Nightmare Before Christmas
Nightmare Before Christmas is my all time favorite “Disney” holiday movie. It has torment, gore and creepiness mixed in with a classic love story. Tim Burton’s classic dark, varied off kilter shapes and strangely eery scenic style is captured spectacularly in the town of Halloween. The Danny Elfman soundtrack and musical numbers are haunting, yet playful and the song lyrics are smart and help move the story of Jack’s displeasure and the love between him and Sally in a way only words wouldn’t have conveyed. The tribute cover album Nightmare Revisited is in frequent rotation on my playlist, with Marilyn Manson’s take on Jack’s Lament a great song to belt out in the car! I also love the Yoshida Brothers version of nabbed.
I was fortunate to have worked as the costumer on the merchandise events at Disneyland as the holiday makeover of the Haunted Mansion occurred. During the festivities, we would have a short stage show as a separate ticketed event that also included the sale of limited edition collection of Nightmare merchandise- which of course sold out. It was one of my favorite projects of my time at Disneyland, which I think we produced for 2 years. We recreated the feel on Halloweentown with many of the beloved characters. In retrospect I wish I had better images from the shows and the costumes, but below is what we were able to capture, as well as a memento from the art director that I keep on my desk year-round.
Building on my last post about iconic costumes, this is a stop motion film, but the puppets wear costumes that are immediately recognizable. Sally dress is so recognizable, that retailers can sell only a representation in print on fabric and it is understood as Sally.
