The Nightmare Before Christmas

[School of Movies 2023]

An absolute landmark in terms of stop-motion animation within cinema. Conceived in the early 80s by Disney animator Tim Burton and manifesting first in an 11-minute poem after the style of both A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas from Doctor Seuss.

That was developed into this oddball story of a pale loner of an outsider (who is also wildly popular because of course he is, this is Tim Burton). The skeleton king of Halloween town falls in love with the unfamiliar and delightful trappings of Christmas itself. This leads him into drumming up the spooky but hapless monster people of his realm into crafting their OWN Christmas, with all kinds of horrors!

Our guest tonight has literally written a thesis on stop-motion, and we have been waiting for him to record this show. It launches almost exactly at the 30-year anniversary of the movie. Coming this weekend we have a Cutting Class episode on Patreon  with all the material that didn't make this final edit. 

And if you're on the lookout for Halloween reading, my Lady Dracula novel "Castle of the Moon" will be available to buy in Paperback form (as well as the eBook version on Patreon)

Guests:

Toby Jungius @TJungius of Through the Wind Door