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 under the Disney banner in 1993, The Nightmare Before Christmas arrived as a stop-motion oddity built from Tim Burton's imagination and directed by Henry Selick. It fused holiday mythologies into one macabre fairy tale and became a cult perennial, screened every autumn and winter since, cherished as much for its craftsmanship as its crossover appeal to fans of horror and fantasy alike.
This cell brings together Oogie Boogie, the burlap sack villain of Halloween Town whose gambling menace and insatiable appetite for chaos make him the film's chief antagonist, alongside Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King whose restless curiosity sets the whole story in motion. A frame pairing these two speaks to the central conflict driving the plot, the clash between Jack's ambitions and Oogie's schemes. For collectors, this is prime territory, capturing the film's darker, more theatrical register through an authentic 35mm print.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a two-track variable-area format; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are also visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the bottom edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at a legible resolution; no key numbers or manufacturer text can be read.
Base & colour
The clear base shows a neutral to very slightly warm tint; the dye image appears fully saturated with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be the same or near-identical frame of the same shot, consistent with a release print; the imagery is consistent with the animated feature on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track with Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1993 release period of the film on record.
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 000064492
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
