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Rated: PG; Genres: Animation, Fantasy; With: Chris Sarandon
C
By Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is a film critic for EW

TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (PG) The hero of this animated musical fantasy is a friendly corpse named Jack Skellington. Jack's head is like a waxy, misshapen golf ball with huge black sockets where the eyes should be: He looks like a jack- o'-lantern after a car accident. Is he too grotesque a hero for children? Not really. The question is whether Jack is a charming enough apparition for kids or adults. Using stop-motion puppet animation, Burton and his team cram every frame with chattering ghoulies who scramble around miniature sets that are extraordinary in their surreal grandeur. Yet none of the little monsters ever becomes a character. In place of the inspired, hellzapoppin slapstick of Burton's best movies, Nightmare provides a joyless frenzy of movement. C ( 193, Oct. 22) -OG


Posted Oct 29, 1993
 

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