Recap of #Nightmare25
So, October 29th, 2018 was the official 25th anniversary of The Nightmare Before Christmas! I figure since it’s nearing Christmas and it’ll be the end of the year before we know it, this is an appropriate time to recap just how important 2018 was for NBC and how many new things have come for this cherished Henry Selick/Tim Burton creation.
Zero’s Journey
2018 was God’s gift to all Nightmare fans alike. Because not only did we get another “sequel”, in a sense, but it was through a comic book that was focused on Zero! The art is adorable and the story is good. We got a glimpse into more of what Christmas Town is like nowadays and their thoughts on Halloween - a perspective I would’ve adored having many years ago.
Unfortunately, there are still fans out there who don’t know about this or haven’t read it yet. If you haven’t, definitely pick it up somewhere! TOKYOPOP really improved themselves from their Nightmare Before Christmas “manga”....
Journey to Halloweentown
Journey to Halloweentown is the pinnacle of potential Nightmare has for entertainment. In Hong Kong, Disneyland, there was a walk-through event where guests “journey to Halloween Town” and get to watch both face actors and animatronics perform a small but enjoyable show where they listen to Jack give a speech, help Sally make a treat, and watch Oogie Boogie try to torment a guest.
This celebration went unnoticed because it wasn’t in the United States. Regardless, find some more videos of the event and relish in what they’ve done with the movie. There are really amazing props and specially-designed animatronics you have just GOT to see.
Halloween at the Hollywood Bowl 2018
Surprisingly, Danny Elfman agreed to return to the “Halloween at the Hollywood Bowl” celebration for The Nightmare Before Christmas -- on October 26th and 27th, he was joined by Catherine O’Hara and Ken Page to reprise their singing roles and were joined by an orchestra conducted by no other than John Mauceri, along with a screening of Nightmare.
I consider this year’s event to be special because, besides missing Paul Reubens, they had a screen specially lit up with Nightmare designs and Danny actually agreed to come back! He doesn’t visit his role as Jack again very often and even hesitated doing Halloween at the Hollywood Bowl again. If you didn’t attend, then you should watch it online. It’s not worth it to miss it - any of these could be the last.
"Pocket Pop-Up” Experience
On July 21st, there was an artistic celebration at the Horton House in San Diego where they had a Christmas Door replicating the one in Nightmare that had a small version of Christmas Town inside. The event also hosted a collection where artists transformed Jack’s head with a theme to celebrate Nightmare’s 25th anniversary. They gave away lots of free merchandise, too(one being Zero’s Journey).
Did I mention Henry Selick showed up there, too??? He took a look inside the Christmas Door and posed with all the artwork. Definitely an awesome and noteworthy celebration.
D23 Comic Con Panel
Also in San Diego on July 21st, D23 hosted a retroactive behind-the-scenes panel that featured Henry Selick, Anthony Scott, Kelly Asbury, and Edie Ichioka.These members were able to share their experience with Nightmare, what it meant to them, and how the movie was completed. They even brought out concept art, photographs, and a miniature set-up mocking the film. They spoke a lot of animation, animators, and a lot of movie-related subjects.
The event was moderated(surprisingly) by the legendary Neil Gaiman! This event was SO incredibly important because we haven’t heard much from this set of cast. As Henry Selick ended the panel, “ …the pleasure and joy of everyone who worked on the film came into it and made it better, and I think that’s a big part of why it’s lasted, and why everyone here tonight has held onto it and welcomed it.”
Merchandise
Obviously Nightmare returned to debut a lot of new merchandise, toys, collectibles, games, etc. to celebrate their 25th anniversary. There were new animatronics sold by Spirit Halloween, special edition board games, FUNKO/VINYL pops, action figures, special edition DVD...you name it. If it wasn’t already over-commercialized by Hot Topic, it really took off this year.
There are some cool new things you should consider getting if you’re a big fan. I personally recommend a comic that came out this year, The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Story of the Movie in Comics by Joe Books LTD.
Game Appearances
It may not directly correlate to the 25th anniversary, but Nightmare characters have notably been introduced into Disney games as of late...For example, Disney Magic Kingdoms introduced the Mayor to their Nightmare character lineup, and Disney Heroes: Battle Mode recently brought Jack Skellington and Sally into their game to fight with other heroes.
It may be small, but it’s a serious step considering we have very few, if any, Nightmare-related games. The last time we had anything major was when Jack was introduced to Disney Infinity, so let’s hope these steps are leading to something similar in the future.
So, yeah, these were mostly the major events celebrating Nightmare’s 25th anniversary in 2018. There was news of a “Nightmare Before Christmas: Visual Companion” book to release this year but I haven’t heard any news of it. If any of you have, please let me know. I’d love to get it.
Overall, this was a VERY important year to mark for TNBC. There was a lot to celebrate, we got new information and appearances/interviews from the cast, and we even have new material for the movie. It’s been a very long time since the early 2000′s since Nightmare has gotten something as similar to this.
I’m very proud of you, 2018, and happy 25 to my favorite movie of all time.
