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 landmark, directed by Henry Selick from Tim Burton's vision and designs. Its blend of gothic imagery and holiday whimsy carved out a permanent niche in animation history, influencing decades of dark-fantasy family films that followed. The painstaking puppet work, set against Danny Elfman's score, gave the film a tactile, handmade quality rarely achieved before or since, and it remains a touchstone for collectors of animation history and stop-motion craft alike.
This cell centers on Timmy, one of the trick-or-treating children of Halloween Town, appearing here as Little Boy and Boy across the reel's sequence. These young townsfolk populate the film's opening scenes, establishing the community's mischievous, celebratory spirit before Jack Skellington's larger journey unfolds. Collectors prize material featuring the town's supporting cast, as it captures the ensemble texture that made the film's world feel lived-in and complete. A frame like this offers a piece of that foundational choir of voices, the everyday citizens whose presence frames the extraordinary story at the film's center.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area
Edge print
EASTMAN SAFE. TV FILM 06 (read mirrored as printed on the strip edge)
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image shows rich colour saturation with no visible fading or red shift
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks seen in this capture
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and are consistent with an animated feature matching the film on record
Era check
Eastman Safety Film stock with a variable-area optical track is consistent with a 1993 theatrical release print era, before DTS or SDDS became standard on all prints
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 000064602
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
