 "Photo: Courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures")
Tim Burton's 1993 stop-motion animated film "The Nightmare Before Christmas" has reached cult-classic status: character figurines are sold year-round - not just during Halloween, thousands of costumes are sold every October and Jack Skellington is practically a household name.
So when long-time fans heard that the film was being re-released in 3-D this October, they filled theaters, expecting to get more than their money's worth - and I was no exception.
Perhaps it was chance, or maybe it was foreshadowing, but when three pairs of my plastic 3-D glasses broke as soon as I opened them, I knew I was in for a disappointing afternoon.
As fate had indicated, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," presented in Disney Digital 3-D, delivered a surprisingly boring experience.
Three-dimensional entertainment is known for making heads jerk, and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" didn't have enough screen-popping, heart-stopping moments to live up to the expectations.
It was cool that the movie was in 3-D, which made it appear more like live action, but it wasn't enough of a difference from the original to merit applause.
There were a only few moments when objects jumped out of the screen: one being a pumpkin that was hit with a hockey stick at the crowd, the other being the Disney Digital 3-D logo before the movie began.
Nonetheless, the storyline was, unsurprisingly, as entertaining as it was when the movie first came out (being that it hadn't changed), and it lived up to its reputation as being "fun for the whole Addams family," as reported by The New York Times in 1993.
Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon), the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, was as charming and simultaneously scary as ever, as he ventured into Christmas Town and tried to make Christmas his own.
Sally (Catherine O'Hara), the Frankenstein-like creation of Dr. Finkelstein, remained a depressing character, contrasting her almost uplifting romance with Skellington.
But the familiar plot wasn't enough to keep audience members from falling asleep: I took several catnaps, not only because I was up until 4 a.m. the previous night and could have seen the same movie at home, but also because the 3-D glasses strained my eyes.
Regardless of the lackluster remake, the audience members did walk away with one thing that made the experience more than a total waste: a pair of super-cool 3-D glasses.
Movie: The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D Director: Henry Selick Starring: Chris Sarandon and Catherine O'Hara Genre: Animation/horror Grade: C
Be the first to comment on this article!