The Nightmare Before Christmas

Editor's Note:  Holiday Film Reviews commences our most festive season with a guest post from Thalia Heinrich, a young writer and family friend based in Iowa.   You can follow her as @thalia.doris on Instagram. She has written a review of the 1993 stop motion classic "The Nightmare Before Christmas."  Many thanks for your contribution to Holiday Film Reviews, Thalia!  

Premiered October 29, 1993

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a movie many people enjoy. Originally a poem written by Tim Burton, it was released the 29th of October, 1993. This movie, good for any time of year, is still enjoyed to this day, 23 years after it was first released. I’d like to discuss why.

Jack tries his hand at making paper snowflakes.

The beginning of the movie introduces us to outrageous and unique characters in “This Is Halloween," a well-known song that is fun to sing along to.

Jack Skellington explores Christmas Town in disguise.

We are introduced to Jack Skellington, voiced by Chris Sarandon (speaking) and Danny Elfman (singing).

The animation in this movie is brilliant. It uses dazzling stop-motion animation. The animators put a lot of work into getting every detail to bring the characters to life, and they do a really good job. Their hard work is clear in the movie, where you can see all the emotion displayed through each character. Another amazing thing they do with this movie is the contrast between Halloween Town and Christmas Town. Halloween Town is very dull, almost black and white, and Christmas Town is very bright, colorful, and sparkly.

The music in this movie is outstanding. It’s all written by Danny Elfman, who also sings for Jack. The songs are amazing, recognizable, and fun to sing along to. The writing is great and the singing is brilliant. The music is just simply unforgettable and one of the things that makes this movie one of my and many others' favorite. I also love the characters so much. They are wonderfully written and beautifully voiced. Even the most minor of characters are filled with emotion and personality.

A little boy gets an unexpected holiday surprise from Santa-Jack!

Overall, this is a wonderful movie for any time of the year. Wonderful music by Danny Elfman, outstanding acting by people such as Cathrine O’ Hara and Ken Page, and gorgeous stop-motion animation all help bring this movie together, making it a simply amazing experience loved by many even 23 years after it first hit theaters.

If you’re looking for a fun thing to do with your friends, family, or even by yourself, a Nightmare Before Christmas singalong is certainly something fun everyone can enjoy.

Witch's Night Out now available on DVD!

A couple of years ago when we reviewed Witch's Night Out,  we lamented the fact that it was not available on disc or streaming.  This special is one of our favorites and features the voice talents of Gilda Radner (as the Witch herself) and Catherine O'Hara, among others.

Well, we finally got a Halloween wish and this forgotten classic from the mists of 1978 is now available for purchase on DVD.   (It is also showing up several times on the THIS tv network -  so check your local listings!)

Thank you, fairy godmother! 

Naturally,  we pre-ordered our copy of the DVD as soon as we possibly could.    It is very nice to finally be able to watch  Witch's Night Out in crisp,  good quality DVD video.  Due to the age of the source material, there are a few artifacts that pop up, but the overall video quality is great.  Especially
when compared to the grainy, taped off tv copies that have been floating around the internet for some years.

For comparison purposes, here are a few screenshots from our previous review:

And hear are the same screenshots from the new release:

The DVD release also includes some unrestored, older, public-domain cartoons like an early "Casper the Friendly Ghost" short (WARNING: we thought the "Casper" short was sad, have some tissues on hand for that one) as well as assorted shorts featuring Felix The Cat, Popeye, the New 3 Stooges and Hoppity Hooper.

In addition to picking up the DVD, which was released by Mill Creek Entertainment about a month ago, Witch's Night Out fans should check out the special's official webpage.   You should also pay a visit to the Cross/Rogers blog to thank the folks who helped bring this Halloween classic to DVD.

We'd also recommend sharing Witch's Night Out with anyone you think might enjoy a little Halloween magical mischief and mayhem during this spooky season!


-- RigbyMel & J.A. Morris

SCTV: "Staff Christmas Party"

SCTV (AKA "Second City Television) was a series about an independent television station located in a fictional town called Melonville.  Most episodes presented a day of SCTV programming and lots of behind-the-scenes network politics.  In this episode, the staff Christmas party serves as a wraparound for the network's holiday programming.

SCTV - “Staff Christmas Party”

Maureen Wallace (Catherine O'Hara), SCTV's Director of Public Relations greets the partygoers as they arrive.

