FIRST TIME WATCHING: The Nightmare Before Christmas...call him SANDY CLAWS (Animator Reacts) 

One of the funniest jokes to me is still the mayor, he's literally a two faced politician.

Another cool feature a lot of people don’t notice is the light on Zero’s nose is actually a tiny glowing Jack-o-lantern! When the film first came out on VHS, because of the low visual quality of TVs, lots of people assumed it was just a red/Orange bulb, similar to that of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. When the film was released to DVD and especially Blu-Ray, you could finally SEE the amazing quality and actually tell its a jack-o-lantern!

You mention how this movie is a commentary on selling things early. That is EXACTLY how this movie came to be. Tim Burton was in a store back in the late 80's and saw them selling Christmas and Halloween decorations right next to each other, and it just triggered this fantastic idea for a movie.

The music was done by Danny Elfman and he was also Jack Skellington's singing voice. He was also one of the voices for Lock, Shock, and Barrel, along with Paul Rubens (Pee-Wee Herman). This movie is a masterpeice.

In my opinion Jack was depressed, cuz the way he just get obsessed with the idea of christmas was not normal. And the way he just try to be someone who he is not. Until the end he realize that WHO he really is, is not boring, is not bad.

The thistle flower, turning into a Christmas tree, then burning, was supposed to be Sally having a vision. It was meant to show you that what ever Jack was planning about Christmas, would fail horribly... But that was the only time in the entire movie she has a vision, so a lot of people didn't get it.

What you said about Jack seeming like an artist who isn’t satisfied with what he’s doing, is exactly how Danny Elfman (the writer of the songs and singing voice of Jack) felt about being the lead singer of Oingo Boingo. So he essentially just wrote about how he didn’t want to be in a band anymore but made it spooky

I laughed when you guys said it's not a kid's movie 😂 This was one of my favourite childhood movies! I watched it constantly. It's all made even funnier that I don't like scary, creepy, horror shows and films and never have. But there's something about this movie that is just ... different to me, somehow. My own kids have seen this movie several times since a young age and they enjoy it too.

The film took three years to make. And Tim Burton got all the attention for it thanks to being the big established name as a producer, but the director is actually Henry Sellick, who also did the stop-motion Coraline film.

“It wasn’t a kids movie…” I disagree. We children of the 80s and 90s were trusted with the darker emotions. Our cartoon could be dark, but they were often layered with deeper lessons.

If you guys haven't seen Hocus Pocus, I would die for a reaction! It's my favorite Halloween film.

I might be biased because I grew up watching this (and Tim Burton in general), but I think childhood is the perfect time to see it. I feel like most teens/adults I've shown it to are just kind of 'meh' about it, but every kid loves it. One of my favorite movies and soundtracks of all time. Great reaction!

Jack Skellington was voiced by Chris Sarandon. You’ll remember him as ‘Prince Humperdinck’ in THE PRINCESS BRIDE, the detective in the original CHILD’S PLAY, and the vampire in the original FRIGHT NIGHT. He’s got a really fun, exciting filmography. Sally is voiced by Catherine O’Hara, the mom from HOME ALONE and BEETLEJUICE.

Took me years to realize the joke they were going for with the Mayor. The fact that he has two faces (ha ha) and the line "I'm only an elected official; I can't make decisions by myself!"

Danny Elfman does Jack's singing voice. He's now a famous movie composer but he used to front the 80's band Oingo Boingo.

Best part about this movie is that it’s both a Halloween and a Christmas movie so you can watch it on either Holiday

"This is not a kids movie" oh my,so sensible in this times,I've always loved it as little kid,also coraline,amazing,as kid I've always watched also CSI and the mummy,and loved them

They had separate people for the singing parts. Also, fun fact: the stop motion models had a bunch of different heads that they'd swap out for talking and emotional expressions. The way this was advertised with the teaser trailers, it was a kid's movie. I liked it as a kid and there were even McDonald's kid's meal toys for the movie.

The thing I like most about Oogie Boogey was that he’s entirely a reference to the origins of the boogie man. He used to be called Bugman Bug being an old English word for Evil and then it transformed into Bagman then finally Boogie Man. So they made him an Evil Bag of Bugs.

I had to laugh every time you said this isn't a kids' movie. My dad took me to see this in the theatre when I was 5. He walked out completely traumatized and I thought it was the most awesome thing ever 😂

Is it a Halloween movie? Is it a Christmas movie? The world may never know.🎃☃️🎄👻

fun little music fact i picked up from sideways: during the "making christmas" song, the melody they're using is the dies irae, the ancient chant for death. they're not making christmas, they're killing it!

