‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Facts: 10 Things To Know About Halloween Movie

Almost 24 years ago the world was introduced to Tim Burton’s animated film, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Set in the fictional Halloween Town, the story follows the life of the king, Jack Skellington who gets bored of celebrating the spooky holiday the same way every year.

In his search to make the occasion interesting again, Jack stumbles upon Christmas Town, which he believes is the key to fixing Halloween. However, his brilliant plan to reinvent the celebration doesn’t go according to plan.

Over the years, the film has developed a cult-like following, but there are still several facts die-hard fans may not know about their favorite flick. Thanks to movie details provided by IMBD and BuzzFeed, you can check out these 10 facts that you probably didn’t know about “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

1. Tim Burton has never been interested in creating a sequel. In 2006, Burton told MTV that he has shut down any prospects of a “Nightmare Before Christmas” sequel. “I was always very protective of [‘Nightmare’], not to do sequels or things of that kind. You know, ‘Jack visits Thanksgiving world’ or other kinds of things, just because I felt the movie had a purity to it and the people that like it,” Burton explained.

“Because it’s not a mass-market kind of thing, it was important to kind of keep that purity of it. I try to respect people and keep the purity of the project as much as possible,” he added.

2. Burton also turned down Disney’s attempt to build a “Nightmare Before Christmas” ride. The company wanted to create a themed ride next to their “It’s a Small World” attraction, but the producer, who owns 50 percent of the rights to the characters, shut down the idea.

3. Vincent Price Jr. was almost the voice of Santa Claus. Known for his roles in “House of Wax” and “The Raven,” Price was initially tapped to voice Santa Claus, according to director Henry Selick. However, when the actor’s wife died, his own health began to worsen and his vocal performance on the film was deemed unusable. Ed Ivory was later recast in the role.

4. There is an alternate ending. In the extended version of the film, Santa Claus returns to Halloween Town years later where he visits Jack, who now has several skeleton children.

5. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is based on Tim Burton’s original poem. He wrote it after seeing Halloween displays replaced with Christmas decorations.

6. In Burton’s poem, only Jack, Zero and Santa existed. The rest of the characters were created for the sake of movie purposes.

7. The “Nightmare Before Christmas” took three years to make. The production required a crew of around 100 people.

8. Jack made his movie debut in Burton’s “Beetlejuice” film. The character can be seen on top of Beetlejuice’s carnival hat.

9. Although he wanted to direct “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Burton was too busy directing “Batman Returns” and “Ed Wood” to take on the task. Instead, Selick was hired for the job.

10. Disney didn’t want to be attached to the film. When it was initially released, they deemed it “too dark for kids.” Instead, the movie was released under Touchstone Pictures. Following the film’s success, the movie was re-released in 3D, and this time, Disney attached their name to the banner.