DVDFile

Buena Vista Home Entertainment / 1993 / 76 Minutes / PG
Street Date: August 26, 2008

One of the appeals of film is that it can transport us to strange and wonderful worlds impossible to visit. We tend to admire the richness of detail filmmakers bring to their visions; they enrich our displacement. George Lucas’ Star Wars series, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, and Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element are a few examples that overflow with detail too dense to fully appreciate in one sitting. Imaginative oddities and surrealism are also effective tools for placing us into unfamiliar surroundings. Viewers are surely bemused by the delightful Peter Max-inspired animation style of Yellow Submarine. And then we have the witty dementia of the man who brought us Batman, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands, director Tim Burton.

Burton has fashioned a dark and amusing contemporary fairytale, set in mysterious locations and populated by peculiar, single-minded creatures. He has called on a fine body of talent, specialists in stop action animation, to bring his creations to life. In our naiveté, we haven’t given much thought to where our holidays come from. It seems that there are secret communities populated by tireless citizens dedicated to making each of our holidays a success. One such community, Halloween Town, overflows with ghouls, goblins, bats, vampires, werewolves, and witches; all delight in offering a good fright. The undisputed Pumpkin King is the skeleton-like Jack Skellington (sung by Danny Elfman and spoken by Chris Sarandon). He sets the tone, directing the townsfolk with projects and tricks guaranteed to scare the pants off.

But all is not well with Jack. He’s a bit depressed. While he can’t quite put his bony finger on it, something seems to be missing. He craves more, something different. In a deep funk, he doesn’t even notice that Sally (Catherine O'Hara), a creation of the selfish Dr. Finklestein (William Hickey), pines for him. Jack wanders beyond the normal confines of Halloween Town and stumbles upon a ring of trees. Each has a door built into its substantial trunk; each is shaped like a symbol of the holidays we know but are quite unfamiliar to Jack. He’s intrigued by a door that resembles a brightly decorated pine tree. He opens it, falls into the trunk, and is deposited on a snowy hill overlooking Christmas Town. As he explores, he finds himself among the creatures responsible for Christmas, enveloped in gifts, candy, snow, and good cheer. Jack is beside himself with wonder and glee. He can’t fathom what he’s seen; he must return to Halloween Town to share his discovery.

Jack seems to be having a midlife crisis. He’s overcome by a need to spearhead a more jolly holiday. So he devises a diabolical scheme for which Santa is kidnapped. Jack will assume the role of Jolly Old St. Nick to deliver ghoulish presents manufactured in Halloween Town. Will Christmas be saved from the misguided Jack? Will Santa become a mere snack for the Oogie Boogie Man? Will Sally and Jack live happily ever after?

I must confess that I normally dislike musicals. Phantom of the Opera is the only Broadway musical I recall enjoying; I attribute that to the dark underpinnings of the story. I find that I’m attracted to The Nightmare Before Christmas for similar reasons. Tim Burton has spun a dark and witty tuneful tale that appeals to my warped sense of humor.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s 1.66:1 theatrical aspect ratio is pillar-boxed within the 1.78:1 high definition frame. My only previous experience with this film is the non-anamorphic widescreen transfer on a previous DVD release. This AVC compressed transfer is a revelation; it truly is like watching the film for the first time. The level of detail is startling. Finely grained textures, like the weave of the cloth that covers Oogie Boogie Man’s entire body, are extremely clear. Small object detail is exemplary as well; previously, I was unaware that the glowing nose on Jack’s dog was a miniature jack-o-lantern. I was dazzled by the throwaway textures and subtle details the set designers and puppet makers built into their creations. The colors in film’s Halloween Town palette are grays, blacks, and touches of oranges. But when the action switches to Christmas Town or to homes on Christmas Eve, the palette brightens to vivid saturation levels that glow onscreen without a hint of iridescence. Blacks are deep and rich, with no noticeable noise. I don’t recall Buena Vista ever issuing an anamorphic DVD of this film, but this terrific high definition disc more than makes up for that neglect.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby TureHD 7.1 track is every bit as impressive as the high definition video. Danny Elfman’s score and songs are crystal clear, with fabulously convincing timbre. The frequency response is wide and the sound stage is broad; both are satisfying. The top end has a pleasant shimmer; brass and cymbals are nicely conveyed. The dryly-recorded voices have great presence. But what really sets this mix apart from previous releases is the application of surround effects. The viewer is completely immersed. The orchestra is not up at the screen; the instruments envelop you. Mixed voices and instruments put the viewer in the film. There are many pans and discrete sounds, all flawlessly located. EX dematrixing is an absolute must to enjoy this fun mix. Impressively done.

Alternate audio tracks include English, French, and Spanish in Dolby Digital 5.1, and Portuguese in Dolby Surround 2.0. Optional subtitles are in English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

This Buena Vista BD is overflowing with extras. The film’s short 76-minute runtime, even with what seems like low compression and a generous bit budget, allows for ample supplements on this double-layer disc. You’ll have a choice of playing the feature film with and without a brief introduction by Tim Burton. This is little more than, “Hey, I’ve just seen the movie on Blu-ray Disc and it’s amazing.”

