The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Sign in with Plex to see what you can watch and keep a watchlist.

Wikidata Q322328, film, IMDb tt0107688, TMDB 9479: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by episode credits Henry Selick as director (Wendell & Wild); 1 more episode agrees.

What a model would be handed about it, for corpus:ask.

In the store as #642, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

Who talked about it

Blank Check with Griffin & David

Blank Check — Patreon

Came from

What the speakers say it drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. industry (industry): Who Framed Roger Rabbit ⇒ The Nightmare Before Christmas (the host's read). Katzenberg was looking at Roger Rabbit's success as a reason to try different styles and techniques.
    “looking at the success they had with Roger Rabbit and saying, like, we should try different styles”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:29:00 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Led to

What the speakers say drew on it, marked the same way.

James and the Giant Peach: 1 line the host's read ×1

  1. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas ⇒ James and the Giant Peach (the host's read). The film's long tail made Disney try stop motion again, back to back with Peach, before Laika and others.
    “James and the Giant Peach is almost made like right back to back with this movie”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:40:45 · Michael Rianda (0.50 sure it was them)

Connected to

Wendell and Wild: 5 lines contrast ×2 theme ×1 unmapped ×1 career ×1

  1. career (career): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Wendell and Wild. Selick's newest film is praised as sharpening, not shaving, his edges late in his career.
    “you're not shaving any of the edges, any of the edges away.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:21:40 · Michael Rianda (0.60 sure it was them)

Danny Elfman: 3 lines craft ×2 career ×1

  1. career (career): Danny Elfman → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Elfman, said to have been bored at the height of Oingo Boingo, found film composing exciting again through this film.
    “it was like him at the height of Oingo, Boingo, like he became a rock star.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:57:01 · Michael Rianda (0.45 sure it was them)

Henry Selick: 2 lines theme ×1 craft ×1

  1. theme (theme): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Henry Selick. Jack's arc is read as the animators themselves trying to make commercial art.
    “how much Jack is an analog for these guys trying to figure out how to make commercial art”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:52:14 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

The Wizard of Oz: 2 lines unmapped ×1 theme ×1

  1. unmapped (magic alchemy): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Wizard of Oz. Nightmare has a magical, alchemical quality that falls into Wizard of Oz territory.
    “It just, it falls into like, like Wizard of Oz territory.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 2:11:18 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

Toy Story: 2 lines craft ×1 theme ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Toy Story. Like early Pixar films, this one squeezes every joke out of its premise (Halloween monsters).
    “those early Pixar movies like hit the, the concept of the movie like a piñata until all of the joy fell out of it”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:57:59 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Aardman: 1 line industry ×1

  1. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Aardman. Aardman is the one studio working consistently in stop motion with a different tone from Nightmare's creepiness.
    “Ardaman is the only studio that's been able to work consistently at a high level and stop motion and do something totally different tonally.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:42:16 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Aladdin: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Aladdin. Disney princess films open with an I-want song; Jack's opening is a triumph followed by unexplained ennui.
    “the Disney princess movies of this time have the big, I want song, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:28:15 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Anthony Scott: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): Anthony Scott → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Anthony Scott animated many of the film's standout shots, and told Rianda about the green capture screen.
    “this guy, Anthony Scott, who's like animated all these amazing shots on it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:16:56 · Michael Rianda (0.80 sure it was them)

Batman Forever: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Batman Forever. Oogie Boogie's dice rules echo Two-Face in Batman Forever.
    “He does a classic, uh, two-faced Batman forever thing”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:07:50 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Busby Berkeley musicals: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Busby Berkeley musicals. The swirling camera makes the musical numbers feel like Busby Berkeley.
    “it feels like a Busby Berkeley musical”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:17:23 · Michael Rianda (0.80 sure it was them)

Child's Play: 1 line people ×1

  1. people (people): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Child's Play. Chris Sarandon is identified as the cop who shot Chucky.
    “We need the cop who shot Chucky.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:09:38 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Coraline: 1 line verdict ×1

  1. verdict (ranking): Coraline → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Griffin ranks Nightmare over Coraline; both masterpieces, though Coraline is the greater auteur achievement; David flips them.
    “I think I got to give the hair to nightmare over Core a lot.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 2:11:00 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

Corpse Bride: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Corpse Bride. Corpse Bride's mechanical puppet faces look frozen; Nightmare's replacement faces stay expressive.
    “Like all the characters in that movie feel kind of Botox.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:21:10 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Edward Scissorhands: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Edward Scissorhands. Scissorhands keeps its real and fantasy worlds firmly separate; Nightmare has no totally real reality.
    “They don't pull any punches, even, even like, you know, a movie like um, Edward Scissorhands or something”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:33:25 · Michael Rianda (0.80 sure it was them)

