Dark Christmas: The Nightmare Before Christmas

I confess--I didn't watch this movie until recently. I'm not a huge fan of stop-action animation. And I don't much care for skinny stick figures. 

What is remarkable, however, is how easily Jack's stick figure conveys personality. He is another of those laid-back heroes!

I also consider the problem quite remarkable: Jack's profound desire to do more, to expand, to try out new possibilities, to embrace (as Sally recognizes) a new chance.

Unfortunately, the problem rather gets lost. The end of the movie comes across more as Jack accepting his status/holiday than Jack revitalizing a stale bunch of customs. Or, maybe, it's supposed to be about Jack learning to love his own holiday....? I honestly couldn't tell. The audience is never shown the "new" Halloween filled with fresh ideas. 

The overall point, here, however, is that Christmas has always had this dark side--ghosts, demons, death. 

In some Christian churches, the altar and windows and pews before Easter are draped in black. When Easter arrives, they are unveiled. Christmas and the Winter Solstice achieve a similar effect through natural phenomenons. Although several months of winter are still pending, darkness gives way to the light. 

And changeovers always produce gray areas. Topsy-turvy. Tales about the mischief at Yuletide abound! Burton isn't the first writer to kidnap Santa Clause. Frank L.Baum wrote a similar short story that evokes much the same sense of disorderliness. And in the Chronicles of Narnia, Father Christmas's reappearance indicates that the Queen's "don't step out of line" social order is crumbling in preparation for a far more satisfying and joyous social order.

I don't know if being a musical makes Nightmare less or more topsy-turvy, but horror musicals are also quite common: Repo the Genetic Opera, Sweeney Todd and even the second half of Into the Woods.

In any case, the "sing because you are shouting back against the dark as Nowell thankfully arrives" aspect is entirely in keeping with December holidays.