This is Halloween

Happy Halloween!!

If you’ve ever met me, it should come as no surprise to learn that I am a huge Tim Burton fan.

My obsession started with The Nightmare Before Christmas (which is celebrating its 20th anniversary!!!!)

The eternal question.

Personally, I like watching it all year, but if I had to choose, I’d watch it in November (Ro recently said that most Tim Burton movies are perfect for “American Thanksgiving” – right between Halloween and Christmas!).

I don’t remember how old I was the first time I saw it. To be honest, I don’t think it really stuck with me until I re-watched it when I was about 12 or 13. And I can’t quite explain why it means so much to me.

For one, it’s absolutely beautiful and took an absurdly long time to make (approximately one minute of the movie took almost an entire week to film!).

Plus, I just love the story. The idea that Jack, tired of being the “Pumpkin King”, discovers Christmas and decides he has to experience it in his own way (Christmas is my favourite holiday). Maybe it’s the whole identity quest thing – is Jack better suited as a Pumpkin King or a Sandy Claws? What lesson will he learn at the end of this experiment? etc etc

I don’t know. I try not to over-analyze it because I don’t want to ruin it.

Then there are the songs, which I sing all year ’round (thanks, Danny Elfman):

Not only is this one of the best songs of the movie, but this particular version is a cover by one of my favourite bands, Panic! at the Disco!!

Of course, my favourite character is Jack Skellington himself:

Jack’s first scene. I squeal every time.

He’s tall and lanky and has musical tendencies. If he was real (i.e. not a skeleton), he would be my ideal man (he still kinda is…).

He’s also ambitious and intelligent and optimistic and generally a fantastic hero.

And now it just sounds like I’m fangirling over an animated character, so I’m going to stop before I make things weird.

Long story short: this is my most favourite movie of all time. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to give it a chance. Even if you think it’s cheesy or lame or whatever, I think everyone can appreciate the amount of effort that went into making this beautiful film.