National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas was released by Touchstone Pictures in October 1993, produced through Burton's collaboration with director Henry Selick and composer Danny Elfman. The stop-motion feature arrived at a moment when animation was expanding beyond traditional cel work, and its handcrafted aesthetic distinguished it immediately. The film has sustained a devoted following across three decades, becoming one of the more recognizable titles in the Disney library.

This cell, titled Sally and Santa Jack, captures Sally in a sequence of reaching gestures, her stitched arm extended upward against a dark background. The three frames move from a low-angle view of Sally alone into closer compositions where Jack joins her, the two figures drawn into proximity as her arm remains raised between them.