The Nightmare Before Christmas: Tim Burton’s Self-Adaptation

One particular film can be seen as a cultivating landmark, creating a twist in genre and content in the Disney Animated Film franchise. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), produced by Tim Burton, had set a remarkable different tone with its Halloween setting and frightening characters and visuals throughout the film. But, not long before the film was created, Tim Burton himself worked as a Disney animator, though most of his work failed to make it in films. It was at his time at Disney where he created the idea and essence of The Nightmare Before Christmas through poem and drawings, and it wasn’t until a few years after he left Disney when he wanted to create the full-length feature film. Because Disney owned his work—the poem and drawings—they made a deal, but chose to release the film under the Touchstone Pictures label, as they felt the content was “too scary” for the Disney brand. From writer to producer, Burton has successfully self-adapted his own work, The Nightmare Before Christmas. In this panel, I will discuss Tim Burton’s early career as he begins to find inspiration for the poem and drawings alongside the making of the film itself. I will identify just how the film was adapted by none other than Tim Burton himself using Adaptation and Self-Adaptation Theories, with highlights on new material in the story, influencers, and physical adaptations in production