The Nightmare Before Christmas is a stop-motion animated movie beloved by millions. It has the charm of any Tim Burton work despite being directed by a different person (Henry Selick) and has the kind of holiday spirit that appeals both to kids and adults.
That being said, The Nightmare Before Christmas receives its fair share of criticism as well with some considering it mediocre at best. To find out whether it is underrated or overrated, it's worth looking at the movie's elements separately.
10 Overrated: It Doesn't Have Much Of A Plot
When it comes to plot, there is not much of it in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Of course, things happen throughout the story, but that doesn't mean that there is a lot going on.
This is probably because there was definitely a lot more work put into the stop-motion animation itself rather than the script. In addition, as with many musicals, a lot of the run time is taken up by the characters just singing rather than moving the plot forward.
9 Underrated: It's The Perfect Holiday Movie
For Christmas, there are such classics as How The Grinch Stole Christmas (animated and live-action) and modern alternatives like Klaus and Arthur Christmas. For Halloween, there are such contemporaries as Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie, and Coraline which all have very similar vibes to Nightmare (and two are directed by Burton, in fact).
But what does The Nightmare Before Christmas do better than most other holiday movies? It's the perfect animated movie to watch for both holidays which is definitely a rare characteristic to come by.
8 Overrated: Its Look Is Too Dark & Uninspiring
In a time when every other animated movie is just bursting with colors, it was somewhat difficult to fully appreciate the look of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The movie's look is dark which can be uninspiring to some viewers. It borrows heavily from Tim Burton's work and director Henry Selick himself admitted that his own work is not all that different from Burton's.
7 Underrated: It Features Some Amazing Songs
As mentioned earlier, a lot of the time is spent on characters singing, but this singing is not done in vain— some featured songs are absolutely amazing.
Danny Elfman's Nightmare songs and the score itself are both some of his best work, and that's saying something considering his impressive resume. Standout tracks include "This Is Halloween," "Oogie Boogie's Song," "What's This?," and "Jack's Obsession."
6 Overrated: The Dialogue Is Mostly Quite Weak
Just like the plot, the dialogue is not this movie's strongest aspect. In fact, the dialogue in The Nightmare Before Christmas is mostly unremarkable.
The characters sometimes say cliched things while most of their conversations aren't particularly well-written. Thankfully, there are the songs to help them express what they want and feel which makes the dialogue's weakness not such a glaring issue.
5 Underrated: It's Some Of The Best Stop-Motion Animation Ever Seen
Unarguably, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a landmark in animation, but it's important to remember just how big the movie is particularly for stop-motion animation.
Right now, there are not many stop-motion animation movies being made simply because it takes so much time and effort to make one. But the ones that have already been created (and there are not as many of them as there are traditionally animated ones) help hold up stop-motion animation to this day.
4 Overrated: It's Just Too Scary Sometimes
The Nightmare Before Christmas is obviously not an all sunshine-and-rainbows movie. Far from it. But it isn't made primarily for adults either meaning that children always remain its target audience.
Unfortunately for some young viewers, the movie is just too scary sometimes making it difficult for some children to watch. Moreover, those who watched it as kids and are now all grown up remember having nightmares because of it.
3 Underrated: The Character Designs Are Unique & Original
Again, there was a lot of work put into stop-motion animation for this movie and it shows, particularly in the character designs which are unique and original.
Every character's shape, form, and color scheme resembles their personality. They are supposed to be scary but not so scary that they become unappealing completely. This is exactly what makes these designs so brilliant.
2 Overrated: It's Kind Of Boring, Especially To Adult Viewers
Though adults are not this movie's primary target audience, they still watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, especially when they have to watch it with their children. Obviously, some find the movie kind of boring.
This is probably the result of having a weak plot and not much well-written dialogue that would drive the story forward. Plus, singing is definitely not everyone's cup of tea.
1 Underrated: The Concept Is Completely Original
Perhaps the greatest strength of The Nightmare Before Christmas is that it has a completely original concept. Of course, it takes the two popular holidays and combines them using iconography from both, but the core idea has not been done before.
Tim Burton came up with the concept way back in the 1980s when he was working for Disney. But even though he initially planned to adapt the poem he wrote— also titled The Nightmare Before Christmas— himself, the slightly more established (at the time) animator Henry Selick took on directing duties, and Caroline Thompson wrote the screenplay, previously writing the screenplay for Burton's Edward Scissorhands.
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