Merry Christmas! What’s up my know-it-alls!?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year again, and guess what. We’re kicking off the 25 Days of Christmas, where we unwrap a different Christmas movie each day leading up to the big day itself. We’re starting with a film that blurs the lines between Halloween and Christmas and makes you question which holiday is truly the spookiest.

The Pumpkin King Finds Christmas Town

The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by visionary Henry Selick and produced by the master of the macabre, Tim Burton, is a unique blend of Christmas cheer and Halloween frights. This stop-motion masterpiece introduces us to the charismatic Jack Skellington, voiced by Chris Sarandon, who also gets his singing voice from Danny Elfman.

Jack’s the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, a land dedicated entirely to the spooky season. But his life takes a turn when he stumbles into Christmas Town. Enchanted by the joy and warmth of the holiday, he decides to give Santa Claus, voiced by Edward Ivory, a break and take over Christmas. With the help of Sally, a rag doll brought to life with the heartfelt voice of Catherine O’Hara, and his loyal ghost dog Zero, Jack plans to deliver his own twisted version of Christmas to the world.

The film’s unique art style, memorable characters and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, also composed by Danny Elfman, make it a timeless classic. It’s a story about understanding and appreciating the beauty in our differences, and finding joy in new experiences.

I Don’t Know What This Is, but I’m Down for It

I love this movie. I remember the first time I saw it. It was in theaters, and I remember thinking to myself, I don’t know what this is, but I’m down for it. And it was amazing. Blew me away.

One of my favorite musical sequences is the Oogie Boogie one. “Well, well, well, what have we here? Sandy Claws, huh? Ooh, I’m really scared.” Bro. Oogie is rough. He’s amazing, though. The guy is so cocky. He’s like, who in the world do you think you are? It’s great. It’s so good.

And the fact that they always got everything confused when it comes to Santa Claus, calling him Sandy Claws, that’s a lot of fun.

I really liked the story that was there. I thought the relationship between Jack and, eventually, the rag doll character was such a fun one. All the little nuances of all the different characters are so unique, and they come to life in such a great way.

It Flipped the Christmas Special on Its Head

At the time, it flipped the whole Christmas idea of claymation on its head. We’ve all seen Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town and all the different ones over the years. But this introduced a new entry of stop-motion love and joy into all of that.

And because it’s our very first entry this holiday season, being so close to what we just left behind in October, I felt like it absolutely had to be the first one on the list.

The Verdict

The Nightmare Before Christmas gets an 8 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index.

That’s for its innovative animation, its enchanting story and its crossover appeal between two holidays.

It’s Christmas with the know-it-alls, and the 25 Days of Christmas keeps going from here with another Christmas favorite. Never forget, everyone loves a know-it-all!

What do you think? Did I get it right? Are there parts you love? Are you sick of hearing about it? Whatever the case is, the conversation lives in the comments on the video above.