Hotel Transylvania: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Hotel Transylvania. Monster-hotel comedies are enjoyed, but Halloween Town's residents are not stock archetypes.
    “I like that, look, I enjoy Hotel Transylvania.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:37:02 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

James and the Giant Peach: 1 line industry ×1

  1. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → James and the Giant Peach. The film's long tail made Disney try stop motion again, back to back with Peach, before Laika and others.
    “James and the Giant Peach is almost made like right back to back with this movie”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:40:45 · Michael Rianda (0.50 sure it was them)

Joe Ranft: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): Joe Ranft → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Ranft is counted among the five people credited with shaping the film's story.
    “Thompson, Joe Ramped, Elfman, Selleck, Burton, all can be given a fair amount of credit for the shaping of this film.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:49:28 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Jurassic Park: 1 line industry ×1

  1. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Jurassic Park. Nightmare's first-ever animated VFX nomination lost to Jurassic Park.
    “It lost to Jurassic Park.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:22:47 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Peanuts: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Peanuts. The present-delivery montage plays by Peanuts rules: no grown-up faces.
    “they play by like fucking peanuts rules where you're never going to see grown up faces”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:08:55 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Prince of Darkness: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Prince of Darkness. A man made of bugs works for the speaker in Prince of Darkness as an adult but frightened him in Oogie at seven.
    “when I saw like Prince of Darkness later in life and there was a man made of bugs, I was like, cool.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:07:06 · David Sims (0.60 sure it was them)

Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions: 1 line career ×1

  1. career (career): Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Selick left Slow Bob to make Nightmare and sees it as his fulcrum point.
    “I left Slobob to make nightmare before Christmas and I'm always, you know, I always think of this as his fulcrum point.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:47:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The film's background characters beat everything since Star Wars for feeling like a real ecosystem.
    “I think since Star Wars, no better background characters.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:01:07 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Tatiana Maslany: 1 line verdict ×1

  1. verdict (childhood favorite): Tatiana Maslany → The Nightmare Before Christmas. She knows it backwards and forwards and can quote it; a seminal childhood film.
    “Like, I can quote it.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:18:19 · Tatiana Maslany (0.90 sure it was them)

The Haunted Mansion (Disney ride): 1 line programming ×1

  1. programming (programming): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Haunted Mansion (Disney ride). The film's iconography now powers a seasonal Haunted Mansion overlay.
    “the haunted mansion ride is like so amazing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:45:36 · Michael Rianda (0.60 sure it was them)

The Incredibles: 1 line industry ×1

  1. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Incredibles. The studio asked Michael to make Mitchells look like The Incredibles; the crew held him to the manifesto.
    “the studio was like, just make it look like the Incredibles”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:36:51 · Michael Rianda (0.90 sure it was them)

The King of Comedy: 1 line theme ×1

  1. theme (theme): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The King of Comedy. Jack and Santa Claus are read as Rupert Pupkin and Jerry Langford (transcribed Pumpkin/Lanford).
    “the relationship between Jack and Santa Claus, excuse me, is just Rupert Pumpkin and Jerry Lanford.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:57:52 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

The Three Musketeers: 1 line industry ×1

  1. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Three Musketeers. Nightmare beat Disney's big live-action release of the year.
    “it did a lot better than Disney's big release of that year, which was non-animated.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:17:23 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Universal horror films: 1 line contrast ×1

  1. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Universal horror films. Universal horrors run 70 to 75 minutes with padding, while Nightmare zooms without simplifying.
    “And like all of those movies are pretty much 70 to 75 minutes.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:27:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Vincente Minnelli: 1 line craft ×1

  1. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Vincente Minnelli. The film's constantly moving camera is compared to Minnelli (transcribed Vincent Manelli).
    “he's like moving the camera like fucking Vincent Manelli in this.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:14:33 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit: 1 line industry ×1

  1. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Katzenberg was looking at Roger Rabbit's success as a reason to try different styles and techniques.
    “looking at the success they had with Roger Rabbit and saying, like, we should try different styles”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:29:00 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

Where it came up

What was said about it, by kind

career (3)

  1. career (career): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Wendell and Wild. Selick's newest film is praised as sharpening, not shaving, his edges late in his career.
    “you're not shaving any of the edges, any of the edges away.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:21:40 · Michael Rianda (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Selick left Slow Bob to make Nightmare and sees it as his fulcrum point.
    “I left Slobob to make nightmare before Christmas and I'm always, you know, I always think of this as his fulcrum point.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:47:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): Danny Elfman → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Elfman, said to have been bored at the height of Oingo Boingo, found film composing exciting again through this film.
    “it was like him at the height of Oingo, Boingo, like he became a rock star.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:57:01 · Michael Rianda (0.45 sure it was them)

contrast (8)

