Nightmare before Christmas was originally a poem written by Tim Burton in 1982 and was made into a movie in 1993. From the poem to the movie they changed a few things like the lack of a romantic plot line between Jack and Sally, with her character not being included in the original poem. Furthermore, The Nightmare Before Christmas’ villain, Oogie Boogie, was not part of the poem as well. In addition the movie isn’t as creepy as what the poem was written out to be. This movie took 3 and a half years to shoot, edit, and publish onto platforms for people to watch.Tim Burton was not in the movie but he did produced and conceived. And over time it became the most watched non-horror movie that is kid friendly.
This is the original poem:
Plot : Halloween Town is a fantasy world populated by various monsters and supernatural beings associated with the holiday. Jack Skellington, the well-respected “Pumpkin King,” leads the town in organizing the annual Halloween celebrations. Unbeknownst to his subjects however, he has grown tired of the same annual routine this year and wants something new. Wandering in the woods the next morning, he discovers several trees containing doors, which lead to other holiday-themed worlds (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Valentine’s Day and Saint Patrick’s Day). Stumbling through the one leading to Christmas Town and awed by the unfamiliar holiday, Jack develops an obsession for it.
Jack returns home to share his discovery with his friends and neighbors. They relate to Christmas Town’s ruler, Santa Claus, or “Sandy Claws” as Jack mistakenly knows him as, but are unfamiliar with the concept of Christmas and conflate its customs with the Halloween traditions that they are used to. Frustrated, Jack isolates himself in his house and studies Christmas further, intent upon finding a way to rationally explain it. When days of study and experimentation accomplish nothing, however, Jack abandons his attempts to understand Christmas and decides to “improve” the holiday instead.
Jack announces that Halloween Town will take over Christmas this year and assigns Christmas-themed jobs, such as singing carols, making presents and building a sleigh pulled by skeletal reindeer, to various residents. Sally, the feminine creation of local mad scientist Doctor Finkelstein, experiences a vision detailing that their efforts will end disastrously. Jack, whom she secretly loves, dismisses her warnings and instructs her to make a Santa Claus suit for him. He also tasks mischievous trick-or-treating trio Lock, Shock, and Barrel with abducting Santa; however, he orders them not to involve his long-time arch-rival and their superior, Oogie Boogie, a bogeyman with a passion for gambling, in their plot.
When Lock, Shock, and Barrel bring Santa to Halloween Town, Jack tells Santa that he will take care of Christmas this year and orders the trio to keep Santa safe. However, they disobey Jack’s orders and bring Santa to Oogie, who plots to play a game with Santa’s life at stake. Meanwhile, despite her best efforts, Sally is unable to stop Jack from proceeding with his plan. As Jack departs to deliver presents in the real world, she attempts to rescue Santa from Oogie, only to be captured herself.
Unbeknownst to Jack at first, his presents terrify the real world’s populace, who contact the local authorities and are instructed by them to lock down their homes and residences for protection. When word spreads about Jack’s presumed wrongdoings, the military is alerted and Jack is shot down by them, causing him to crash into a nearby cemetery. While the residents of Halloween Town believe that he is dead, Jack actually survived the ordeal. Bemoaning the disaster that he has caused, he realizes that he enjoyed the experience nonetheless, reigniting his love for Halloween, but must act fast to set things right.
Upon returning home, Jack rescues Santa and Sally, then confronts Oogie and defeats him by unraveling a thread holding his cloth form together, causing all of the bugs inside Oogie to spill out and reduce him to nothing. Jack then apologizes to Santa, who scolds him for the trouble he caused, as well as ignoring Sally’s warnings. As Santa departs, however, both he and Sally assure Jack that Christmas can still be saved. Santa resumes his yearly duties as he replaces Jack’s presents with genuine ones, while all of Halloween Town celebrates Jack’s survival and return. To assure Jack that there are no hard feelings between them, Santa brings a snow storm to the town, thereby bringing the Christmas spirit upon it and, in a way, fulfilling Jack’s original dream. The citizens finally realize the true meaning of Christmas, while Jack and Sally declare their love for each other.
In my opinion: I think that the poem is very good a lot better than the actual movie but the movie itself is very good it doesn’t seem like it would have started as a poem. The movie is detailed but the poem explains the events a little better so people will agree and some will disagree and that is perfectly fine we all have different views and this is mine.
