Conference koolit::disney

    I guess the release is a bit later than expected.
    
    The premiere takes place in NY City on October 14.
    
    Mike

    While browsing through a bookstore the other night I came across Tim
    Burton's book, "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
    
    Burton wrote the story anddid the artwork for the book as well.
    
    It took me less than five minutes to scan the book and a few
    observations came to me:
    
        - The story is very short in length. I don't know how long the
          film is but I'd be surprised if it's longer than an hour.
    
        - The storyline is so simple it's predictable. I won't go into
          it here but needless to say, you'll figure how it turns out
          much before the credits roll before your eyes.
    
        - I can't see how such a short and superficial story will prove
          profitable for Touchstone. Unlike "Beauty..." and "Aladdin" I
          don't expect people will be breaking down the theater doors to
          see this flick several times...or even once.
    
    Mike Siskel 

    Playing Ebert to Mike's Siskel...

    I agree that "Nightmare..." will likely have trouble finding an
    audience but that doesn't mean it won't be worth searching out and
    actually seeing it.  That's what I intend to do.  

    Quite frankly, Tim Burton is slightly warped.  His films generally have
    a very dark, offbeat side to them (for example, "Batman Returns") but
    his "Edward Scissorhands" was actually a gentle sweet fairy tale in
    gothic surroundings. 

    Visually, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" should be a delightful feast
    for the eyes and there are at least a dozen songs to add to the
    experience.  Mike could be right that the story will be lacking but I'm
    willing to give it a chance and see the film before judging it.

    - Skip Ebert

    I agree with S. Ebert that visually the film is probably worth seeing.
    
    I just don't think there's much to the story.
    
    Oh well, about nine months for "The Lion King" and about 13 for
    "Pocahontas."
    
    Mike

Article 22462 of rec.arts.disney:
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From: DowJones@andrew.cmu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Disney Hopes `Nightmare' Will Scare Up Big Box-Office Sales
Date: Fri,  1 Oct 1993 06:16:32 -0400
Organization: Sponsored account, Systems Group 82, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
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  By Thomas R. King  

  HOLLYWOOD -- First, "The Little Mermaid" made a big splash. Next, and
bigger yet, was "Beauty and the Beast." And last year, Walt Disney Co.
topped itself again with "Aladdin," another instant animated success.
 

  Now, following that endearing trio, comes this year's animated offering
-- a film so dark and quirky that it doesn't qualify for an all-audiences
G rating; that is the creation of Tim Burton, the "Batman" director whose
previous work for Disney includes "Frankenweenie," a macabre black-and-white
short about a dog brought back from the dead; and that uses an animation
technique that was largely abandoned 30 years ago.  

  The movie is "The Nightmare Before Christmas," The Wall Street Journal
reported. If it sounds risky, it is -- but in a calculated way. Having
released three animated blockbusters in the past four years, Disney executives
sense that audiences need a breather from classic animation. "Nightmare"
is also an answer to some critics who say that all Disney's traditional
animated films are beginning to seem the same and who contend that audience
burnout may not be far off.  

  "Nightmare," which will have its premiere Oct. 9 in New York and open
gradually across the country after that, doesn't look like Disney animation.
And that's the point: Even if the film doesn't deliver megaprofits, Disney
is counting on it te that it can attract trendy high-school and college
kids who read magazines like Spin and Rolling Stone.  

  Moreover, the movie speaks to the aspirations of studio boss Jeffrey
Katzenberg, who after seeing "Howards End" last year set out to embrace
"art house" films. "Nightmare" isn't exactly "Like Water for Chocolate,"
but Disney expects it to be a critical success. As the studio increases
production to nearly 60 films next year, movies like "Nightmare" may
help to change its reputation as a cookie-cutter movie factory.  

  "Nightmare" is about pumpkin king Jack Skellington; his ghost dog,
Zero; and the other weirdos -- three ghouls are named Lock, Shock and
Barrel -- who live in a place called Halloweentown. The ghouls find Christmast-
own, kidnap Santa Claus and take him to a big meanie named Oogie Boogie
who wants to eat him for dinner. The music was written by Danny Elfman,
the lead singer of rock group Oingo Boingo, who also composed the music
for the "Batman" movies.  

  The movie wasn't drawn by Disney's animators but instead was filmed
in "stopmotion" animation, a painstaking process in which stick figures
and puppets are slowly moved about on sets and shot frame by frame. A
typical bit might take animators three days to shoot yet last only about
five seconds on screen.  

  "Nightmare," which took nearly three years to produce, will be released
under the Touchstone Pictures banner, not the family-oriented Walt Disney
Pictures logo. Disney says the film cost just over $20 million to produce,
far less than other animated films.  

