National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas was released by Touchstone Pictures in October 1993, produced through Burton's collaboration with director Henry Selick and Disney. A landmark in stop-motion animation, the film blended gothic fantasy with musical storytelling, earning a devoted following that has only grown in the decades since its release.

This cell, titled Santa Jack, captures Jack Skellington in a sequence set against the deep purple atmosphere of Halloween Town, skeletal structures rising in the background. Three consecutive frames confirm a continuous shot, offering a rare glimpse of the Pumpkin King mid-narrative. Preserved in 35mm, the strip holds a quiet, cinematic intimacy that still photographs simply cannot replicate.