Aired December 18, 1981

It's Christmas Eve in Melonville.  The entire staff of the SCTV network has gathered at the studio for a Christmas party.  It's hosted by station owner, Guy Caballero (Joe Flaherty). Johnny LaRue arrives drunk, flirts with Maureen. Talk show host (and all-around sleaze ball) Johnny LaRue (John Candy) shows up to the party already drunk.  LaRue is in trouble for going over budget on his last project.   He used too many crane shots on a made-for-SCTV movie.  Caballero says LaRue needs to host his show Streetbeef, a show built around "person-on-the-street" interviews.  He begs Caballero to let him take the night off, to no avail.   Guy Caballero reminds LaRue who's boss.  Streetbeef:

LaRue is forced to go out in the streets of Melonville with one microphone and one camera.  It’s a cold, snowy night outside.  No one is out on the streets and all the businesses are closed. 

LaRue gets into a fight with his camera man and he’s reduced to sitting in the snow by himself talking into the boom-mic, looking into the camera. 

LaRue starts to ramble incoherently, until he gets a Christmas visit from the ultimate Streetbeef guest: Santa Claus!  Santa has a very special present for LaRue. 

Great White North:
The McKenzie Brothers, Doug (Dave Thomas) and Bob (Rick Moranis) host the Great White North talk show.  They advise viewers on how to get out of drinking eggnog during the holiday season.  Doug also performs a special "Christmas" version of the Great White North theme song. 

The Sammy Maudlin Show:

Sammy Maudlin (Flaherty) welcomes playwright Neil Simon (Dave Thomas) and Simon’s wife, actress Marsha Mason (Andrea Martin) to his chat show.  They’re promoting their new movie Neil Simon’s Nutcracker Suite, which will air on SCTV on Christmas Eve.  Maudlin and his sidekick William B. Willams (Candy) spend most of the time making jokes about the movie’s title.  They also keep calling Marsha Mason “Pamela Mason”, which makes her very angry.  

Later, we, the viewers, get to see Simon's movie. 

Neil Simon’s Nutcracker Suite:

Judd Hirsch (Levy) stars as Neil Madison, a Neil Simon-esque playwright, Marsha Mason (still played by Martin) plays his wife Jennifer.  They check into a New York hotel on Christmas Eve, where Neil intends to write a play that will feature Jennifer as the star.   

Neil & Jennifer encounter Richard Dreyfuss (Moranis) in the Nutcracker Suite.

He’s written several movies with her in mind, but never a play (this closely mirrors what Neil Simon had done for Marsha Mason in real life).  The hotel is overbooked, they have only one suite available: The Nutcracker Suite.  

Neil tries to calm Jennifer.

When they get to the room, Neil sits down at this typewriter and starts writing a new play.  

Neil takes a "reflective pause" while writing a new play for Jennifer.

He falls asleep and wakes up at midnight to find the Mouse King, a human-sized mouse, helping himself to food in the fridge.  

Neil is helped by the arrival of the Nutcracker Prince, played by Alan Alda (Flaherty). The Mouse King is winning the fight, until Neil tricks the mouse into leaving (Cheez Whiz in the hallway!).  

The Nutcracker Prince boxes with the Mouse King.

The Nutcracker Prince thanks Neil for saving his life and invites him to his suite.

Once there, Neil meets the Sugarplum Fairy and the Snowflake King, played by Maggie Smith and Michael Caine (actually Catherine O'Hara and Thomas), respectively.  They will give him the inspiration to finish his play and give it to Jennifer for Christmas.  

The Sugarplum Fairy (O'Hara) complains to Neil about being typecast...as a Sugarplum Fairy.

Dusty Towne's Sexy Holiday Special:
Next up, it's time for singer/comedian Dusty Towne's first-ever tv special.  Dusty's guests are comic-actor Divine (Candy) and Solid Gold dancer Marcie Odette (Martin).  

Dusty Towne (O'Hara) opens with a Christmas song and an opening monologue filled with sexual innuendo.  

Odette follows with an "interpretive dance" built around "Deck The Halls." Then Dusty performs a medley of Christmas songs with new, lyrics, most of which consist of sexual puns.  

Divine shows up next.  After a brief exchange of banter, they play a music video that features Divine performing Elvis' "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me".  

