Dear reader,
did you ever thought about
the holidays we celebrate? Easter, Valentines Day, Halloween,
Christmas? The animated film “Nightmare Before Christmas” by Tim
Burton is just about that!
Jack Skellington is a
skinny skeleton in a black-and-white striped suit and the head of
Halloween Town, who's people are responsible for Halloween. Jack is
sad. For a while now he didn't have fun scaring others and he wants
something else. Only he doesn't know what that might be. During a
walk he comes to another town: Christmas Town. Everything there is
snowy and has a wonderful scent and everybody has fun and is happy.
Also there's supposedly somebody huge and red and he brings presents.
Jack finds out that this somebody is called “Sandy Claws”.
Wonderful!
Jack wants this Christmas, too. He'll be preparing for the next one
himself. Three kids, usually out to collect sweets are send by Jack
to kidnap Sandy Claws so that Jack can do his job. Although Jack
specifically tells the kids not to bring Sandy Claws to Oogie Boogie,
that's exactly what they do. Oogie Boogie is the only really mean and
scary person in Halloween Town and ready to kill somebody just to be
entertained, that's especially true for this oh so great Sandy Claws.
Jack doesn't see any of
that coming and everybody is excited. Only Sally is very worried.
She's a bit like the Frankenstein monster stitched together and is
held captive by her creator, Doctor Finkelstein in his castle. She
likes Jack. Jack doesn't quite see that. In a vision she sees
Christmas go completely and utterly wrong, so she does everything she
can, to stop Jack's plan. Jack doesn't listen to her at all.
Christmas goes totally wrong and ends in Jack being shot down with
his flying sleigh. Only then does he realise how wrong he was,
although he had meant well. Sandy Claws has to come back! Will Jack
rescue him and with that Christmas in time? You've got to find out
for yourself!
Like many animated films
by Tim Burton, “Nightmare Before Christmas" has many songs and it's
a kind of musical. The music was written by his permanent partner,
the composer Danny Elfman. The latter also was the singing voice for
Jack Skellington. Although Danny Elfman does the singing for demos of
his songs, his voice is not heard in the films. That's what makes
“Nightmare Before Christmas” something special for fans. When I
saw the film for the first time, I didn't know Tim Burton as such, I
have to admit. I knew his films – in hindsight – but the name got
familiar for me only after “Nightmare Before Christmas”. I was
lucky to see that film when a professor at uni offered to show it to
those willing to come one afternoon before Christmas holidays. Being
handicapped myself, I was fascinated with Sally and her body parts
stitched together. One scene especially is just brilliant, when she
runs away from the castle of the doctor to see Jack. She jumps out of
the window. For a moment you almost believe she died from the jump.
She's lying there motionless on the ground. But then she moves and
stitches one of her arms tight to the rest again in a very resolute
way. It's gone loose from the jump.
Jack was a very special
character for Danny Elfman at the time the movie was made in 1993.
His music career started in about 1972 when he started in the music
group formed by his brother Richard Elfman. When Richard wanted to
quit, Danny took over the group and it was cut from 20 to just 8
people and went on to be a New Wave/Ska/Punk/Rock Band: Oingo Boingo.
They recorded their first album “Only A Lad” in 1980. According
to Danny Elfman he still doesn't get it why the young director Tim
Burton wanted him of all people to write the music for his first big
film “Pee Wee's Big Adventure” in 1985. That's how Danny Elfman
got into the film business. He got more and more famous as a film
music composer and then it became obvious to him that he couldn't go
on with Oingo Boing and composing for film at the same time. Both
together were just taking too much time and energy. But how to
choose? How should he go on? A very uncertain future for Jack
Skellington in the movie as well as Danny Elfman in real life. It was
this connection with Jack, not only through writing the lyrics and
music, but also on a personal level, which made Danny Elfman want to
sing the part of Jack Skellington himself – which he did in the
end.
Until next blog,
sarah
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