When Two Holidays Collide-Nightmare Before Christmas Treats

This is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

When Tim Burton's stop-motion animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, debuted in 1993, there wasn't much merchandise tied to the film. There were watches at Burger King, gift items from Applause, and a line of action figures. A good bit of that merchandise wound up getting marked down. Times have changed, and Jack Skellington and his crew are quite popular among collectors. The Jack plush toy above was a Disney Gram sold through the Disney Catalog.

When "Nightmare" debuted, it was actually released by Disney's Touchstone Pictures. There was some concern that the film was too dark. I believe the film was originally a Walt Disney Pictures release, but executives got cold feet and switched it to Touchstone.


The Disney Catalog has released a huge assortment of merchandise over the years. This cover featuring Lock, Shock and Barrel is from 2005.

I love seeing Halloween inflatables in neighborhoods. I have yet to see these, but I like them (especially Jack's flailing arms!).


Sally was also available. It looks like she and Oogie Boogie were stationary.




If you wanted, you could really give your home a Halloweentown makeover.



How about dressing up like Nightmare Before Christmas characters for Halloween? You can even dress up your dog, though your dog may not appreciate that.


It looks like it would be really tough to see out of that Jack Skellington mask.

Don't forget to decorate your front porch!


Those carved pumpkins look really impressive! There's lots of designs to choose from...



I really like these eerie lights.



How about decorating your Christmas tree with Jack Skellington heads? The animators working on the movie had different heads to pop on to the puppets. These ornaments show a few of Jack's facial expressions.



How about an Oogie Boogie candy dish for Halloween? Maybe you could fill it with gummy worms.


You can make your own Halloweentown with different miniature buildings.


It takes a village to create Halloween.

In 2005, Hawthorne Village created their own version of Halloween Town.

Hawthorne Village brought many of the buildings and characters from the movie to life (in light-up form).

I'm not sure if that cool moonlit background was included with the set.

Go ahead and get every piece in the set.  It's only money.

Hawthorne Village created other town themed collectibles, too.

You may want to check out It Takes A Universal Studios Monsters Halloween Village.

High-end collectors should not feel left out. The Disney Catalog offered limited edition pieces, too, like a Jack Skellington mask.


How about a mirror for your haunted dining room?


I like the character designs used for this nesting doll set.




I also think these felt ornaments are great...



As are these fun Christmas stockings!



Here's a great cuckoo clock by artist Addis Zaryan (he created some fantastic stylized Lion King merchandise for the Disney Catalog, too).


I've seen lots of Nightmare Before Christmas snow globes.

This one features the song "What's This?" I love the Christmastown Carousel with its Beluga Whale and other critters.

Ten years ago, Disneyland in California started changing its Haunted Mansion for Halloween and Christmas (Tokyo Disneyland in Japan also does this).



In October 2008, I got to visit Disneyland in California to experience "Haunted Mansion Holiday" for myself. It was one of my favorite parts about the trip.



New Orleans Square got mighty crowded with folks eager to see what was going on in the Haunted Mansion.


I did not even try to take pictures inside the attraction. I especially love how the Stretching Room is changed, and the Gingerbread House in the Grand Hall sequence (it is animated and smells wonderful).

I did manage to get some souvenirs!


Jack and his ghost dog, Zero, replace the Haunted Mansion's Caretaker and dog in the wonderful winter wonderland Graveyard scene. The Singing Busts have pumpkins on their heads.

Disneyland also had a great Jack Skellington bobblehead. Actually, I only saw this at the Disneyland Hotel, which is a short walk from Disneyland.


This bobblehead can also be found at Walt Disney World.

The hot item at Disneyland was a pair of Jack Skellington Mickey Mouse ears. I got a pair, of course!



Yes, I even had it personalized!


Happy Halloween, and Merry Christmas!