Dusty closes the show with a reading of a sexually charged version of "Twas The Night Before Christmas" called "What A Night Before Christmas". 

We cut back to the staff party, where Lola Heatherton (O'Hara) leads the staff in singing "White Christmas" in front of a chroma-keyed Bing Crosby. 

Lola Heatherton performs a "duet" with Bing Crosby.

Plus, we get a promo for SCTV's upcoming Liberace Christmas special!  And a commercial for "Frank Incense". 

J.A. Morris says:

I'll admit that it's hard to be objective here.  I remember catching some of this episode when it first aired in 1981 (on the first day of Christmas Vacation!).    

Dave Thomas as Liberace

Around 1987 or '88, I taped it during a "Nick At Night" Christmas marathon.  It became a Christmas Eve tradition for my parents and I to watch Sammy Maudlin, Neil Simon's Nutcracker Suite and Johnny Larue.  Every year the picture quality on that tape a little fuzzier.  Thankfully, it was released on DVD in 2003.  

Orson Welles (Candy) blows up on the set of Liberace's special.

It's a great Christmas episode, one of the best.  SCTV featured one of the best comedy ensembles of all time.  They're all great here, in every role they inhabit.  I still laugh at "Neil Simon's Nutcracker Suite" and Dusty Towne's horrible puns even if I can recite the whole episode by memory at this point.     

Liberace backs up Ethel Merman (Martin) on "Silent Night"

But one problem with this series is that much of what it parodies is now out-dated.  The Liberace promo and the Dusty Towne show are brilliant send-ups of variety specials that were omnipresent at the time.

The Nutcracker Prince arrives in the Nutcracker Suite.

If you're under 40, you probably don't remember those variety shows.  There's a running gag on the show about "Jane Russell's Cross Your Heart Bra" that won't make any sense if you don't remember the early 80s.  Also, who remembers Marsha Mason or Pamela Mason today? 

Edna Boil (Martin), sings at the Staff Christmas Party, backed by her husband Tex (Thomas) on organ.

But you don't need to know who they were to appreciate the Nutcracker Suite sketch.  Sammy Maudlin and William B. are brilliant characters, both personifying the schmaltzy phoniness of show biz.  And Candy is brilliant as Johnny LaRue.  His bit was taped on location in the freezing streets of Edmonton, Alberta.  Much of his dialogue was made up on the spot.  It's a hilarious, acting tour de force by the late, great Candy. 

Edith Prickley (Martin) and Lola Heatherton get sentimental & weepy talking about the movie Holiday Inn.

"Staff Christmas Party" is must-watch viewing in my house every Christmas and it's also one of the best episodes of a great series.    

Season's Greetings from Sammy Maudlin!

J.A. Morris' rating:
4 candy canes

Witch's Night Out

Premiered October 27, 1978

“This is what Hal­loween is all about, my dar­lings. Every day we go about our lives in the same old way, but once a year we can be what­ever and whomever we please! Pre­tend! Let your secret fan­cies run wild!” - Witch

Small and Tender in their Halloween masks

In this animated special,  two children named Small (Tony Molesworth) and Tender (Naomi Leach) are excited about going trick-or-treating in their Halloween costumes.   Small has chosen to be a werewolf, while his sister, Tender, is dressed up as a ghost.   They listen in on some of the local adults talking about Halloween. Town curmudgeons, Rotten (Bob Church) and Malicious (Catherine O'Hara), express their dislike of the holiday, while Goodly (John Leach),  who seems to be the town organizer, and his friend Nicely (Fiona Reid), think that dressing in costumes is just for kids and want to find a way to celebrate that will appeal to "adults, as people" and help make "a really definitive Halloween experience."  They decide a Halloween party will be just the thing ... they just need a venue.

Small and Tender listen in on the adults' Halloween plans

A spooky mansion on the edge of town -- does anyone else think it resembles the house in Psycho?

Meanwhile, in a dilapidated and spooky mansion on the edge of town,  a lonely Witch (Gilda Radner) is lamenting the fact that no one seems to want to celebrate Halloween anymore.  She hasn't had any "calls" for "wicked wishes" in ages and attempts to keep herself entertained by practicing spells on her cat.

What's a bored witch to do?

