THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS - 3D

MPAA Rating: PG for some scary images
Released in Theaters: Oct. 20, 2006

Although the title of this movie is a little ghoulish, this classic from Tim Burton is more dreamy than nightmarish. The film was created in 1993 and released on DVD in 2000, but fans loved it so much, Burton’s returned with a 3D version for theatre release.

The story is about Jack Skellington (Danny Elfman/Chris Sarandon), the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town who is bored with the same old Halloween every year. He wanders into the woods and stumbles into Christmas Town, a joyful, happy place.

Jack tries to convince the bats, witches and vampires in Halloween Town to celebrate Christmas instead of the spooky holiday. But they don’t get it quite right. “Stockings” become “stalkings”, “sleigh” gets confused with “slay,” etc.

You may think this is a dark movie, but it’s not. The story is actually sweet — even the scene where a python puppet swallows a Christmas tree whole.

Nightmare Before Christmas won tons of awards, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a masterpiece of art direction, set design, and good old-fashioned storytelling. This movie puts the treat into trick ’n treat…