SPOILERS AHEAD!

Who was Jack Skellington?

Jack Skellington was the spirit of Halloween. He was seen as a skeleton who was close with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Being a living skeleton, he is supernatural and can remove parts of his body without harm. He was the most important of Halloween spirits, with their job to scare people in the real world on Halloween night.

Jack was in charge of Halloween Town’s Halloween celebration, as he was the “Pumpkin King” and master of ceremonies. He was loved, respected, and idolized. Despite this, he had grown weary of celebrating the same holiday endlessly, and was sad about it. 

The only one who understood Jack’s feelings towards his holiday was a ragdoll named Sally.

Who was Sally?

Sally was a kind and clever ragdoll created by Dr. Finkelstein, Halloween Town’s scientist. Yet their relationship was very bad, as Finkelstein kept Sally with him at all time, under the excuse of protecting her from Halloween. Sally, however, was intrigued by the outside world. 

With the desire for something better in her life, it drew her to Jack Skellington.

What was “A Nightmare Before Christmas”?

Halloween Town was a fantasy world with various monsters and beings associated with the holiday living there. Jack Skellington, who was known and respected by citizens as the “Pumpkin King,” led them in organizing the Halloween celebrations. 

That year, however, Jack had grown tired of the same routine and wanted something new. He walked into the woods, and he saw six trees containing doors leading to other holiday-themed worlds and walked into the one leading to Christmas Town. 

Surprised by the holiday, Jack returned home to show his friends what he found, but unaware of the idea of Christmas, they compared everything to their idea of Halloween. They did relate to its ruler, Santa Claus. Jack went in his house to study Christmas by himself, and found a way to explain it so they could understand.

After he researched, Jack decided that Christmas should be improved and told everyone that Halloween Town will take over Christmas that year.

Jack assigned everyone in Halloween Town a job. These included singing carols, making presents, and building a sleigh that would be pulled by skeleton reindeer. Sally experienced a vision that showed that their efforts will end horribly. 

Jack dismissed it and assigned her the job of making him a Santa Claus suit. He then asked Shock and Barrel, two henchmen, to abduct Santa and bring him to Halloween Town.

Jack told Santa he would be handling Christmas in his place this year, and ordered the two to keep Santa safe, but against Jack’s wishes, they delivered Santa to Oogie Boogie, Jack’s rival – a bogeyman who loved gambling, and decided to play a game with Santa’s life at risk. 

Sally attempted to rescue Santa to save both him and Jack from dying, but she was captured too.

Jack left to deliver his presents in the real world, unaware of what was happening in Halloween Town, but instead they frightened the people, who then contacted the authorities and were told to lock down their homes for protection. When word spread about Jack being a threat, he was shot down by the military, causing him to crash in a cemetery. 

While Halloween Town believed that Jack was dead, he had actually survived. As he scanned the wreck he had caused, he found he liked the experience despite the wreckage.

Jack returned to Halloween Town and entered Oogie’s lair. He rescued Santa and Sally before he defeated Oogie by unraveling a thread holding him together,which caused the bugs that were inside him to fall out and reduced him to nothing.

Jack found and apologized to Santa, and told him that he can still save Christmas. Santa then showed Jack that everything was okay between them by making it snow in Halloween Town, which was Jack’s original dream and caused everyone to see the true meaning of Christmas.

Meanwhile, Sally and Jack express their love for each other.

How successful was “A Nightmare Before Christmas”?

The film grossed roughly $50 million in 1993, and was considered a successful film. It was known as an incredibly creative film and is still popular today nearly 30 years later.