She perks up quite a bit when Goodly and Rotten come to check out her home as a potential site for their Halloween party plans and deem it perfect.  The witch has her OWN ideas about how this Halloween celebration will go --  "I'll turn the pumpkin pie into spider stew!  I'll turn the taffy apples into lizards!"  (Obviously, the witch doesn't know that Malicious has been assigned food duty and her additions probably won't be much ickier!)

Small and Tender trick or treating at Nicely's house

 Small and Tender are very disappointed when they go trick-or-treating and not only don't scare anyone but are easily recognized.   Nicely comments on how "cute" they are.   Malicious mocks them and tries to give them sardine meringue and pepperoni peppermints as treats (she's taking these to the party).

Small and Tender try to scare Malicious

The children go home where their family friend Bazooey (Gerry Salsberg) is there to babysit  (presumably their parents are going to the Halloween party).    Bazooey offers to read them a spooky Halloween story, but the kids reject this idea due to their recent disappointment, so he reads them a story about a fairy godmother instead.

Bazooey reads to the kids

After the story,  Small says Halloween would be more fun if he was a real werewolf, not just a kid in a mask.  Tender feels the same way and wishes to be a real ghost.  The Witch hears their wishes -- a call at last!   She puts her party mayhem on hold and hastens to grant Small and Tender's wishes.  She turns them into their costumes using her wand.  Small and Tender are delighted.  Bazooey is not quite so sure  this is a good idea,  but the Witch reassures him that it's only temporary.   Bazooey gets into the spirit of the evening and asks to be turned into a Frankenstein monster. The Witch is happy to grant his request and then invites the three of them to her Halloween party.

The party is looking pretty grown-up and not very Halloween-ish until the Witch and her transformed friends arrive.  They scare everyone, the party empties out in seconds. There is a stampede for the door - the Witch gets a bit trampled in the process.  The kids and Bazooey are disappointed, they didn't mean to scare the grown-ups quite that much. Things get worse when the Witch realizes someone has stolen her wand, this means she can't change anyone back to their regular forms.

You mean we might have to stay like this?

Meanwhile back in town,  the frightened grown-ups realize that Small,  Tender and Bazooey are missing.  They assume that the kids have been taken by "the monsters."  Goodly organizes a mob to hunt down the monsters and save the missing children, not realizing that the monsters ARE the missing children!    Meanwhile, Rotten and Malicious have discovered what happened to the Witch's wand (it was stuck in Malicious' hair) and they attempt to cast their own spells which prove to be ... well ... rotten.

Magnificent mayhem and running about ensues.  We don't want to spoil the ending though ...

This show is available as a VHS tape (and via other sources) but has not (yet) been released as a DVD or Blu-Ray.

RigbyMel says:

I remember watching and enjoying this special as a child.   I really like the quirky, minimalist way the characters are rendered.   The excellent voice cast as well as one of the catchiest theme tunes ever (groovy synths and all) makes this show a delight to hear as well as to watch.   Moreover,  this special really illustrates what Halloween should be all about - letting your imagination run wild and enjoying some spookiness in the process.

Our copy of Witch's Night Out is treasured annual Halloween viewing.

My rating:

4 Jack O'lanterns

J.A. Morris says:

I'm in agreement with my co-blogger here, this is one of my favorite Halloween specials.  For years, I couldn't remember much more beyond the catchy theme song ("Halloween!  Witch magic, Halloween!") and that it had a character named "Bazooey".  I searched for Bazooey one day a few years ago and found the title.  And I'm glad I did, you could say this is the definitive Halloween special.  
I wanted to add a theory I have about the Witch's appearance and lifestyle.  Some of her comments about being forgotten remind me of Norma Desmond, the forgotten movie star (portrayed by Gloria Swanson) in the classic film Sunset Boulevard.  It also looks like her head scarf and her dilapidated mansion may be inspired by Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale, as seen in the documentary Grey Gardens.

 

Little Edie

Witch

 

The Witch's quote about how Halloween is the day "we can be whatever and whomever we please" gets to the heart of the Holiday, and the voice actors are all excellent.  Catherine O'Hara and Gilda Radner are two of my all-time favorite actors (I'm a big fan of SCTV and SNL), they do a great job voicing Witch and Malicious. 
An excellent special, I wish the copyright holders would release Witch's Night Out on DVD, Blu Ray or streaming already!
My rating:
4 Jack O'Lanterns