Summary
- The Nightmare Before Christmas features a variety of monsters and creatures that bring Halloween Town to life with their unique designs and personalities.
- The main characters of the movie, such as Jack Skellington and Sally the ragdoll, are ed by the residents of Halloween Town who add depth and charm to the story.
- From skeletons and ghosts to witches and zombies, each creature or monster species in The Nightmare Before Christmas adds to the quirky and spooky atmosphere of the film.
The Nightmare Before Christmas features a stunning array of monsters and creatures that populate the quirky, spooky setting of Halloween Town. Each is meticulously designed and full of character, truly fleshing out the location and its scenes. While many of them are unique creations based on Tim Burton's designs, there are also a few familiar species of monsters roaming the streets in Halloween Town.
The residents of Halloween Town appear throughout, proffering much to 's main characters. Most of them are fully exhibited during the movie's opening number, "This is Halloween," which establishes the bizarre town where it's always Halloween. Here is a look at every type of creature or monster species that appears in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
28 Skeleton
Skeletons appear throughout The Nightmare Before Christmas. Protagonist Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King himself, is the main skeletal resident. Jack, it should be noted, is slightly different than other skeletons, at times taking on an almost spider-like appearance and posture. There is also a series of skeletons hanging from the Hanging Tree, Jack's skeleton reindeer, and a rooster skeleton who crows the morning after Halloween.
27 Ragdoll
The secondary protagonist, Sally, is a rag doll constructed by Dr. Finkelstein. Her gift is that various limbs can detach from her body and quickly be sewn on, a power she uses to he advantage. Throughout The Nightmare Before Christmas, she can be seen performing ad hoc repairs on herself with a needle and thread. Disappointed by Sally's disobedience, Dr. Finkelstein creates a second rag doll to replace her, whom he marries and names Jewel.
26 Boogeyman
The most prominent boogeyman in The Nightmare Before Christmas is the villain Oogie Boogie. Oogie Boogie is a giant singing sack filled with an army of bugs. Though he lives outside of Halloween Town, he still partakes in their celebrations and his shadow appears on the moon partway through "This is Halloween."
Other boogeymen include The One Hiding Under Your Bed, who only appears in the number "This is Halloween," describing itself as having "teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!" There is also The One Hiding Under Your Stairs, with "fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!" This boogeyman has striped fingers, a long snout bearing tiny sharp teeth, and pushes himself around on a board with wheels. He also appears in the town meeting and during the song "Making Christmas."
25 Clown
The Clown with the Tear-Away Face sports a yellow polka-dot costume over his pale blue skin and is always riding a unicycle. The Clown has a high-pitched voice, but when he tears away his face, his voice turns deep and scary. He performs his own section in "This is Halloween," and is present throughout all major Halloween Town scenes in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
24 Ghosts
A quintet of singing ghosts appears throughout several musical numbers performed in Halloween Town. They offer their spectral vocals for "This is Halloween," most memorably "It's our town, everybody scream!" They also appear in "Making Christmas," and "Jack's Lament." However, the ghost of note is Zero the dog, Jack's dead pet dog - a theme of Tim Burton's.
23 Two-Faced Humanoid
One of the most iconic characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas is the Mayor. The Mayor has two faces, which can quickly spin atop his body to rapidly change emotion. Representing the duplicitous nature of politicians, the Mayor features heavily in the Halloween Town sequences and is often used as a comedic prop throughout the movie.
22 Vampire
The Nightmare Before Christmas has four vampires. They are all brothers who, during the day, shield their pale skin from sunlight with umbrellas. They appear in most Halloween Town scenes, singing the lines "In this town, we call home, everybody hail to the pumpkin song," in "This is Halloween."
21 Mummy
The Mummy Boy is a young Halloween Town resident, wrapped in linen bandages, with a single visible eye. He partakes in most of the songs performed in Halloween Town and often is found assisting the Mayor. His most noteworthy appearance in The Nightmare Before Christmas is operating the town's cat-shaped alarm following Jack's disappearance.
20 Humanoid
There is a smattering of humanoid creatures in Halloween Town, primarily Sally's creator, and Dr. Frankenstein analog, Dr. Finkelstein. Finkelstein is pale, with skeletal features and a penchant for building rag doll companions. Later, he also builds another humanoid companion to be his mate. Another notable humanoid is Mr. Hyde, a pale green-skinned man with two smaller versions of himself under his top hat - seen leading the parade through the town gates in "This is Halloween." The final humanoid can be observed next to the Grim Reaper in the town meeting. Often referred to as the Grim Reaper's Companion, she is pale-skinned and withered, with dark green eyes and messy yellow hair.
19 The Grim Reaper
The Grim Reaper himself appears twice throughout The Nightmare Before Christmas. He first appears in the crowd during the celebrations in "This is Halloween," his face cast in shadow by his cloak and armed with his scythe. He also attends the town meeting, where he sits next to a bizarre humanoid creature.