“Not a kids movie” Nahh us in the 80’s and early 90’s watched this movie all the time, we handled this stuff with a grain of salt and just enjoyed the story and meanings behind the actions. Although this is movie may be a big reason why a bunch of us are obsessed with Halloween. We tend to live the more scary stories and haunted houses.

This is a classic kids film. I loved it as a little kid and I still love it now as a 30 year old.

I loved this movie so much as a kid, I actually remember trying to write a letter to Jack Skellington one year explaining the meaning of Christmas. It was probably the most naive/innocent thing I ever did lol

A CLASSIC! arguably a Christmas movie as well.

You know Nightmare at Christmas is like Die Hard it’s a perfect holiday movie yet you can still watch it out of the holiday season.

I love Catherine O'Hara (Sally) she's such an icon

My kids know all the words to this movie. I am going to make a Nightmare Before Christmas wreath this year so I can keep it up frim Halloween through Christmas.

This movie and corpse bride made me fall in love with claymation it’s so good!

I LOVED this movie as a child (still do ofc). My aunt and uncle introduced it to me thinking it would freak me out- backfired on them when I made my whole family watch it every year after that and now we know the songs by heart haha

"not a kids movie" lol, i watched a lot as a kid! still one of my favorites

If you guys haven't seen The Princess and The Frog, you should! The hand animation is immaculate!

Speaking voice of Jack was actor Chris Sarandon from Princess Bride and Fright Night. Jack's singing voice was Danny Elfman from Oingo Boingo.

Tim Burton only oversaw the production of this. The majority of his attention was on getting the Batman movies completed. Chris Sarandon was brought in to do the dialogue for Jack Skellington. He's well known as the Prince in The Princess Bride and the vampire who moved in next door in the original , and superior, Fright Night. Danny Elfman was slated to be Jack in the beginning but Sarandon was brought in to do just the dialogue while Elfmans vocals were used for the songs. He was the lead singer for Oingo Boingo in 1980s. He moved on from that success to become a reknowned composer for countless hit movies, as I'm sure you already know.

JACK!! I'M ONLY AN ELECTED OFFICIAL, I CAN'T MAKE DECISIONS BY MYSELF!!! LMAO! That line always gets me.

This was one of my favorite childhood movies. I loved everything about. But I think it's funny that you say this is traumatizing for kids movie because to be honest, when I was younger, I didn't think it was scary at all. It was only after I became an adult that I started to realize how horrifying this movie is! I still love it, but man, this is scary!

The intro to this movie is iconic. I love it

🎵This is Halloween This is Halloween This is Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween 🎵

I hadn't seen this movie until 3 years or so ago. Essentially, I was 23 when I first watched it. My sister, who was almost 30 at the time, thought I had watched this movie a million times like she had done as a kid. When I informed her I had never watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" , I don't know if I had ever received a harsher death glare. 🤣🤣

at least oogie was considerate enough to let sally stitch herself back together before her tried killing her

Every time James says “that’s cool” or “that’s so cool” take a shot of something 😂🥃

i love when people get scared of stop motion movies or say they aren’t for kids because all these movies were my absolute favorite growing up

IM so sad that Henry Selick wasn't more noticed for this than Tim burton. once CinemaSins said that Henry Selick is called a discount Tim burton but there is literally SO MUCH EVIDENCE that Tim burton is a discount Henry Selick. Edit: there is also a film thing on Netflix that interviews everybody who worked on it and talks about all of that and it's really interesting.

I remember you saying this one was a little too weird for you which I can understand. I grew up with this movie so every "spooky" animation gets compared to it automatically lol. Idk I love how dark it is. I think it opened a lot of doors for similar animation styles.

I loved this movie as a kid. I remember my mum and aunt taking me and my cousin to see it at the cinema in '93. I was amazed but my cousin had nightmares for weeks haha.

I loved how concerned James was with SantaClaus well being and Sally's destiny. his facial expressions through out the video are everything. Very Sweet

going to your whole “this is not a kids movie” point, the music did interest me enought as a (very yound) child to have my parents buy me the vhs, but the visuals scared me, so i didnt watch it for YEARS after that. but i went back to it when i was around 10, and ive watched it at least once every year afterward. i can now say its one of my favourite films, for the story like, music, and visuals. i love tim burton as it is, but this was my introduction to his films and film style.

