10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Nightmare Before Christmas

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 23 years since Disney’s The Nightmare Before Christmas dazzled (or frightened, depending on your childhood anxiety levels) our young hearts. Appealing to fans of both extremes of Halloween and Christmas, the Tim Burton flick has become a cult classic, inspiring countless creative endeavors from songs to artwork to clothing. Here are some crazy tidbits you may not have known about the Pumpkin King!

Tim Burton didn’t actually direct the film due to scheduling conflicts with Batman Returns. Instead, he hired friend, Henry Selick.

The movie was based on a poem Burton wrote in 1982 while working as an animator for Disney.

Disney considered developing The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1982 as either a 30 minute TV special or a short film but was eventually shelved for being, “too weird.”

There were 230 sets set up in 19 soundstages for the film!

It took an entire week of shooting to create just one minute of film.

Jack Skellington first appeared in 1988’s Beetlejuice.

Composer Danny Elfman crafted the music for the film without a script or storyboard.

The film earned $50 million during its first theatrical run.

Disney was in talks of building a ride based off of the movie at Disneyland but Burton nixed the idea.

Burton also turned down the idea of a sequel because he felt that some movies should just be left alone in order to keep its spirit intact.