The Nightmare Before Christmas

故事發(fā)生在陰暗灰冷的萬圣鎮(zhèn)，那里住著各種各樣的鬼怪，他們唯一的任務就是為每年一度的萬圣節(jié)作準備。瘦高個子的稻草人，頂著一顆人類的骷髏頭——南瓜王子杰克深受怪物的愛戴，但是卻沒有人知道他內(nèi)心的痛苦，他有著詩人般憂郁浪漫的情懷，渴望著不同于萬圣村邪惡之靈的生活。
當杰克無意在樹林的深處發(fā)現(xiàn)了一圈有著奇怪的門的大樹，他被其中一扇刻有圣誕樹的門深深吸引了，好奇之下，他打開了這扇神奇的門，結果一下子墜入到了另一個潔白的冰雪世界——圣誕鎮(zhèn)，鎮(zhèn)上明亮的燈光和斑斕的色彩使稻草人驚奇不已，而鎮(zhèn)上那種歡樂的氣氛更讓杰克心馳神往。為了體會圣誕節(jié)，他綁架了圣誕老人，并按照圣誕節(jié)的規(guī)矩生產(chǎn)“禮物”。
杰克有著美好的愿望——要給人們帶來歡樂，但是他手下的妖怪卻只會生產(chǎn)各式各樣嚇人的玩具，他們一心以為這是偉大的杰克想出的又一個“整人計劃”，于是圣誕節(jié)還是變成了萬圣節(jié)，人們從孩子的驚叫聲中醒來，他們將穿著圣誕老人衣服正滿心歡喜地駕著鹿車飛過天空的杰克一炮轟了下來……
by William Ruhlmann
Danny Elfman, who has scored many of
Tim Burton
's imaginative films (
Edward Scissorhands
, his two
Batman
films, etc.), is a perfect musical partner for the somewhat macabre director, and never more so than here, where, in fact, Elfman gets not only to write the music but to play the part of the main character. The Nightmare Before Christmas is an animated movie musical about the abduction of Christmas by the denizens of Halloween land, and Elfman sings the part of Jack, the Pumpkin King. The score is in his usual lush but threatening style (
Kurt Weill
is his biggest influence), but the highlight is Elfman's singing. Even in his rock band
Oingo Boingo
(now merely
Boingo
), Elfman doesn't get to sing like this. Granted, the soundtrack album inevitably lacks the film's outlandish visuals, but it tells the story on its own, and one is better able to appreciate Elfman's outstanding performance.