National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Produced by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick, The Nightmare Before Christmas was released by Touchstone Pictures in October 1993. The stop-motion animated feature represented a landmark achievement in the format, blending Burton's gothic sensibility with a musical structure that defied easy genre classification. Its visual ambition and distinctive aesthetic earned it enduring cultural relevance well beyond its initial release.

This cell, titled Oogie Boogie, captures the villain in close profile against a darkened background, his burlap-sack silhouette immediately recognizable. Across the three frames, a yellow coiled element emerges to his right while the casino-style lighting of his underground lair grows increasingly visible below, offering a layered glimpse into one of the film's most theatrically designed environments.