1) I actually did grow up watching this as a child🤣. It was a tradition for my sister and I to watch it every Christmas Eve. Surprisingly it didn't scare me although I'm scared of everything. 2) My sister told me that it can be seen as a take on cultural appropriation. Idk if that's intentional or not but it blew my mind to see it in that perspective because I always saw it as "Jack going through a long journey of learning self-acceptance" lol 3) In your free time you should really check out Ken Page's (voice of Oogie Boogie Man) live performance of the song. He still sounds AMAZING doing it. 4) yes this was another movie that I ran to tell my sister that "the cousins" are watching. You're officially a household name.

This is literally my comfort movie ❤

It's a little early for Halloween, but WOW!! Love this movie, and my sister likes it, as well. It was nominated for Best Visual Effects but lost to JURASSIC PARK. It was a box office disappointment, but gained a positive critical response.

When I was a kid Coraline traumatized me, and I didn't watch it for years after my first watched it. But I loved The Nightmare Before Christmas, and I have no idea why. I think it was Jack's character design, I thought he was cool I guess.

frankenweenie, the corpse bride, and paranorman are also a must see

Fun fact: Catherine O’Hara (aka Moira Rose) is the voice of Sally and the female tick-or-treater

The whole soundtrack is awesome. Some of his best works

I actually experienced the Halloween overlay on the haunted mansion (where they do up the ride to look more like if Jack had landed on the ride and tried to make it more festive) before I saw the movie. I’ve loved it ever since

So fascinating. Different generations see this so differently. To me this is absolutely a kids movie. Then again, we grew up with the Dark Crystal, The Secret of NIMH, Watership Down, Legend etc… So this in comparison is just a whole lot of fun.

Halloween and Christmas used to be the same celebration and went from November the 5th to February the 2nd, that's why you still sometimes have scary movies on at Christmas :)

5:36, that was achieved with something called the Beam Splitter, where they plaed the stop motion puppet in front of a mirror, moved the puppet in front of a blue screen, then blended the foreground and background together.

22:20 interesting you say that, bc Burton got the idea when he was at a store and they were taking down the Halloween merchandise and replacing it with Christmas... He was inspired by the juxtaposition. Also very random, but I have to point out that Sally was performed by the mom in Beetlejuice/Home Alone and Jack's speaking voice is Prince Humperdinck from Princess Bride. The scientist is the grumpy uncle in Christmas Vacation. Loving this reaction, you made good points about this movie, which I never thought of despite first seeing this a year after it came out. Btw I was 11 and loved it; wasn't scared at all. I think it's very much a kid's movie 🤷 but definitely for adults as well.

I screamed when I saw this notification, this makes me so happy especially since this is a classic Halloween/Christmas movie that have been with us for years, thank you!

This movie is all about feeling and mood. It’s so ingrained in my memory that I can’t say that I’m even capable of watching this movie analytically. That would be like me critically thinking about breathing air. It’s something I simply can’t describe.

As a very young child, Boogey scared the hell out of me! As a teenager, I fell for the angsty one-sided romance storyline between Sally and Jack…. And now as an 33 year old adult, I just laugh so much because everyone my age loves “spooky season” and this whole movie is basically the vibe we all love…

Jack's voice is Danny Elfman, formerly lead singer of the band Oingo Boingo and composer of more movie scores than I'll try to name.

Love this movie, it been a tradition to watch it every year since it came out!

Them talking about how this isn't a kid's movie and how traumatizing this movie would be as a kid, meanwhile this was one of my favorite movies by the age of 7 or 8 if not earlier

This is Halloween! 🍁🎃 Hearing you guys talking about the animation and filmmaking of this movies is great. Fun fact: the composer for the movie, Danny Elfman, provided the singing voice for Jack.

I saw this movie in theaters when it came out, when I was 10. I was marketed towards kids. It is definitely a kids flim. We had a lot of darker films back then. It was great.

Watching this reaction gets me hyped for Halloween, and it's only late September!

Funny you mention a sequel, because there's very recently a book sequel, either going to be published or already published, which tells a story of Sally's struggle of now being the Pumpkin Queen and the stress that comes with having that title

I was born in 1988 and I would watch this movie literally over and over again until I had to go to bed as a kid. I know this movie verbatim, from the songs to the regular dialogue and even the movements. I absolutely loved this movie as a child and it's my all time favourite movie to this day 😊

All 4 of my kids loved this movie and still do.... and they were born in 1994, 2000, and 2002. This movie was NOT a Disney movie at first. I remember seeing this movie in the theater at 10A the day it came out! It was so different from everything else at the time and really ushered in a mainstreaming of macabre style. The person who voiced Jack is also the person who wrote all the music and was the singer of the band Oingo Boingo before that... his name is Danny Elfman. He also did the music for the original Beetlejuice starring Michael Keaton. If you have not seen that movie I highly recommend it.

