The Nightmare Before Christmas

故事发生在阴暗灰冷的万圣镇，那里住着各种各样的鬼怪，他们唯一的任务就是为每年一度的万圣节作准备。瘦高个子的稻草人，顶着一颗人类的骷髅头——南瓜王子杰克深受怪物的爱戴，但是却没有人知道他内心的痛苦，他有着诗人般忧郁浪漫的情怀，渴望着不同于万圣村邪恶之灵的生活。
当杰克无意在树林的深处发现了一圈有着奇怪的门的大树，他被其中一扇刻有圣诞树的门深深吸引了，好奇之下，他打开了这扇神奇的门，结果一下子坠入到了另一个洁白的冰雪世界——圣诞镇，镇上明亮的灯光和斑斓的色彩使稻草人惊奇不已，而镇上那种欢乐的气氛更让杰克心驰神往。为了体会圣诞节，他绑架了圣诞老人，并按照圣诞节的规矩生产“礼物”。
杰克有着美好的愿望——要给人们带来欢乐，但是他手下的妖怪却只会生产各式各样吓人的玩具，他们一心以为这是伟大的杰克想出的又一个“整人计划”，于是圣诞节还是变成了万圣节，人们从孩子的惊叫声中醒来，他们将穿着圣诞老人衣服正满心欢喜地驾着鹿车飞过天空的杰克一炮轰了下来……
by William Ruhlmann
Danny Elfman, who has scored many of
Tim Burton
's imaginative films (
Edward Scissorhands
, his two
Batman
films, etc.), is a perfect musical partner for the somewhat macabre director, and never more so than here, where, in fact, Elfman gets not only to write the music but to play the part of the main character. The Nightmare Before Christmas is an animated movie musical about the abduction of Christmas by the denizens of Halloween land, and Elfman sings the part of Jack, the Pumpkin King. The score is in his usual lush but threatening style (
Kurt Weill
is his biggest influence), but the highlight is Elfman's singing. Even in his rock band
Oingo Boingo
(now merely
Boingo
), Elfman doesn't get to sing like this. Granted, the soundtrack album inevitably lacks the film's outlandish visuals, but it tells the story on its own, and one is better able to appreciate Elfman's outstanding performance.