Tim Burton holiday magic, with a touch of scariness.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
some
The animation style is dark and grotesque, but the movie's whimsy and catchy musical numbers lower the scariness factor. Skeletons hang from trees, a minor character has an ax cleaved through his skull, a doctor keeps a woman captive in his lab (she poisons him with nightshade in return). Expect to see ghosts, demons, graveyards, zombies, worms, etc. The main villain, Oogie Boogie, is especially menacing and made up of bugs. A character jumps from a tall tower, and her body breaks apart, but because she's already undead, she stitches herself back together. Children sing about kidnapping Santa and "chopping him to bits." A child unwraps a present and pulls out a decapitated head as his parents scream. As Jack flies through the sky on his makeshift sleigh, cannons shoot him down.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side -- it's better to be grateful for what you already have. Think before you act, otherwise people could get hurt.
Positive Role Models
some
Jack Skellington is a kindhearted and innocent character. He makes mistakes that hurt people and scare kids, but he corrects them and learns to be grateful for what he already has. Sally, Jack's love interest, is the only character to speak out against his plan to take over Christmas. She also helps Jack correct his mistakes, at great risk to herself. But others, such as Dr. Finkelstein and the Oogie Boogie monster, stay two-dimensionally cruel.
Educational Value
very little
Kids might learn about different holidays: Halloween and Christmas are explored the most, but Easter and Thanksgiving themes also briefly appear.
Diverse Representations
very little
Created and directed by male filmmakers, The Nightmare Before Christmas does have a female screenwriter (Caroline Thompson). But the only female character of note, Sally, falls into gender clichés: She's defined by her crush on Jack, sacrifices herself so that he can succeed, and becomes a damsel in distress who needs to be saved. Wheelchair user Dr. Finkelstein falls into the disabled villain stereotype, holding a woman captive in his lab. While it's positive that the movie has plenty of different body shapes and sizes, Sally -- the female love interest -- is the only character whose body conforms to Hollywood's narrow standards of beauty. The few humanoid characters, such as Santa and his elves, are mostly light-skinned, though a couple Black minor characters appear. Voice actors are almost entirely White, making it unfortunate that the film's cruelest and scariest villain, Oogie Boogie, is voiced by a Black actor (Ken Page).
Parents need to know that The Nightmare Before Christmas is an offbeat stop-motion-animated movie that's one of the greatest family films for all ages. That said, it does have scares: Characters take off their own heads and limbs, and there are skeletons, demons, zombies, worms, etc., as well as a very creepy villain named Oogie Boogie (voiced by Ken Page). Younger kids who aren't old enough to distinguish fantasy from real life (or those prone to nightmares) might steer clear. Characters kiss, and a main character, Sally (Catherine O'Hara), pines after the charming Jack (Chris Sarandon). She's kind and helpful but falls into gender stereotypes, sacrificing herself to support the male lead and becoming a damsel in distress. The film also uses the "disabled villain" cliché, and the voice cast is almost entirely White. But stereotypes and creepiness aside, the film has positive messages about gratitude and valuing what you already have -- as well as catchy songs and extremely memorable visuals. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
My daughter insisted on watching this movie for months. I told her she can watch it when she is 8, and when she turned 8 she reminded me about this, so I let her watch it. I read some of the reviews saying that it was scary and had some questionable scenes, but I honestly thought they were exaggerating since I found few other movies that weren't rated so highly on this site quite pleasant to watch with my child. But this time the reviewers weren't exaggerating. Even my daughter said after watching it that it was scary and some scenes she really didn't like. Particularly, the scene where Boogie Man turns into a sack full of disgusting warms crawling everywhere was very disturbing to her (and to me). The first 5 minutes of the movie are pretty disturbing, and my daughter covered her eyes (without me prompting) when she was watching it. This movie uses very dark humor and has pretty dark, disturbing characters in it. As an adult, I think that the idea is very original, and there is some art to the movie and it's very unique. That being said, I would never, ever recommend it for children who are only 7 years old. I think this movie is more appropriate for kids over 10.
I watched with my 5 and 8 year olds and really regretted it. It is very macabre, violent and dark. The main characters are dead and have eyes falling out with worms coming out and body parts that fall off. There are scary evil kids who kidnap santa and sing a song about hitting santa with a stick, boiling him alive, and chopping santa into bits. I think it is probably ok for teens. But if there were a way for me to undo my children seeing that I would.
What's the Story?
Stop-motion holiday fantasy THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, directed by Henry Selick and based on Tim Burton's poem, centers around Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King (voiced by Chris Sarandon) -- a creature who is to Halloween what Santa is to Christmas. When Jack becomes bored with staging yet another fright night for the sketchy members of Halloweentown, he wanders away, stumbles across Christmastown, and becomes immediately entranced. Jack decides he needs to bring Christmas to Halloweentown, and he's willing to do just about anything to make it happen -- even if that means kidnapping Santa (Edward Ivory) himself.
This is a funny, dark tale that pokes fun at two big holidays, Halloween and Christmas. The resultis a magical marvel. With nods to Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmasand twisted in the way of Roald Dahl or Maurice Sendak, The Nightmare Before Christmas is just as off-kilter as those classics. By changing the perspective on holiday icons, from Christmas trees to elves and flying reindeer, Selick makes us see these special traditions anew. And, of course, he does provide a happy ending. But the movie's personality comes from its producer, Burton -- utterly weird and totally enchanting.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the holidays are represented in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Why do we celebrate the holidays we do? What does your favorite holiday mean to you? Has anyone ever tried to ruin one of your holiday experiences, and how did you overcome that?
When you get tired of something, what are some creative ways to bring excitement back into it? How do you remind yourself to be grateful for what you already have? Why is gratitude a useful character strength?
Why did Jack's attempt to take over Christmas fail? Is it fair to expect people who've done something the same way for a long time to change quickly? Could Jack have tried his ideas a different way?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Liz Perle
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
