible, I suppose?)
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY: I don't think new life can grow organically in Halloween town.
My thoughts are that Dr. Finklestein and Sally mended their bridges, or the Doctor was so
taken with himself 2.0 that he was happy to help, or Jack, as The Pumpkin King decreed
it, but in any case, Dr Finklestein used his tech to build and electrify some odd podge
piles of bones to life, like he did the reindeer.
Voila!
Eureka!
Baby Bone Daddies!
But OH NO!
We are NOT quite done on this Halloween-and-Christmastime Easter-Egg hunt!
We know in the book there were 3 doors and 7 in the movie.
However, from the Closing , we have evidence that the other holidays had no clue of each
others’ existence before Jack’s meddling.
Post Jack, according to the Closing: “But after that night, things were never the same:
Each Holiday now knew the other ones’ name!”
So, all 7 Tree Holidays now know about the others.
My brain is afire imagining all of those crossovers!
After the many years have passed, Original Sound Track Santa visits Jack and asks if
he would redo his past Christmas takeover: “Think carefully, Jack, would you do the
whole thing over again, Knowing then what you know now, knowing now
what you knew then?
And he smiled like the old Pumpkin King that I knew
Then turned, and asked softly of me… wouldn’t you?”
Hmmm hmm hm.
Nostalgic Multi-Holiday Swap In The Works?!
And, finally, something the Coraline fans out there have probably already gobbled up:
Selick used Jack’s head as, well, not an easter, but in an EGG in “Coraline!”
Mmmn.
Bet THAT Other Mother meal was particularly high in calcium!
After digging up this jewel-cased gem of a treasure, I think my world is a bit more complete.
It fuelled my overactive imagination just like the movie did back in the day (although
I am waaaay less afraid of the monsters than baby me was.
I think.)
But what are some of your favorite parts of the movie, books, games, and or soundtrack?
Let me know in the comments below!
Hey Friends and Fiends!
Thank you for getting creepy with me here at the near-end of the year!
I hope you enjoyed the video, and do like and subscribe if this spooky is your jam.
Ok, see you soooooonnn…
Good bye!