"The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced and conceived by Tim Burton. The movie tells the story of Jack Skellington, the King of "Halloween Town," who stumbles upon "Christmas Town" and schemes to take over the holiday. Jack becomes bored with staging yet another fright night for the sketchy members of Halloweentown and wanders away from town one night and stumbles across Christmastown and becomes immediately entranced. He decides to kidnap Santa and make himself the new king of Christmas Town so that he can have the happiness of Christmas all the time. However, Jacks evil nature proves harder to overcome than he thought, and his attempts to bring Christmas to his home cause confusion. The movie is a stunningly original and visually delightful work of stop-motion animation. It has something to offer just about everyone, with songs, laughs, and a little romance. The film has scary creatures in it, and characters take off their own heads and limbs, and there are skeletons, nasty toys, and a creepy villain named Oogie Boogie. Despite this, it is considered one of the great family films for all ages. The movie has been praised for its originality and daring, and it has been called a restoration of "originality and daring to the Halloween genre".