Very little media from my childhood lingers in my mind as vividly as “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” I’ve watched it enough times to know the words to every song on the soundtrack by heart. I would kill at “Nightmare” trivia night if it was offered in my area. I’m a proud owner of a pair of “Nightmare”-themed Vans.
Created by Tim Burton (“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”) and directed by Henry Selick (“Wendell & Wild”), “Nightmare” is a children’s stop-motion animation film that follows Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon, “I Smile Back”) who wants a change in his routine as the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. And what better solution to this problem than to become the new Santa Claus?
At its release in 1993, “Nightmare” was a strange addition to Disney’s portfolio — so strange that Disney released it under Touchstone Pictures as executives were afraid to have it tied to the Disney name. With an $18 million budget, the film did decently well at the box office and earned $50 million before disappearing into the land of home video. This is where “Nightmare” gained its status as a cult classic among kids and adults, a success that surprised its creators and one that Disney later capitalized on (next time you’re at Hot Topic, count how many “Nightmare”-themed items there are).
Like many “Nightmare” fans who discovered it through home video, I first watched the film at home when I was 5. I somehow didn’t register the macabre character designs and instead saw how fun Halloween Town looked with a jolly group of singing monsters. After that, I’d eagerly wait for the movie to appear in the lineup for ABC Family’s “13 Nights of Halloween” (now “31 Nights of Halloween”) and “25 Days of Christmas.” But with the disappearance of cable from our house in middle school, this yearly tradition also faded into a nostalgic memory.
Years passed until one bored winter break five years ago, when I revisited this childhood favorite and suddenly found myself reviving the tradition of watching the movie every December. I love this movie to death and can talk about it forever, but I have a single rule: I only watch it in December.
It’s admittedly a little weird that I can’t bring myself to watch it outside that month. Partially, it’s because I believe “Nightmare” is a Christmas movie and, like most holiday movies, the urge to watch it arrives in full force once the tinsel goes up. With jubilant songs like “What’s This?” — Jack’s jolly introduction to Christmas Town — and even the spooky Halloween Town introduction of “This is Halloween,” the movie makes the holidays even more merry for me.
Until my most recent rewatch, I largely overlooked “Jack’s Lament” in light of the two aforementioned songs. This is Jack’s slow, sorrowful reflection on the years he has spent as the Pumpkin King as he yearns for something different. Singing of an “emptiness” and how no one “would ever understand,” Jack has lost not just a sense of purpose in his life, but also the wonder and magic.
Once many years ago, he enjoyed the title and the terrifying legacy that preceded him. But seeing as the Mayor (Glen Shadix, “The Little Engine That Could”) is already knocking on Jack’s door on Nov. 1 to plan for next year, the annual Halloween celebration is the only thing Jack is supposed to focus on. Not only is this unfulfilling for Jack, but his despair also becomes deeper upon understanding that Halloween is all there is; he even bemoans, “Yet year after year, it’s the same routine / And I grow so weary of the sound of screams.” It’s an endless cycle of repeating the same tradition, which wears down Jack until there’s nothing joyful left.
Similar to Jack and his feelings surrounding Halloween, I eventually become tired of doing the same thing repeatedly. I move between book genres, I switch up songs and I rotate recipes constantly. I still love the things I know inside out and hold them close to my heart, offering myself a comforting escape when bad days happen.
But at my worst, I’m burnt out by the very things I once loved to do. The initial passion and excitement that spurred me to continue doing these things seemingly forever turned into my own monotonous emptiness — a feeling that I never want to experience with “Nightmare.”
My fingers skip a Laufey song after listening to it non-stop for two months. My eyes wander from the screen after my thousandth rewatch of “The Good Place.” My stomach physically hurts after a week of eating parmesan orzo for dinner (but maybe it’s the cheese and not my own obsession with it).
I cannot repeat anything endlessly — the question “If you had to eat/drink/read/listen to only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?” is tough to answer because no matter what I choose, I will go insane after a few months. But this doesn’t mean I don’t love Laufey, “The Good Place” and cheesy orzo. I love them and I know this because I always return to them eventually.
Perhaps it’s this idea that keeps me watching “Nightmare” every December. It may be a silly tradition of mine with a dramatic rule, but it keeps the movie’s magic alive.
The sense of childhood awe I had when I first watched “Nightmare” is one that’s been more difficult to recreate with new things I discover as an adult. A lot can happen between January and November, which sometimes means forgetting about childhood favorites like “Nightmare.” But as snow falls in December and festive lights are strung up, my excitement for the movie begins to build again. I’m singing songs from the soundtrack and walking around in my themed Vans as I pass winter-themed storefronts in town. Once I choose my night to do my yearly tradition, the anticipation builds even more as I eagerly wait to watch the movie.
And on that night, I’ll settle on my couch and wrap a cozy blanket around myself. Armed with a plate of cookies and a warm drink, I’ll press play on “Nightmare” and revive a little Christmas magic.
I may not be able to watch “Nightmare” for every second, but it’s something I can have on repeat forever for the rest of my life.
Daily Arts Writer Eilene Koo can be reached at ekoo@umich.edu.
