The Nightmare Before Christmas confused many parents in 1993 when kids who had seen promotional material for the film excitedly proposed a family trip to the movies, receiving concerned looks after announcing the title. For anyone who learned about the film via word of mouth, it immediately sounded like the next controversial assault on Christmas ala 1984’s Silent Night Deadly Night or 1980’s Christmas Evil. But The Nightmare Before Christmas was nothing of the sort.
It was a brilliant love letter to Halloween, Christmas, and an antique aesthetic of stop-motion animation that celebrated the macabre. The film opened to mediocre box office numbers but, over time, snowballed into a huge cult classic. Anyone who watched The Holiday Movies That Made Us learned some juicy details about Tim Burton’s temper tantrums when it came to creative input from others. Kicking holes in walls and breaking equipment may not fare well for another collaboration involving Tim Burton, but if Disney decides to produce a sequel to the beloved film, audiences would likely turn out for it.
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Some fans may be content with leaving it alone and have even proposed that The Nightmare Before Christmas is the third chapter in a Tim Burton trilogy about a man and his dog. The fan theory suggests Frankenweenie (2012) is the first chapter, Corpse Bride (2005) is part two, and The Nightmare Before Christmas is the third story, where Victor is now dead and became known as Jack Skellington in ghost form. While this may just be a fun play on Burton’s affinity for skinny male leads and Bull Terriers, it’s still fun to contemplate.
Should a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas be produced, it would continue to elevate Jack Skellington into Disney’s stable of iconic characters, many of which have had sequels produced. As the property has now gone on to receive massive merchandising, a full take over of Disney’s Haunted Mansion for five months out of every year, and countless re-releases and live events, it’s a wonder Disney hasn’t already produced a sequel or spinoff. A backstory behind any one of the film’s supporting characters would be fascinating. For example, how did Oogie Boogie come to be, why is he filled with bugs, and what’s with his affinity for gambling?
The Other Holiday Doors
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
When contemplating a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas, fans inevitably suggest the possibilities represented by the five other holiday doors found in the Holiday Woods or Hinterlands. While this compelling world-building plot device is only seen briefly in the film, it also appears in the Oogie’s Revenge and Kingdom Hearts II video games, but it has never been fully explored. Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving are all represented. Given a proper treatment, it’s certainly possible a new story could be woven that includes these unexplored realms and the characters who dwell within them.
Most interesting is Independence Day, which suggests the Hinterlands are the product of some kind of Americana mastermind, which begs the question, where are all the doorways to Holiday worlds that go unrepresented? Is Groundhog Day, Mardi Gras, Chinese New Year, and Hanukkah in some other forest? What is Martin Luther King Day world or the land of International Women’s Day? While the concept may have been kept brief to avoid this speculation into worlds of stereotypes and absurdity, it could also be used to draft a larger scope plot device that could bring Jack Skellington into a more meta realm of possibilities.
The only way forward from an already absurd concept is to break new boundaries. Sequels such as Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and Gremlins 2: The New Batch come to mind. Bill & Ted brought in Heaven and Hell, while The New Batch completely obliterated the fourth wall.
CG Stop Motion
It’s also possible Disney could play with alternate visual mediums for a sequel to the film. With the recent Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers film and the upcoming Lightyear, Disney has clearly become more self-aware. The Nightmare Before Christmas could easily be on target for a wild reimagining. As computer-generated imagery continues to make leaps and bounds in its ability to emulate stop-motion animation, it’s possible a proposed sequel to Nightmare could be accomplished with a completely new animation pipeline.
Alternate and new forms of animation technology were certainly employed with the rash of sequels Disney put out in the early 2000s with films like Little Mermaid 2 and 3, Lady and the Tramp 2, Cinderella 2, and countless others. Many people thought they were watching stop-motion animation with The Lego Movie that came out in 2014, but it was all in-fact computer generated. It’s possible the look of Nightmare could be fully accomplished with CGI, though purists may find such a notion offensive. Fans of the film should seek out a recently restored 1933 stop-motion animation short called At The Devil’s Ball, which features imagery that likely inspired the look and feel of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Whether Disney decides to experiment tonally with the brand, create a series spin-off for Disney+, or make a direct sequel, there is surely a loyal fan base that will jump on it. We’ll keep our ears to the ground for any new developments on this likely looming project.