  1. contrast (contrast of setup): Wendell and Wild → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Imagines Nightmare's Halloween Town opening as ten minutes of dialogue introducing each denizen as a plot function, to describe how Wendell & Wild feels.
    “It feels like if in the opening, this is Halloween sequence of nightmare before Christmas.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 1:31:00 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (contrast of setup): Wendell and Wild → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Nightmare doesn't open with civic politics, so its underworld needs no explaining; Wendell & Wild front-loads dense plot.
    “Yeah, it also helps that like nightmare before Christmas doesn't start with 10 minutes of like the political infrastructure of a small town.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 1:36:39 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Corpse Bride. Corpse Bride's mechanical puppet faces look frozen; Nightmare's replacement faces stay expressive.
    “Like all the characters in that movie feel kind of Botox.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:21:10 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Universal horror films. Universal horrors run 70 to 75 minutes with padding, while Nightmare zooms without simplifying.
    “And like all of those movies are pretty much 70 to 75 minutes.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:27:33 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Aladdin. Disney princess films open with an I-want song; Jack's opening is a triumph followed by unexplained ennui.
    “the Disney princess movies of this time have the big, I want song, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:28:15 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Edward Scissorhands. Scissorhands keeps its real and fantasy worlds firmly separate; Nightmare has no totally real reality.
    “They don't pull any punches, even, even like, you know, a movie like um, Edward Scissorhands or something”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:33:25 · Michael Rianda (0.80 sure it was them)
  7. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Hotel Transylvania. Monster-hotel comedies are enjoyed, but Halloween Town's residents are not stock archetypes.
    “I like that, look, I enjoy Hotel Transylvania.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:37:02 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  8. contrast (contrast): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Batman Forever. Oogie Boogie's dice rules echo Two-Face in Batman Forever.
    “He does a classic, uh, two-faced Batman forever thing”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:07:50 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

craft (11)

  1. craft (craft): Danny Elfman → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Elfman wrote songs off Burton's story beats with no script, and the script came after.
    “Burton is basically describing the story beats, and Elfman is writing songs off of the story beats”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:31:42 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft): Joe Ranft → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Ranft is counted among the five people credited with shaping the film's story.
    “Thompson, Joe Ramped, Elfman, Selleck, Burton, all can be given a fair amount of credit for the shaping of this film.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:49:28 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Toy Story. Like early Pixar films, this one squeezes every joke out of its premise (Halloween monsters).
    “those early Pixar movies like hit the, the concept of the movie like a piñata until all of the joy fell out of it”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:57:59 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The film's background characters beat everything since Star Wars for feeling like a real ecosystem.
    “I think since Star Wars, no better background characters.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:01:07 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. craft (craft): Danny Elfman → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Elfman was the main driving force in writing the film during development.
    “Elfman is basically the main driving force and writing this film for a bulk of the development.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:04:24 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Vincente Minnelli. The film's constantly moving camera is compared to Minnelli (transcribed Vincent Manelli).
    “he's like moving the camera like fucking Vincent Manelli in this.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:14:33 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  7. craft (craft): Anthony Scott → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Anthony Scott animated many of the film's standout shots, and told Rianda about the green capture screen.
    “this guy, Anthony Scott, who's like animated all these amazing shots on it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:16:56 · Michael Rianda (0.80 sure it was them)
  8. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Busby Berkeley musicals. The swirling camera makes the musical numbers feel like Busby Berkeley.
    “it feels like a Busby Berkeley musical”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:17:23 · Michael Rianda (0.80 sure it was them)
  9. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Prince of Darkness. A man made of bugs works for the speaker in Prince of Darkness as an adult but frightened him in Oogie at seven.
    “when I saw like Prince of Darkness later in life and there was a man made of bugs, I was like, cool.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:07:06 · David Sims (0.60 sure it was them)
  10. craft (craft): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Peanuts. The present-delivery montage plays by Peanuts rules: no grown-up faces.
    “they play by like fucking peanuts rules where you're never going to see grown up faces”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:08:55 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  11. craft (craft): Henry Selick → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Selick's own rule: the stranger the imagery, the straighter the story.
    “The commercial rule for me is the stranger, the imagery, the straighter, the story.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:38:06 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

industry (6)

  1. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Katzenberg was looking at Roger Rabbit's success as a reason to try different styles and techniques.
    “looking at the success they had with Roger Rabbit and saying, like, we should try different styles”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:29:00 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → James and the Giant Peach. The film's long tail made Disney try stop motion again, back to back with Peach, before Laika and others.
    “James and the Giant Peach is almost made like right back to back with this movie”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:40:45 · Michael Rianda (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Aardman. Aardman is the one studio working consistently in stop motion with a different tone from Nightmare's creepiness.
    “Ardaman is the only studio that's been able to work consistently at a high level and stop motion and do something totally different tonally.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:42:16 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Three Musketeers. Nightmare beat Disney's big live-action release of the year.
    “it did a lot better than Disney's big release of that year, which was non-animated.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:17:23 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Jurassic Park. Nightmare's first-ever animated VFX nomination lost to Jurassic Park.
    “It lost to Jurassic Park.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:22:47 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. industry (industry): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Incredibles. The studio asked Michael to make Mitchells look like The Incredibles; the crew held him to the manifesto.
    “the studio was like, just make it look like the Incredibles”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:36:51 · Michael Rianda (0.90 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (people): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Child's Play. Chris Sarandon is identified as the cop who shot Chucky.
    “We need the cop who shot Chucky.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:09:38 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

programming (1)