There is a wonderful conspiracy that Jack is the undead Grinch. He has a dog and has a renewed love for Christmas. It really makes you think if the Grinch died he might be a perfect Jack Skellington and once seeing Christmas town would remember the day his heart grew three sizes in one day. Great reaction. Much love and keep on keepin on J.

Another great stop motion for you guys to watch would be “Fantastic Mr. Fox” one of my favorite stop motions as well as movies. Love you guys!

2:52 actually Disney didn’t originally have their name on it. They felt it was too dark for children and instead of change it they released it under touchstone pictures instead. It wasn’t until years later when it became a cult classic that Disney put its name on it and starting selling its product and added it to the parks plus started doing an overlay for haunted mansion.

I grew up with this movie and never thought it was weird lol

Jack skellington was my first crush as a child, 5 years old. We watched it every Christmas (and every day for 1 whole year), it was absolutely amazing to me and still is. This year our 18 month old son will get his first taste of this classic and i cannot wait :) so glad you reacted to this

My kid's loved this movie, And they weren't traumatized". Now we play it for my grandkids, And they love it too". I'm glad you both enjoyed it in your own ways. Take care..xx

Watch out for Ghibli, the copyright strikes have taken down 2 channels i watch for the reason they never respond back when contacted. Just a heads up.

3:05, the 15th anniversary IMAX version had Patrick Stewart narrate the misadventures of Jack and his friends.

Sweet Halloween or Creepy Christmas movies are pretty rare. "Gremlins" is also a mix of both.

After this, you guys should react to James and the giant peach.

I was a 80/90's kid and you'll be surprised what was a kids films. Times weren't so strict back then.

Danny Elfman was the singing voice for Jack. He also wrote and directed the music for this and MANY other movies, including most of Tim Burton movies. He also was the lead singer for the 80’s band “Oingo Boingo”. Chris Sarandon does Jack’s speaking voice. He was in other movies like the vampire in the 80’s horror hit “Fright Night”.

I love how much you appreciate how awesome this stop motion animation is. Even if you hated the plot or story, you have to give praise to the impressive feat of animation.

The cool thing is Henry Selick still has Santa Jack and his full sleigh on display since it was his favorite apparently.

My day was pretty horrible, I had several anxiety attacks, so I am looking forward to this reaction.

3:54 On the original VHS from 1993-94, wires holding up the bats here were visible. I know that on account of watching the VHS a hundred times. I guess in later versions the wires were edited out.

When Sally sees the tree going into flames, that's her seeing a vision of it going wrong.

I have grown up with this movie! My sister and I would parade around the living room to the intro at 3 years old! It's so beautifully done and will always be a classic! Fun little fact: when they were making this, they were also in the process of making James and the Giant Peach. So they used Jack's heads they had made to animate the underwater pirate king!

Fun fact; Oogie Boogie was heavily inspired from Betty Boop’s “Old Man of the Mountain” character. They traced over the old animations, trying out different animals to find a look they liked, most often as a walrus, and that likely led to Oogie’s body shape.

Not sure why I feel so sad in this moment. But thank you guys so much for sharing. I just love watching movies 🍿 Always bring me up. 🙂

Have y’all seen Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox or Isle of Dogs? I’d be surprised if you haven’t, seeing as they’re pretty iconic. They are absolute master pieces and it’s not only the stop motion that makes it that way. If you haven’t, I’d seriously recommend you consider checking them out. I’m very passionate about this

YES YES YES!! This IS my Halloween and Christmas movie! I watch this movie on both holidays 🌌🖤💀 I honestly know EVERY line in this movie! I watch this every year since I was a child

Bruh, the Vampire teddy bear has got to be one of this movies most underrated characters I- 😔

This was my daughter's favourite film when she was 4! She'd just call it Halloween, though, so we'd get some odd looks from other parents when she talked about it at the playground 😅

I always loved the darker themes in kids media. My favorite books and movies always had some sort of horror aspect to them. Don't underestimate what children can and cannot handle

I LOVE YOU GUYS… I love the innocence and excitement of Nine Tailed Brush’s reaction when This is Halloween intro came on 3:05

When this came out, I was in kindergarten and it was my favorite animated movie for the longest time.

This is the one movie I've been dying for you to react to! I grew up watching The Nightmare Before Christmas literally every single day. As a kid, I just wanted to keep watching it on Loop over and over again. And now I have the whole script memorized thanks to that. XD but I'm still happy you did this reaction! 💖🎃🎄 Also Jack Skellington was voiced by Chris Sarandon, but because Danny Elfman did prerecording of all the songs, Tim Burton himself asked Elfman to be the singing voice for Jack.♡