Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Visual Companion

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Visual Companion - David A. Bossert - Disney Editions Deluxe

Commemorating 30 Years

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas was crafted as a piece of art: a visual masterpiece that blended together the genius of Tim Burton's simple story and endearing characters with Danny Elfman's eclectic music; Henry Selick's stop-motion brilliance; Caroline Thompson's heartfelt script; and the painstaking efforts of hundreds of artists, animators, and technicians - all wrapped in a world that only Burton could conjure up. Paired with stunning and never-before-released art and photography, this book transports readers into a one-of-a-kind, retrospective journey detailing how Nightmare was thoughtfully crafted and all the ways in which the fan community worldwide has embraced the film ever since.

"Of course, marrying stop-motion techniques with the spirit of the holidays was also influenced by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass—and their beloved television specials of the 1960s and 1970s. The Rankin/Bass stop-motion films like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (1970), and The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) were first broadcast while Burton was growing up in Burbank, California. Like Nightmare now does, they each had a fascinating and eternal appeal that Burton admired. He even sought inspiration from some traditionally hand-drawn animated holiday specials of the era, like Frosty the Snowman (1969) by Rankin/Bass and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966), which served a perfectly balanced medley of rhymes from Dr. Seuss, co-direction by legendary animators Chuck Jones and Ben Washam, and narration by horror film star Boris Karloff. “Those Christmas specials had a huge impact on me growing up,” Burton said. “I was of that generation where we watched them every year.” And, of course, his genius lies in marrying the nostalgia of those Christmas films with Burton’s other favorite holiday, Halloween."

• hardcover
• 224 pages

About Dave A. Bossert:

David A. Bossert is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, and author. He worked at The Walt Disney Company for more than thirty-two years and is now an independent producer, creative director, and writer. Bossert contributed his talents to The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Fantasia/2000, Destino and many others. He is a member of the CalArts Board of Trustees and is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) in Pittsburgh. Bossert is an authority on Disney animation history and has written numerous articles, liner notes, and concert program notes related to animation. He co-authored Disney Animated, which was named iPad App of 2013 by Apple and won a prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award