25 of the creepiest Disney movies ever made
The Nightmare Before Christmas (Image via Touchstone Pictures)
21. The Nightmare Before Christmas
Many people will rightfully argue that The Nightmare Before Christmas is practically a classic. I’m not here to speak against that; after all, it’s both a standard movie for multiple holidays in my household. However, you can’t possibly convince me that it’s not fundamentally creepy. In fact, Disney released it under Touchstone Pictures because execs worried that it would be “too dark and scary for kids.”
The basis of The Nightmare Before Christmas relies on the existence of separate holiday-themed realms, accessed via doors in trees, all in a remote forest. Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King, the quasi-leader of Halloween Town. Skellington, who is an actual giant skeleton in a suit (and who, come to think of it, reminds me an awful lot of ultra-creepy Slenderman) is restless. There must be something more to life than year-round Halloween, he believes.
After a series of mishaps, Skellington stumbles upon the mythical tree-door setup and finds himself in Christmas Town. Said town is pretty much what you would expect. Where Halloween Town is full of ominous buildings and various friendly monsters, Christmas Town looks like a cozy village populated by elves and holiday lights. Skellington is entranced and seeks to recreate his own version of Christmas. Somehow, this also includes inadvertently sending children to kidnap “Sandy Claws” (i.e., Santa Claus). Jack tries to take over as Santa Claws, but humans are predictably terrified of the toys made by Halloween Town residents.
This is all pleasingly strange, in true Tim Burton fashion (Burton produced the film, while Henry Selick directed it). Where it gets actually frightening is with the introduction of Oogie Boogie, the film’s villain.
Rarely have I been genuinely scared of a Disney baddie, but Oogie Boogie is the real deal. He is… well, he’s a little hard to explain. Oogie at first looks like a black-eyed monster made out of burlap. He’s all set to apparently dismember Santa Claus. When Jack defeats him, it’s revealed that Oogie was made out of insects and snakes this whole time. If that doesn’t give you nightmares, then you may be Tim Burton himself.