I absolutely love The Nightmare Before Christmas . It’s a long-held holiday tradition in our house and one of my favorite films of all time. It’s equal parts Christmas and Halloween and I simply can’t get enough.
Not only could I recite the movie from memory but I’ve managed to compile a few interesting trivia tidbits along the way.
Have a look at these 10+ random facts about The Nightmare Before Christmas that fans didn’t know!
1. Heads literally rolled on set.
Jack is an incredibly expressive character. In order to capture the Pumpkin King’s dynamic emotional range, more than 400 unique Jack Skellington heads were crafted.
I can only imagine what a nightmare sorting those must have been!
2. Tim Burton was inspired by the retail world.
The idea of having Christmas Town and Halloween Town as neighboring villages came from Tim’s real-life experience.
After seeing a store taking down their Halloween decorations on the same day that they happened to also be putting up their Christmas decor, inspiration hit!
3. Marilyn Manson is a huge fan of the film.
If you haven’t heard Manson’s cover of “This Is Halloween,” prepare to have your socks blown clean off!
Strangely enough, it was Disney and not Danny Elfman who made the initial suggestion to bring Marilyn into the fold.
4. For the last time — Tim Burton did not direct the film!
The Nightmare Before Christmas is often lauded as Burton’s crowning achievement and unjustly so. Henry Selick , a contemporary of Burton’s, was the one at the helm.
Tim Burton wasn’t even a producer! So why does he seem to get all the credit?
It’s because Tim Burton wrote the poem “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
It’s true that Burton created some of the characters used in the film.
And sure, it’d be difficult to argue that he didn’t inspire the story, at least in part. But that is where his contributions end.
5. Don’t get your hopes up for a sequel.
Tim Burton has said that he feels incredibly protective over The Nightmare Before Christmas . Because of this, he’s always balked at the idea of a sequel.
So it doesn’t look like we’re ever going to find out who or what lives in Thanksgiving Town.
6. Shooting began before the script was complete.
Stop-motion animation is incredibly painstaking and requires time. When they began filming, there was a loose concept that was The Nightmare Before Christmas but absolutely nothing concrete.
Everything from the music to the dialogue was written on the fly.
7. Jack Skellington was voiced by two different actors.
Whenever you hear Jack speaking throughout the movie, that’s the voice of actor Chris Sarandon.
But whenever Jack happens to break into song and unleashes that brilliantly booming voice — that’s the film’s composer Danny Elfman .
8. Patrick Stewart was fired from the film!
Perhaps ‘cut’ is a better term to use than fired. Sir Patrick was brought on to read the film’s opening monologue .
Not only is Stewart’s version much longer but there’s also a closing monologue as well!
9. Jack Skellington has made cameos in other Henry Selick films!
Yet another classic from my childhood, James and the Giant Peach is a must-see.
During the scene where Mr. Centipede descends to the ocean depths, old Jack is lying in wait!
10. There’s a *Schitt’s Creek* connection that you may have missed.
These days, Catherine O’Hara is most well-known for her mesmerizing performance as Moira Rose.
What you may not have known is that Catherine also voices Sally, as well as the young witch Shock in The Nightmare Before Christmas .
This wasn’t the first time that Catherine and Tim Burton had collaborated with one another.
Catherine was one of Tim’s earliest muses. She played Delia Deetz in the film Beetlejuice and as far as I’m concerned — it’s Tim Burton’s best film.
That, and maybe Edward Scissorhands but I digress…
RELATED STORIES
11. *The Nightmare Before Christmas* was nominated for an Oscar!
The film was nominated for Best Effects/Visual Effects at the 1994 Academy Awards.
Even though the Nightmare team didn’t take home the gold, it was an incredible achievement just to have been nominated in the category.
12. It took a seriously long time to film.
Remember that The Nightmare Before Christmas is a stop-motion animated feature. It took on average twelve different stop motion shots just for one second of the film.
The entire movie is one hour and sixteen minutes; you do the math.
13. There’s more to Zero’s nose than what meets the eye.
I’m not going to lie, I’ve seen this movie more times than I could possibly count and I’ve never noticed this until today.
If you take a look at Zero’s nose, it isn’t a glowing bulb at all. It’s a teeny tiny glowing Jack-O-Lantern!