The Nightmare Before Christmas

What’s it about?

Jack Skellington, a resident of Halloween Town, stumbles upon Christmas Town and becomes captivated by its charm.

The facts

• Directed by Henry Selick (Coraline, James and the Giant Peach)
• English language
• Runtime 76 minutes
• Starring Catherine O’Hara, Danny Elfman and Chris Sarandon

Why did it get this rating?

This film was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Horror

Santa Claus is kidnapped and held in a dungeon where he is tormented.

Throughout the film, there are creepy visuals and some characters have creepy features. For example, a character sports a hatchet lodged in their head; another character has their eyes sewn shut. A character can detach their arms and legs, we also see loose eyeballs.

In one scene, a character flips open their skull to reveal their brain, which they massage. Later, they remove half of their brain to place it into another character.

Jack orders three characters to kidnap Santa. As they prepare to kidnap him, they sing about the different cruel ways to capture and torment Santa.

A young boy pulls out a shrunken head from a present box, his parents scream in horror.

Presents that Jack gives out start to frighten people. For example, a vampire doll and sharp-toothed duck chase characters, a scary-looking plant creature corners another character with it's vines.

Jack makes a scary face revealing sharp teeth and letting out a scream at characters to get their attention.

Content that may disturb

A character drugs another character with "Deadly Night Shade" which knocks him out.

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Is The Nightmare Before Christmas is it a Halloween film or a Christmas film? - Blog