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Hello and Happy Halloween!
I can’t believe we are already at the end of the month, time passes in the blink of an eye. We all know that the final days of October are all about Halloween: a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. Currently, Halloween is more about the costumes, trick or treat, pumpkins, candies, the ornaments… Personally, I am not a person who celebrates Halloween, in fact, in my opinion, here in Portugal there isn’t the Halloween spirit, at least like in other countries. I just stay happy because of the day off on the first of November, and see a lot of amazing images on Tumblr about the theme, reblogging one or two occasionally.
However, I also like to see Halloween based movies. Not the horror ones, I hate horror movies. What I am talking is for instance classics such as Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, Corpse Bride, Scary Movie, Twitches, My Babysitter's a Vampire (this one is more recent), among others…
With this in mind, today I want to tell you about one of my favourites: The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Namely, this Tim Burton American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy movie was directed by Henry Selick, in 1993. The movie tells the story of Jack Skellington, also known as the Pumpkin King and leader of Halloween Town. This town is filled with every type of monster: vampires, werewolves, witches, zombies, mummies, ghosts... even the classic ones like the monster under the bed, the one hiding in the stairs, the boogeyman....
In the beginning, everything seems fine, with everyone celebrating another Halloween well succeed and glorifying Jack for his greatness. Furthermore, the town immediately initiates the preparations for the next years Halloween. Nevertheless, inside, Jack is tired and unmotivated. He seems to have forgotten the joy of his day, the meaning of his life, being weary of the same routine year after year. As a result, Jack decides that he wants something new.
One day, strolling through the forest, Jack finds the seven trees that consist in portals for various holidays. He enters one of them, and because of this, he sees himself in Christmas Town. The character gets fascinated, he had never seen something like that before: the snow, the lights, the goblins, the decorations (like the Christmas Tree) … everything seems to charm him. Particularly, the fact that he doesn’t hear screams or sees monsters, that everyone seems so happy, that there are no nightmares…
Eventually, going back to his town, Jack shares his adventure in Christmas Town to his friends an ultimately decides that it's unfair for Christmas Town alone to enjoy the holiday announcing that he and the citizens of Halloween Town will take over Christmas that year. He gives jobs to everyone, for instance singing carols, making presents, and building a sleigh to be pulled by skeletal reindeer. Another thing is that Jack also demands to kidnap Santa Claus and bring him to Halloween Town.
How do you think Jack’s adventure will end? Will Jack be well succeeded being him the one bringing Christmas to the World? To find out, you will have to watch the movie! Yet, I will tell you something: the result of his journey will remind him of his love for Halloween, and one thing is for sure, his friends will always be there for him (including a special one whose name is Sally, a beautiful rag doll woman that is secretly in love him)!
By the way, I really want to address the masterpiece that is the soundtrack of this movie, composed by Danny Elfman. It’s magnificent! Here are some of my favourite songs of the movie:
This Is Halloween
Jacks Lament
What’s This?
Oogie Boogie's Song
In conclusion, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a timeless movie. You can watch it with your friends or with your family, with any age, you will have a fun and relaxing moment for sure. I enjoyed watching the film and I always find myself singing some of the songs by this time of the year.
With this said, I hope you’re having a nice start of the week and Happy Halloween!
Nb: I do not own any of these videos, gifs and picture and I am not trying to infringe copyright here.
Mariana Nunes
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