Christmas Book Review- The Nightmare Before Christmas

Title: The Nightmare Before Christmas

 Author: Tim Burton, Jun Asuga

Published: August 2005 by Disney  

Length: 176 pages

Warnings: Clean. 8+

Source: Forbidden Planet

Other info: Based of film. There’s a tonne of other stuff around too.

Summary : Jack Skellington's got the blues. He's sick and tired of his hometown holiday, Halloween, and is longing for something new. But when his soul searching leads to his good-intentioned kidnapping of Santa, things start getting pretty hairy!

 Review: A long time ago, longer now than it seems, in a place that perhaps you've seen in your dreams, the King of Halloween Town is bored, gets lost in his own forest, and finds an even stranger town than his own. Before he knows it, Jack's got his town working hard to give Sandy Claws the day off this year. Only rag-doll Sally is objecting, and no-one listens. Plans are made-make gifts, build the rain gear(reindeer) and whatever happens, keep the Oogie Boogie Man out of it!

This is a manga adaptation of one of my favourite films. Halloween and Christmas together = awesome. There's not much space for you to go wrong here.

Give you a review of the story? Well, why not. It's really cute, combines two great holidays and has a nice clear message that you should follow your heart and that evil does not win.

The character designs are the same, and we still get close to Jack and Sally and Zero the dog. Yes, one of my favourite characters is the dog. I wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of Oogie Boogie and the Trick or Treaters though.

The art lacks a little something. I say this because when I think of The Nightmare Before Christmas, I think of the slightly whimsical art from Burton. The art in this, provided by Jun Asuga/Kodansha seemed a little bit too clean, but was a very good imitation of Burton's style, with the style of the eyes and  the scenery and so on.

As with almost any adaptation, you're going to lose a few things in the crossover. The songs have all been dramatically condensed, as have the less important parts to the story. The good thing is that it retains the signature lines, such as the opening, the cry of "snakes eyes" and other familiar things, all while, more importantly, still making sense.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a must-read for fans of the series.

Links: | Goodreads | 


P.S. That's my last post before Christmas. Then you'll have next week full of my look at 2011. Happy Christmas everyone!!