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 in 1993 and directed by Henry Selick from a story by Tim Burton, The Nightmare Before Christmas remains a landmark in stop-motion filmmaking. Its painstaking frame-by-frame animation, gothic musical sensibility, and genre-blending premise made it an instant cult favorite that has only grown in stature over the decades, influencing countless animated productions and cementing its place as a perennial fixture of both Halloween and Christmas viewing traditions.
This cell preserves a piece of the Halloween Town Band, the ensemble whose music gives the town its restless, carnival energy. Jimmy on accordion, alongside additional accordion and bass players voiced by L. Peter Callender, Randy Crenshaw, and Greg Proops, represents the layered vocal and musical talent that built the film's distinctive sound. Collectors prize band imagery for its connection to the film's musical backbone, a piece of animation history tied directly to the voices and instruments that shaped one of the most memorable scores in stop-motion cinema.
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 appear clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip adjacent to it, consistent with a dual-format optical release print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any text or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm amber-brown tint across the image area; dye saturation appears intact with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or significant scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the armoured fantasy character visible is consistent with the stop-motion character design of the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track with an adjacent Dolby Digital data block 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 000064506
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