  (END) DOW JONES NEWS 10-01-93   
    6 06 AM

Article 22463 of rec.arts.disney:
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From: DowJones@andrew.cmu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Disney's `Nightmare' -2-: Studio Faces Marketing Hurdles
Date: Fri,  1 Oct 1993 06:21:39 -0400
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  Disney executives believe that "Nightmare" will provide the perfect
break before they raise the curtain on two new traditional animated films
over the next two years, "The Lion King" and "Pocahontas." Had it opened
"Lion King" this year, the studio worried that the press would yawn if
it repeated for a third year in a row its elaborate press conferences
showing off unfinished scenes from the movies. Disney also didn't want
to put itself in the no-win situation where audiences would come to expect
an "Aladdin"-like hit every Christmas. That would set the company up
for an inevitable fall.  

  Further, "Aladdin" has sold $300 million of tickets world-wide so far
and is still in theaters. And its official release on videocassette today
will surprise video-industry observers only if it doesn't set a sales
record.  

  With "Nightmare," however, Disney faces major marketing challenges.
The movie isn't for the littlest tykes. Parents may be a tough sell,
with some troubled by the title. Others may remember Burton as the director
of "Batman Returns," a movie many parents felt was too scary for kids.
Yet trying to interest older children and young adults in animation is
a tricky task.  

  So Disney has mounted a splashy campaign to stir interest. It campaigned
successfully to stage the film's premiere at the prestigious New York
Film Festival. Behind the scenes, Disney's marketing staffers recently
visited theaters nationwide to prepare owners to push the movie hard
locally.  

  In each major city, the studio made presentations to theater managers,
encouraging them to engage in promotions with neighborhood retailers.
One way to attract the under-30 crowd, they advised, is to throw an "Oogie
Boogie Dance Contest." Disney also has flooded theaters with Halloween-motif
materials to decorate their lobbies.  

  But Disney, never a studio to alienate potential ticket buyers, has
warned theaters not to make promotions too scary. A guide recommends:
"Be sure to emphasize the fun, spooky side of Halloween in your decorations
rather than the morbid."  

  (END) DOW JONES NEWS 10-01-93   
    6 29 AM

I saw my first ad for this on TV last night.  It was very short, but what
they showed looked extremely bizarre (just what you'd expect from Tim 
Burton :-) ).

It'll be interesting to see what kind of reception it gets...

							--Nina

    Nina,
    
    Sorta like "Disney on Drugs" erh?
    
    Mike

>    Sorta like "Disney on Drugs" erh?

Exactement! :-)

I've since seen more ads on TV and also there was an article in Time magazine
recently.

						-- Nina

    Okay, so when is this film really coming out??  I haven't seen any of
    the TV spots and I thought it was coming out tomorrow but that doesn't
    appear to be the case.  Anybody know??
    
    BTW, I picked up the soundtrack last night.  I'm listening to it right
    now and it's great...  Easily the best thing Elfman has done...
    
    - Skip

    SKip,
    
    I think the film has already premiered in N.Y. 
    
    The film has been hawked on the morning news shows this week. Yesterday
    morning the musical effort was discussed.
    
    Earlier this week they talked about the actual filming. I think that
    very few people will understand the great effort needed to capture this
    story using stop action animation. Phew! I expect the credits at the
    end of the film to take about 10 minutes to roll by.
    
    Mike

>I think that
>    very few people will understand the great effort needed to capture this
>    story using stop action animation.

There was some info about this in the Time story.  If I remember correctly
(don't have the article to hand), they made around 200 heads for Jack
Skellington alone. They would have to change the head with each shot in order
to change his expression.    It also took a phenomenal amount of time, like a
day, and hundreds of shots (frames) to make only seconds' worth of film.

It looks worth seeing.  I've only been able to hear vestiges of music in the
ads, but it definitely has that Elfman sound... ;-)

							-- Nina

    Well, I thought I wanted to really see this film before but after
    listening to the soundtrack, I REALLY WANT TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!  :-)

    Danny Elfman did the score, the music and lyrics to the songs, the
    whole shebang.  And I am very impressed.  It's quite a departure from
    the style of Menken and Ashman, but if they're the "animated" Rodgers
    and Hammerstein, then Danny Elfman is the "stop-motion" Andrew Lloyd
    Webber.  The songs have a similar feel.  And Elfman himself provides
    Jack the Pumpkin King's singing voice and he sounds like a macabre
    Michael Crawford, adding further similarities.

    There are a few surprises too, like that of the narrator, who on the
    CD, opens and closes the story.

