'Nightmare Before Christmas' Fun Facts And Trivia: 17 Lesser-Known Things From Tim Burton's Halloween Classic

Because Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” tells the tale of what happens when Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, it doubles as a Christmas and Halloween movie. While that’s an obvious fact, there are some lesser-known trivia and goofs provide by the Internet Movie Database about the Claymation cult classic. To find out more, continue reading:

1. It took three years for the cult classic to be completed. A group of 100 people help create 12 stop-motion moves for every second of the film.

2. Tim Burton was inspired to create “Nightmare,” which is based on a poem he wrote, after he saw Halloween merchandise being replaced by Christmas products.

3. The nose on Jack’s dog, zero, is actually a tiny glowing jack-o’-lantern.

4. Composer Danny Elfman, who also provided his lungs for Jack’s singing voice, said writing the songs for “Nightmare” was "one of the easiest jobs I've ever had [because] I had a lot in common with Jack Skellington."

5. The inside of Sally is filled with leaves.

6. “Star Trek” legend Patrick Stewart did the original introduction.

7. Tim Burton wanted to direct the film, but he was too busy with “Batman Returns.” Instead, the job was given to Henry Selick.

8. Chris Sarandon landed the role for Jack’s speaking voice because he sounded similar to Elfman’s singing voice.

9. Jack calls Santa Claus “Sandy Claws” even though he’s done enough research in the film to the correct spelling.

10. Oogie Boogie was initially supposed to be Dr. Finklestein in costume, but Burton hated the idea so much that he reputedly kicked a hole in a wall.

11. Burton convinced Disney to abandon an idea of a sequel. "I was always very protective of ['Nightmare'] not to do sequels or things of that kind," Burton explained in 2001. "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.”

12. One of the characters is based on Elfman: It’s the small man inside the bass during the scene with the street band inside town hall.

13. Jack tells Lock, Shock and Barrel no one can know about them kidnapping Santa Claus, but when they mistakenly return with the Easter Bunny, he isn’t concerned.

14. The hardest part of the movie to film was when Jack reaches for the doorknob to Christmas Town.

15. The spoon with holes Sally uses to trick Dr. Finkelstein becomes whole after she dips it into the soup.

16. Burton and Elfman had “creative differences” during filming, so Burton picked Howard Shore to write the film score for “Ed Wood.”

17. The strings that held up the bats that fly from the moon can be seen during “This Is Halloween.”

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