As one of the must-watch movies of the festive season, it is hard to believe thatThe Nightmare Before Christmaswas considered something of a failure on its original release. While by no means a disaster, the stop-motion animated movie from the mind of Tim Burton did not really find its audience until more than a decade after its original release in 1993. In recent years, there have been calls for the spooky Christmas movie to be given a sequel…but it seems that would happen only if you were willing to take onTim Burton.
Legacy sequels may be all the rage at the moment, and Burton is alreadydeep in production on one such movie withBeetlejuice 2. However, any fans expecting him to revisit the story of Jack Skellington in the near future are going to be disappointed, as the director toldEmpire Magazinethat no one is going to make a sequel or reboot while he is around. Discussing the idea of continuing the story of Halloween Town in a special 30th anniversary conversation, Burton said:
“To me the movie is very important. I’ve done sequels, I’ve done other things, I’ve done reboots, I’ve done all that s–t, right? I don’t want that to happen to this. It’s nice that people are maybe interested [in another one], but I’m not. I feel like that old guy who owns a little piece of property and won’t sell to the big power-plant that wants to take my land. Get off of my land! You pesky little… You ain’t getting this property! I don’t care what you want to build on it. You come on my property… Where’s my shotgun?”
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Tim Burton is arguably one of Hollywood’s most innovative and respected directors, serving as a major trailblazer for goth culture on the big screen.
Why is The Nightmare Before Christmas so Special to Tim Burton?
The Nightmare Before Christmas
While there are many filmmakers who are happy to see their creations take flight – and pull in large wads of cash – with numerous sequels, spin-offs and reboots, Burton has always been more interested in telling unique stories. As he said, he has dabbled in the realm of sequels, but they have never been quite as successful as their predecessors, and that is not something Burton clearly wants to see happen withThe Nightmare Before Christmas.
The concept for Jack Skellington’s big screen outing began way back in 1982, when Burton was an animator at Disney, and wrote a three-page poem that would, over time, evolve into the Henry Selick-directed movie. Before that happened, though, Burton would see his idea go through many failed attempts, including a rejection by Disney – who would eventually make the movie following the success of movies likeBatmanandBeetlejuice.
As a project that Burton conceived from start to finish, despite the often hopeless outlook for his vision, it is hardly surprising that he does not want to risk anything tarnishing the reputation that the film built up over the last 30 years. While there may be some other projects linked to the movie in future, similar tothe “Long Live the Pumpkin Queen” young adult novelreleased last year, anyone still looking for that elusive sequel may have to accept that it is not going to happen on Burton’s watch.
