The Nightmare before Christmas is a movie that never got a sequel, apparently Tim Burton who created the idea shut down a proposed CG sequel in the early 2000’s but did it really not get a sequel? As I mentioned in my Nightmare Revisited review the franchise got sort of a revival in popularity in the mid 00’s thanks to Hot Topic selling merchandise but we didn’t just get t-shirts and beanies we also ended up getting what is essentially the closest thing we have to a sequel and that’s a video game sequel which picks up a year after the original film.
The game came out in 2005 and was called Oogie’s Revenge and continues the story of the original film, now why is this interesting? Video Games were a lot more cinematic oriented during this time and it being CG is kind of what Disney was planning to go with the franchise but not only that they went to Tim Burton himself to ask him where he would take the story if there was a sequel. The story itself does feel like a sequel to me but more on that in a bit, let’s describe the story.
Jack finishes another Halloween and decides that for next year he wants something more and with the help of Dr. Finklestein who gives him this green band he’s able to use it sort of as a whip to get stuff so he ventures off to see what he can find. The whip attachment is purely for gaming purposes but it does give him an excuse to leave town, it’s also mentioned how he can become Santa Jack or Pumpking King jack to do various things but that doesn’t affect the story as much and is mostly for gameplay reasons. The kids from the movie sew back Oogie Boogie while Jack isn’t there and they trick the people in Halloween Town to make deadly traps so Jack would come back impressed. Oogie Boogie realizing there’s more than one holiday wants to become the only holiday leader so he kidnaps all of the holiday leaders and then goes to kill Santa. Jack is able to free the Holiday Leaders and then goes to Christmas Town to save Santa, he confronts the now Mega-Oogie and saves Santa. He realizes he doesn’t need to add new stuff to Halloween since it always causes problems and ends up happy with Sally again.
The CG is pretty good for the time and maybe because they’re re-creating figures and not people they actually look really good and not like a video game cutscene. Like the original movie it’s filled with music and it’s really good…but that’s because they’re basically the original songs with altered lyrics. The story is really uninspired and a rehash of the first movies plot with slight differences so because of this it does feel like a Disney direct to video sequel but that’s not a good thing. There’s also continuity mistakes like Sally still being with the Doctor and basically re-falling in love in this movie as if nothing had happened. So while it isn’t a great story if you feel like you need a little more of this franchise then it’s the closest thing we have to a sequel and you don’t need to play the game to get it you can just watch it on youtube, it only has the cut-scenes making a small “movie”.
Will we ever get a sequel? Not likely for a while but I do think we’ll eventually get one. Burton once had a plan relating it to St. Patricks day but he also mentioned how Jack visiting different Holidays wasn’t a great idea and he never saw Oogie or anyone as a bad guy so no real antagonists in the franchise. There’s also a prequel story with the GBA game The Pumpkin King but that one doesn’t have FMV CG scenes that can be posted as a “movie” and it mostly deals with Oogie and Jack fighting to become the Pumpkin King. Halloween is over but this franchise is one that blends both holidays together so this post is appropriate end the post with the hour long spin-off sequel The Nightmare Before Christmas 2: Oogies Revenge.
