When Pumpkin King Jack Skellington stumbles from Halloween Town to Christmas Land, no one — except, perhaps, his perceptive little friend Sally — can foresee the impending disaster that will arrive when Jack attempts to take over Christmas for a year. He gets the Halloween Townspeople to help create toys and decorations, asks Dr. Finklestein (Sally's creator) to animate some reindeer skeletons for the big night, and enlists the help of three mischievous trick-or-treaters — Lock, Shock and Barrel — to capture Santa Claus for an enforced vacation. Although Jack warns the three to keep Santa well away from their boss, Oogie Boogie, they take Santa to the bogeyman anyway, without Jack's knowledge. And when Jack's scary Christmas presents and spooky sleigh elicit fear and heavy artillery from the real world, Jack knows he has to accept himself for who he is, rescue Santa and save Christmas.
The 1993 brainchild of Tim Burton and Henry Selick, The Nightmare Before Christmas made fans of even the most strident holiday-haters with its stop-motion animation and weird effects. But fans will discover that the film can get even weirder when they attend one of several metro-area screenings of The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D. Several theaters will host the movie between October 19 and November 19; visit the film website for showtimes and locations.
