Pop Culture Flashback: 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (Oct. 29)

Pop Culture Flashback: ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (Oct. 29)

Disney surprised many by releasing Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” which includes the kidnapping of Santa Claus by Halloween Town’s Jack Skellington. Disney thought that the movie would be too scary for kids, but it actually became a huge hit.

October 29, 2026

Is Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas a Halloween story that includes mentions of Christmas or is it a Christmas story with mentions of Halloween? That is the debate that has been going on since 1993.

1993 – ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is a stop-motion Disney film which tells the story about Jack Skellington. The spooky but gentle fellow lives in “Halloween Town” but in this movie, he stumbles into “Christmas Town”. Surprised by what he finds there and utters the phrase “What’s this?” over and over again in his delight, he decides that he wants to bring Christmas joy to his friends back at home and at the same time, bring a little Halloween magic to the other folks. His kidnapping of Santa Claus, proves that his ways are unconventional.

Directed by Henry Selick, the musical adventure includes music by Danny Elfman (who also provides the singing voice of Jack). Character voice talents include Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page, Paul Reubens and Glenn Shadix.

Deemed too scary for children in 1993, the movie was released under Disney’s Touchstone Pictures banner. Even so, the film became both a financial success and a hit with critics. It was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

In 2001, Disney began to consider creating a sequel to the story by using computer animation the second time around, but Burton wasn’t too keen on the idea, and the project was dropped. (However, in 2004, the story continued with the video game, The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogies Revenge.) It was also in 2001 when Disneyland began its seasonal “Haunted Mansion Holiday” overlay. However, the overlay has never made its way to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida. In 2019, Disney’s California Adventure began offering the “Oogie Boogie Bash” an after-hours Halloween party which is exclusive to that park.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

1998 – Astronaut John Glenn Returns to Space

At the age of 77, John Glenn was the oldest human to ever travel in space. This of course was his second trip – almost 40 years after his first adventure. The nine-day trip began on this day in 1998 aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Before his time as an astronaut, Glenn flew about 150 combat missions during both World War II and the Korean War.

1971: Grand Opening

(Walt Disney World Resort via Wikimedia)

52 million people tuned in for NBC’s special, The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World. The special included appearances by Julie Andrews, Glen Campbell and Bob Hope along with previews of exclusive Florida attractions including The Country Bear Jamboree, The Hall of Presidents, and The Mickey Mouse Revue.

1904: First Paralympian

George Eyser with his Olympic gymnastics team — *(Wikipedia)*

German-American gymnast, George Eyser, was the first athlete to compete in the Olympic Games with a wooden left leg. He earned six medals including a gold medal for the vault which was tougher back then. It included jumping over a long horse without using a springboard, which made Eyser’s try all the more impressive.

1969: First Email

UCLA professor Leonard Kleinrock and student programmer, Charly Kline attempted to send the very first email message between two computers. The pair planned on typing the word “login” to programmer Bill Duall at Stanford Research Institute but were only successful in typing the “lo” before the system crashed. At least it was a start.

1993 – Dick Van Dyke Diagnosed Murder

A group of doctors smile for the camera — Delores Hall, Barry Van Dyke, Dick Van Dyke, Scott Baio, Victoria Rowell and Michael Tucci in *Diagnosis Murder (CBS via TVDB)*

The CBS series Diagnosis Murder is often compared to Murder She Wrote as it too was headed by an older favorite movie star who helped to solve murder mysteries. But while Murder She Wrote was unrealistic at times, the medical-themed series was just plain hokey. At least in the beginning.

The pilot episode features the good doctor who not only has time to spend with his patients, but he also sings with his secretary and visits crime scenes.

Though Dick Van Dyke headlined Diagnosis Murder, it was really an ensemble show. Van Dyke played Dr. Mark Sloan, Chief of Internal Medicine at Community General Hospital in Los Angeles. Sloan often worked with the local police, and it helped greatly that his son, Steve Sloan (played by Van Dyke’s real-life son, Barry) worked as a detective.

Diagnosis Murder also featured Dr. Amanda Bentley (Victoria Rowell), hospital administrator Norman Briggs (Michael Tucci in seasons 1-4), Dr. Jack Stewart (Scott Baio in seasons 1-2) and Dr. Jesse Travis (Charlie Schlatter in seasons 3-8).

2012 – Ralph Wrecks It

Wreck It Ralph characters — *Wreck It Ralph (Walt Disney Animation Studios)*

Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Wreck-It Ralph, the studios’ 52nd animated feature, had its world premiere on this day in 2012 at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. Directed by Rich Moore, the feature film takes viewers inside the hidden world within an old video arcade parlor. Here, video game characters leave their games to socialize with other game characters.

Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) is the misunderstood villain from the fictional game Fix-It Felix, Jr. and Vanellope von Schweetz is the Sugar Rush racer wannabe. Together, they form an unlikely friendship in this celebration of video games. The movie also features the voice talents of Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch.

The film was a huge success in the theaters and won the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature in addition to receiving nominations for a Golden Globe and an Oscar. The movie birthed a sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet which was released on November 21, 2018.