Crème de la crème of Christmas films, the baroque decors and uncertain lines that “The Nightmare Before Christmas” conceals are due to an astonishing process. Beyond having used stop-motion for the first time throughout, the animated feature film asked its artists to work in the most total discomfort.
The strange Christmas of Mr. Jack : when Halloween meets Christmas
It was in 1993 that Henry Selick made theunmissable animated gem what is The strange Christmas of Mr. Jack. A meticulous work stretched over a little more than three years, which gives this unusual work a captivating charm and a disturbing oneirism. Don’t hesitate to re-read our article about this director kept in the shadow of Burton’s genius, then busy finishing the filming of Batman: The Challenge. Tim Burton effectively remains the one who wrote the story and produced the film. And he also imagined all the characters more whimsical and endearing than each other. He also remains the man through whom the various topics discussed were conveyed. Among other things, the feeling of rejection, the difficult social integration that results from it and self-acceptance.
The strange Christmas of Mr. Jack lead us to Halloween Townwhere the inhabitants spread terror on Earth during the night ofHalloween. Skeleton Scarecrow and Pumpkin King, Jack is a genius at it! However, frightening others no longer amuses him. During his melancholy wandering in remote woods, he comes across a door that leads him to the heart of a marvelous place: Christmas Town. Amazed by this magical and colorful world, Jack immediately aspires to bring Christmas into his world. Even better than that, he wants to organize the next party.
Ambidextrous, turn around!
Crazy musical comedy from the fertile imagination of Danny Elfman, The strange Christmas of Mr. Jack is before everything a pure product of the Burtonian universe. And for good reason ! The world is there quirky and worrying, but just as magical at the same time. The mansions there are dented, the tombstones wobbly and the hill designed in an astonishing spiral. In the same way as the slender and unsightly characters, nevertheless phantasmagorical.
To achieve such a result, it was necessary playing tricks to create “nasty” results. Indeed, the artists who worked on the costumes, the sets and the various concepts were forced to work with their non-preferred hand ! Here is why Jack, Sally, Father Christmas, the trio of rascals Am Stram and Gram, or even Oogie Boogie are so original. Their creation required right-handers to pass the weapon to the left and left-handers to make their arms straight. Suffice to say that the people who can use both hands with the same ability had no hope of being able to work on such a project! This does not prevent anyone today from reproducing these characters by drawing with their best hand.
