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 in 1993 by Touchstone Pictures under Tim Burton's creative direction and Henry Selick's stop-motion craft, The Nightmare Before Christmas arrived as a genre-defying hybrid of Halloween and Christmas storytelling. Its labor-intensive puppet animation, gothic musicality, and crossover appeal made it an instant cult touchstone, later embraced as a perennial holiday and horror season staple. The film's success helped validate stop-motion as a viable feature format and cemented its place in animation history as a singular artistic achievement.
This cell brings together Lock, Shock and Barrel, the trio of trick-or-treating troublemakers who serve Oogie Boogie throughout the story. As a group, they represent mischief and comic menace, fan favorites prized for their matching devilish energy and their role as the film's chaotic agents. A cell capturing all three together holds particular value for collectors, since it distills their identity as an inseparable unit rather than isolating a single figure, preserving the ensemble dynamic that defines their presence in the film.
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, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single-track analog waveform.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image retains strong colour saturation with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, 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 stylised stop-motion aesthetic is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
A single variable-area optical track alongside a colour positive 35mm print is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 1990s, matching the 1993 release date 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 000064509
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
