Henry Selick;The Nightmare Before Christmas(1993); Chris Sarandon.Photo:Getty;Disney
Getty;Disney
The Nightmare Before Christmascontinues to enchant fans as the animated classic turns 30.
The hit movie musical is celebrating three decades since its release in theaters, when it wowed audiences for the first time with its unique stop-motion animation,Danny Elfman-fueled soundtrack and heartwarming story set against a spooky backdrop — one that theWalt Disney Companywas originally hesitant to fully embrace, according to directorHenry Selick(Coraline).
But later, he says, “They embraced it and they took the Haunted Mansion [atDisneylandand Tokyo Disneyland] and, forHalloween, turned into aNightmare Before Christmasthing. So it didn’t seem to happen suddenly. It was just this steady growth, and then it ramped way up.”
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The Nightmare Before Christmas(1993).Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock
“The only time I worked with anyone,” says Sarandon, was with O’Hara, 69. “She and I spent, I think, a day doing the Jack and Sally scenes.”
Despite being somewhat blind to how the final movie was going to turn out, Sarandon trusted the process because he had faith in Selick, who “knew what he was doing.”
“A lot of young people come up to me and say, ‘This was a movie that made me feel like I belonged,’ because it was so strange and at the same time so beautiful, and its message was so positive,” Sarandon says. “And as it turns out, they, in turn, now are watching it with their children.”
The Nightmare Before Christmas(1993).Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
In casting for the lead roles of Jack and Sally, Selicktells PEOPLE that Elfman, who composed the music for the film, “was always going to be Jack.” But while “was phenomenal at singing,” Selick says Elfman “just didn’t really have the chops for the dialogue.”
So when it came to finding someone for the Pumpkin King’s speaking voice, Selick recalls feeling that Sarandon was a “phenomenal actor” whose “voice was close enough to Danny’s that it could pass” as the same character.
As for O’Hara, Selick says that she was Burton’s first choice for Sally. Burton, 65, had previously worked with the actress on 1988’sBeetlejuice. (The two are also reuniting for the upcoming sequel,Beetlejuice 2.)
The filmmaker recalls that O’Hara “struggled a little more because of the oddity of” Sally, adding, “I’d say it was her biggest challenge ever, as a performer.”
“She’s an incredible comedian and there was nothing outwardly funny about the character,” Selick says. “She’s clever and sly and she’s many things, but I had to work with her and she didn’t like how many takes [it took] — I had to do a lot of takes to get her in the zone. But she did beautifully, and then she sang the song really well, ‘Sally’s Song.’ She sang it beautifully.”
The Nightmare Before Christmas(1993).Everett
The film runs a tight 76 minutes, but as Sarandon points out, “Every time you watch it, you see something new, because there’s so many beautiful, first of all, visual components. And then there are also so many little visual jokes and so many visual interesting quirks, quirky characters who are not necessarily speaking characters, but who exist in this world.”
Selick has spoken out in the past about how Burtonincorrectly gets the director creditoften for the movie, which is technically titledTim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
And while it did “irk [him] a bit in the past,” as he tells PEOPLE now, “it’s not really a problem,” as it is Burton’s story and “for the most part, at least everyone in the industry, everyone in animation, knows it’s me who directed it.”
“I think it made sense to put his name on it to make sure people didn’t confuse it, maybe withNightmare on Elm Streetor some out-and-out horror film. So yeah, it bothered me more years ago. It doesn’t bother me at all now.”
Asked whether he’d ever work again in the future with Burton, who was also a producer on the Selick-directedJames and the Giant Peach(1996), Selick says, “I’d say it’s all about the project, and yeah, absolutely.”
“If it was the right project that we both had a passion for, no problem. I’d love to work with him again,” the filmmaker adds.
Tim Burton; Henry Selick.Daniele Venturelli/WireImage; Jemal Countess/Getty
As for a potential sequel, Selick says that the labor-intensive nature of the first film isn’t what would make him hesitant to create a follow-up — rather, he thinksNightmareis “a perfect movie [that] came out of the perfect time, only to grow into something far bigger over the years.”
“I think Tim in particular feels like, why mess with that?” he adds. “He certainly doesn’t need to make more money from a sequel. He has had so many other successes, and so far nobody’s come up with agreat idea for a sequel. And I still think that Tim gets to decide. I don’t think there’s any idea that would convince him.”
That being said, “It might be more interesting to do a prequel,” Selick says. “There might be a more interesting story there about how Jack became the King of Halloweentown.”
Sarandon would “absolutely” be on board to reprise his speaking role of Jack should another movie come to fruition, as he still provides the character’s voice for other media like video games, live shows and more.
“To quote Henry, ‘F— yeah,’ " he tells PEOPLE. “If there were a sequel, I’d be there in a minute.”
The Nightmare Before Christmasis available to stream on Disney+.
source: people.com
