National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2023
“The king of dark whimsy, Tim Burton won over an even larger (and decidedly younger) crowd with this delightful stop-motion animated offering. Jack Skellington, whose giant pumpkin head rests precariously on top of his rail-thin body, is the king of Halloween Town; one year he dreams of bringing a little Christmas magic to his humble hamlet.”
Selected for preservation as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Directed by
Henry Selick
Studio
Walt Disney Pictures · Touchstone Pictures · Skellington Productions · 73 min
Box office
$91.2M worldwide on a $24M budget
Honors
Academy Awards — 1 nominationAnnie Awards — 1 nomination
Scholarship
Named in the title of 13 peer-reviewed works
Examples
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Released by Touchstone Pictures for Walt Disney Studios in 1993, The Nightmare Before Christmas emerged from Tim Burton's imagination and Henry Selick's stop motion direction, a project years in development before animation techniques could match its ambition. Its hybrid holiday identity, part Halloween fable, part Christmas fantasy, made it a genre unto itself, and its distinctive character design and Danny Elfman score built a devoted following that only grew with repeated seasonal reissues. It remains one of the defining stop motion features of its decade.
This cell centers on Oogie Boogie, the film's chief antagonist, a burlap sack of insects whose menace and showmanship set him apart from Halloween Town's other residents. Collectors prize him as the story's darkest presence, the counterweight to Jack Skellington's ambitions. A single frame bearing his name and likeness serves as a marker of that villainy, a keepsake tied to the character's presence in the film rather than any particular scene, valuable simply for placing him squarely within the reel.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean throughout the strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as two white lines with a modulated waveform between them, consistent with a stereo optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base appears neutral to very slightly warm; the dye image shows strong, saturated colour with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light horizontal abrasion lines are visible across the lower portion of the strip, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot and the character and production design are consistent with the animated feature on record.
Era check
The stereo variable-area optical track format and saturated colour dye image on what appears to be a safety base are consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 1990s.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000064484
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
