Movie review: 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' in 3-D

Updated: October 20, 2006 - 9:03 AM

"Nightmare Before Christmas" an animated film by Tim Burton.

Photo: TIM BURTON, BUENA VISTA PICTURES

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Tim Burton's refreshingly macabre "The Nightmare Before Christmas" turns yuletide tradition upside-down and whirls it like a top. The hippest of all holiday classics, the 1993 release rendered anew in 3-D format remains a postmodern three-ring circus of morbid humor, eye-popping puppet animation and show-stopping songs.

Spindly Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween, is bored with preparations for his annual bash when he discovers Christmastown. Overwhelmed by the village's color and spirit, Jack decides to kidnap its ruler, the threatening Sandy Claws, and seize Dec. 25, recasting it with his own decaying, cobwebbed touch. Jack's helpers get the rough outlines right -- sleighs, gifts, reindeer and so on -- but flub the details, delivering cheerfully wrapped shrunken heads and snappish, hungry toy snakes, puzzling the children and horrifying their parents. Danny Elfman's clever musical score and catchy songs pack a theatrical wallop, while Burton's morbid jokes leave you aghast but giggling.

COLIN COVERT