  1. programming (programming): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Haunted Mansion (Disney ride). The film's iconography now powers a seasonal Haunted Mansion overlay.
    “the haunted mansion ride is like so amazing.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:45:36 · Michael Rianda (0.60 sure it was them)

theme (5)

  1. theme (plot density): Wendell and Wild → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Nightmare has one major objective everyone is on; Wendell & Wild is just so much plot.
    “Night before Christmas has like one major objective that everyone's right on.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 1:32:50 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. theme (theme): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Wizard of Oz. The film's cult growth into mainstream pop culture is compared to Oz.
    “in that sort of Wizard of Oz conversation of like movies that came out, did okay at the time and are now just like so deeply woven into the tapestry of pop culture”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:03:55 · Griffin Newman (0.55 sure it was them)
  3. theme (theme): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Henry Selick. Jack's arc is read as the animators themselves trying to make commercial art.
    “how much Jack is an analog for these guys trying to figure out how to make commercial art”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:52:14 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. theme (theme): The Nightmare Before Christmas → Toy Story. The first breakthrough film in each form of animation becomes the template: CGI follows Toy Story, stop motion stays creepy.
    “And then the CGI becomes so defined by Toy Story.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:41:48 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. theme (theme): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The King of Comedy. Jack and Santa Claus are read as Rupert Pupkin and Jerry Langford (transcribed Pumpkin/Lanford).
    “the relationship between Jack and Santa Claus, excuse me, is just Rupert Pumpkin and Jerry Lanford.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:57:52 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

unmapped (2)

  1. unmapped (unexplained underworld): Wendell and Wild → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Nobody asks who Oogie Boogie is in the spirit world, but Belzer's role is questioned.
    “We don't ask these same questions of someone like Oogie Boogie.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 1:36:33 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (magic alchemy): The Nightmare Before Christmas → The Wizard of Oz. Nightmare has a magical, alchemical quality that falls into Wizard of Oz territory.
    “It just, it falls into like, like Wizard of Oz territory.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 2:11:18 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

verdict (2)

  1. verdict (childhood favorite): Tatiana Maslany → The Nightmare Before Christmas. She knows it backwards and forwards and can quote it; a seminal childhood film.
    “Like, I can quote it.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany · 0:18:19 · Tatiana Maslany (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. verdict (ranking): Coraline → The Nightmare Before Christmas. Griffin ranks Nightmare over Coraline; both masterpieces, though Coraline is the greater auteur achievement; David flips them.
    “I think I got to give the hair to nightmare over Core a lot.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Wendell & Wild · 2:11:00 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

Fun items about it

  1. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Michael dodged the film as a teen because of Hot Topic, then watched it around age 20 and loved it.
    “and then I watched it in college and I was like, this movie is so wonderful.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:05:37 · Michael Rianda (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Hot Topic reclaimed the weird Disney movie: Disney did not want it, released it under Touchstone, and now Hot Topic mostly sells Disney merchandise.
    “Disney didn't even want it.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:06:38 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Development was backwards: Burton's poem, Elfman writing songs from story beats, then Thompson writing a script to fill the gaps; animation started before a script.
    “But they are animating this movie before they have a script.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:34:44 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Title card shot with candy corn letters before Burton's name was added late; Selick says he understands it and will rue it until he dies.
    “I understand it, and I will rue it until the day I die.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:53:45 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Fans on Blu-ray message boards beg Disney to restore the Touchstone logo opening.
    “when will Disney release the version with the touchstone logo at the beginning?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 0:56:46 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Camera moves in most shots; a motion-control rig and a green digitized screen showing only the previous two frames let animators check work.
    “But in these guys only had 3 frames to work with.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 1:16:52 · Michael Rianda (0.80 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about The Nightmare Before Christmas: Griffin's mom would not let him see it in theaters, so he got toys first; a lighting-fixture store near his school sold only lamps and Nightmare toys.
    “the only thing they sold aside from lamps was a nightmare before Christmas toys.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Nightmare Before Christmas with Michael Rianda (Ad-Free) · 2:04:26 · Griffin Newman (0.70 sure it was them)

Who the speakers said made it

As said on the shows, not checked against the real credits.