    And thankfully, Peabo Bryson doesn't do a duet with anyone... :-)

    - Skip

Maybe I'm a little square but, from what I've seen of the promo's on TV,
they'd have to pay me to see this one.

Doug

    Skip,
    
    Danny Elfman was not slated to be the original voice of Jack
    Skellington but after he wrote a few songs and saw some preliminary
    footage of Jack he told Burton that he has "bonded" with Jack and that
    noone could do him as well as he.
    
    On Wednesday morning Elfman sang a few bars from one of Jack's songs.
    
    Nina,
    
    The number of heads to have been made for Jack range from 200 to
    800. The piece on CBS This Morning said 400, The Disney News said
    800 and Time said 200. If anyone asks me how many I'll say "A lot!"
    
    Mike

    
    
    
    There is a hard cover book out about how this movie was made.
    I saw it yesterday at the bookstore in the Searstown mall in
    Leominster Mass. Boy they really are hyping this movie.
    
                  -=-=-R~C~W-=-=-

    
     Other than New York City, is this playing anywhere else this weekend?
    
    John

    re: .15
    
    You're right, Mike.  I think Tim Burton originally wanted Paul Reubens
    a.k.a. Pee-wee Herman to give voice to Jack.  Reubens does still
    "appear" in the film as another character though.
    
    re: .16
    
    Well, I don't think it's being hyped any more than other recent Disney
    animated features.  Both "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin" had
    "making of..." books (as well as storybooks) in stores when they
    opened.
    
    Of course, Disney hype tends to be a bit excessive anyways.  Imagine
    what the "Jurassic Park" hype would have been like if it was a Disney
    production.  Ugh...
    
    re: .17
    
    Well, it didn't open in Boston today... bummer.  I think it's playing
    at the Disney-owned El Capitan Theatre in LA if that's any help. 
    Didn't think so...
    
    - Skip

    I think the hype is far less than we've seen for BaTB and Aladdin.
    
    I think that The Lion King will approach what we saw for BaTB and
    Aladdin but I sense that Pocahontas will get the big push. I'm looking
    forward more to that movie than TLK.
    
    Mike

>>    I think that The Lion King will approach what we saw for BaTB and
>>    Aladdin but I sense that Pocahontas will get the big push. I'm looking
>>    forward more to that movie than TLK.
    
    Unfortunately, Mike, you may have to wait a little while for
    "Pocahontas".  It was reported in USA Today last week that "Pokie" will
    be released in the summer of 95...
    
    "Nightmare..." however will be in general release this Friday, Oct. 22.
    
    - Skip

    Skip,
    
    Sounds like Mr. E. maybe Jeff Katzengerh decided that TLK and Pokie
    were being planned too close together. Weren't the original plans for
    release of TLK in June and Pokie in November? 
    
    Methinks they want at least a 6-9 month window so they don't vie for
    the same dollar. Plus it gives each film center stage for
    merchandising.
    
    Mike

    I got see "Night Before Christmas" Friday night and I was very
    impressed.  

    The animation is very good.  If your only exposure to stop-motion
    animation is the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials, be prepared to be
    dazzled.  It's all very  smooth and some of the bigger sequences get
    pretty complicated.

    Certainly, the key draw here is the animation but as I've mentioned
    before, I enjoyed the songs as well.  And having visuals to accompany
    them is even better... :-)

    The story is pretty simple and straightforward but I don't consider
    that a drawback as it provides the framework for the film.  But it is
    fun and in parts, very funny.

    As an aside, I wouldn't recommend it for the very small fry but kids
    who enjoys the ghouls and goblin side of Halloween should eat this
    stuff right up.  There's nothing I would consider downright scary but
    the denizens of Halloweentown themselves could frighten the wee ones.

    - Skip

    Well I saw "Nightmare" over the Thanksgiving Weekend and I was very
    impressed.
    
    It's certainly not up there with "BEauty..." or "Aladdin" but it
    certainly has made some astounding leaps and bounds as far as stop
    motion animation goes.
    
    A few comments:
    
         - The opening of the film is quite dazzling. In fact I recommend
           you sit up front to catch the "simulated effect."
    
         - It wasn't the first time I had ever seen a two-faced politician.
    
         - Lock, Shock, and Barrel are hilarious.
    
         - Listen to the voice of the Mad Scientist...what other XMAS flick
           has this voice?
    
         - Oogie Boogie.....yechhhh!
    
         - The most intriging character is Sally. All I can say is that
           while you watch her use her hands and walk keep reminding
           yourself that you are NOT watching a human being.
    
         - The songs seem to fit although again they are obviously not
           meant to make the pop charts. 
    
    I'll be looking forward to getting this on home video just so I can see
    what it looks like frame by frame.
    
    Mike