I'm not a huge fan of this movie (I like it, but the hype over it can get a bit ridiculous at times). That said, I heavily disagree with some of your points.
Oogie Boogie is really the only one who is intended to be threatening.
The only song I remember being particularly confined to one spot was the Oogie Boogie song.
I said many musicals, not all. 'Poor jack' probably stands out the most as being limited to one location, which really doesn't fit, especially in the second half.
Scenes suddenly changing tone: the finale, when it suddenly switches from a song that felt like it was building up to something (increasing tempo, etc), to Jack slipping after Sally and a romantic song. Jack changing his singing from describing happy things about christmas to the horror that is Santy Claws with no warning. Those are two of the worse examples, but frequently, it feels like I'm missing a couple of seconds from a scene (at least, thats how I experience it) Suddenly cutting off: The first conversation we see between Sally and Finklestein. Just after Jack finishes singing to halloween town about christmas for the first time, he goes quiet, in what appears to be the start of a more subdued personal song, sings one line and... scene ends. Jerky animation: jack eating the snow, jack falling down the snow hill, the part where Sandy has the vision of the burning christmas tree (is there ever any explanation given why she has that?)
Now that I remember it, you're right about "Poor Jack" (It's also one of the songs I don't like as much).
However, "This is Halloween", "Making Christmas", "Kidnap the Sandy Claws", that sad song near the beginning where Jack walks down the tentacle hill, and "What's This" all featured a variety of sets. That's a nice number for me.
Also, the burning Christmas tree symbolized how Jack's plan was going to end up ruining Christmas.
Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.
I'd accept that as the reason if it wasn't clearly shown in the rest of the movie that he didn't understand squat about christmas either, by kidnapping santa claus, giving children murdrous toys and all that.
You're right that Jack only gets the surface details of Christmas (The snow, the happiness, the lights, etc), but doesn't get the core. You'll notice that even before he changed the way he talked about Christmas to a more scary description, he was still just talking about the imagery like packages and trees. Jack is desperate for something new. However, the other residents of Halloween town don't even understand why those surface details are appealing when they've spent every Halloween Night trying to be scary-looking.
Jack kidnapped Santa Clause because he wanted the imagery of Christmas; the townsfolk created murderous toys because they didn't really know any better. It's all a classic case of imitation without understanding.
Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.Leave a Comment:
Great in design, but has some problems
Let's get this straight. The nightmare is not a bad movie by any standards. The designs especially stand out as incredibly detailed and beautiful, as do the characters. Many of its songs have become christmas classics, and there is nothing contestable about that. However, there are still some problems that can have a negative impact on your story experience. The main character, supposedly one of the scariest things in the world with a scream that terrifies all, is portrayed as a friendly, creative man at all times, with the only supposed scariness being expressions he holds for less than a second, which makes him feel like a bit of a waste in design. Many of the musicals, while having great music, have no real idea what to do with the character, who is just twirling around in a single location. The main villain is incredibly underwhelming in design and plans (seriously, a ghost-shaped cotton bag who, for some reason, has a gambling theme?) and does not deliver. The movie also has big problems with its tone at times, with single scenes switching tones or suddenly cutting off, which can make them feel disjointed. Even the animation, normally very good, has several notable drops in quality. However, I still recommend this movie for at least a single watch, even if it is just to see all the nicely designed characters.