Let’s begin with What’s This? Jack’s Haunted Mansion Holiday Tour featurette (7:14, 1.78:1, 1080p). It may be played with and without a text trivia track. I recommend opting for the track; it will obscure little and avoid having to run this supplement twice. Once is enough. This demonstrates that the Haunted Mansion rides at Disney theme parks are transformed into something resembling Halloween Town from October through the end of each year. Each annual event is different. The short is narrated with the usual Disney theme park theatrics. I guess this is one way to dress up what is essentially a very tame and passive attraction.

This film was based on an original poem written by Tim Burton. In a featurette cleverly titled Tim Burton’s Original Poem (11:37, 1,78:1, 1080p), Christopher Lee reads the work while simple animation based on Burton’s conceptual sketches run on the screen. The original concept is a little darker than the theatrical version.

Next are two treats that I was aware of but had never seen, two early works by a twenty-something Tim Burton: Frankenweenie (1984, 30:05, 1.33:1, SD) and Vincent (1982, 5:55, 1.33:1, SD). Frankenweenie is set in a modern suburb; we find a typical family composed of a father, Ben (Daniel Stern), a mother, Susan (Shelley Duvall), an only child, Victor (Barret Oliver), and a loving dog named Sparky (pun intended). Oh, did I mention that they are the Frankensteins? Sparky gets hit by a car and Victor is positively grief stricken. Inspired by his science teacher’s lecture, Mr. Walsh (Paul Bartel), Victor decides that electricity is the key to bringing Sparky back to life, much to the consternation of the villagers, uh, neighbors. This is a clever satire of the 1931 production of Frankenstein. Watch for a very young Sofia Coppola as a neighbor’s daughter. (Interesting footnote: the IMDB reports that a feature-length animated version of Frankenweenie, directed by Tim Burton, may be released as early as December 2009.) Vincent is a short stop-action animation film in which Vincent Price narrates the story of a seven-year-old who wants to be… Vincent Price. Droll and bizarre, it’s a tribute to Burton’s furtive imagination.

With the exception of the trailers, the rest of the supplements seem to be vintage extras from a previous release. There are three deleted storyboards (2:56 aggregate, 1.33:1, SD). These are inconsequential, but we do hear some of Elfman’s work that had to be thrown away.

There are some deleted animated sequences (5:06 aggregate, 1.33:1, SD). You’ll recognize John William’s score for Witches of Eastwick laid down as a temp track. Burton narrates, explaining why they were cut, mostly for pacing. These are almost all finished animation, but some have storyboards edited in to fill gaps.

The Making of The Nightmare Before Christmas featurette (24:44, 1.33:1, SD) is a comprehensive look at the production. Writer/producer Tim Burton, associate producer/composer Danny Elfman, and director Henry Selick participate. The film required three production years, nineteen sound stages, over a hundred animators, sixty characters, about two hundred puppets, eight film crews, and several sophisticated motion control rigs. The short explores familiar topics, but not familiar territory: collaborative efforts; extensive use of storyboards; production design; the color palette; set design; the process of transforming artists sketches to sets; character sculpting; stop action animation techniques and puppet armatures; rotoscoping techniques; beam splitting techniques… the short demonstrates the dedication and efforts that were invested in this clever film.

In the section titled The Worlds of Tim Burton, you’ll find three subsections: Halloween Town; Christmas Town; and, The Real World. Each may offer some or all of character design sketches, animation tests, and concepts for a special environment associated with a particular character. Covered are: Jack; Sally; Oogie Boogie; Evil Scientist and Igor; Lock, Stock, and Barrel; The Citizens; Santa; and Santa’s Elves. Interesting stuff.

There are two Storyboard to Film Comparisons (4:37 aggregate, 1.33:1, SD) featuring two small over/under windows. Lots of screen real-estate is wasted and the detail quality is low.

The Posters and Trailers section offers five one-sheets, a teaser trailer (1:43, 1.33:1, SD), and a theatrical trailer (1:26, 1.33:1, SD).

The previews section is in HD: Disney Movie Rewards; Tinkerbell; Chronicle of Narnia: Prince Caspian; Disney Parks promo; a Disney BD promo; Sleeping Beauty; Beverly Hills Chihuahua; and, WALL-E.

And I should add that this edition comes with a Digital Copy DVD for transferring the film onto your portable devices, and a D-Box track for seismic sphincter stimulation. Whew… I’m exhausted. And out of time. I’ll only mention that there is a new commentary track by writer/producer Tim Burton, associate producer/composer Danny Elfman, and director Henry Selick.

The 76-minute feature film is organized into twenty chapters.

Final Thoughts

Tim Burton’s edgy style is blended perfectly with Danny Elfman’s music and humor. (Their trying collaboration on this film caused a bit of a riff that was subsequently repaired.) This is a delightful little film presented in a demonstration-worthy transfer with superior visuals and great sound. Add a very generous and informative set of extras and this Blu-ray Disc becomes highly recommended.


Here’s a note about the apparent duplicate Buy Guide. Our I.T. people are still hard at work on a large project and have not yet had the time to modify the underlying site database formatting code to accommodate the new 0-to-10 rating scales. So until they do, for HD on disc, I’ll insert this note and a Buy Guide at the end of the review text and leave the conventional 0-to-5 Buy Guide blank.