Author: Chad Wyszynski and Audrey Lamsam
The yearly showing of The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D at the El Capitan Theatre opened to a full house Oct. 26. As per tradition, the event included more than just the digitally re-mastered 3D movie.
On opening night each year, the El Capitan Theatre invites a special guest to discuss the film before the actual showing. In honor of the 15th anniversary, this year boasted two surprises: a live interview with Composer Danny Elfman, who scored all the songs for the film and provided the singing voice for Jack Skellington, and a short performance by Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee.
After a montage of Elfman’s filmography, the audience welcomed the composer to the stage with a standing ovation. At the prompting of the emcee’s questions, Elfman discussed everything from the beginning of his career to his work on The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Several production clips of Elfman in the studio with Catharine O’Hara (voice of Sally) and Ken Page (voice of Oogie Boogie) provided a behind-the-scenes look at the recording process that Elfman went through on the film. He did not know that these clips were going to be shown that evening, but he responded candidly with a hint of embarrassment.
Although the production of The Nightmare Before Christmas took over two years, and it was Elfman’s first musical, he recalls it as being exceptionally fun and easy to create a score for. “Tim [Burton] would tell me about the story and I started getting ideas,” Elfman said. “Each song took me three days to write.”
Even though the inspiration for each song came to him quickly, Elfman recalls that he, producer Tim Burton, and director Henry Selick were very uncertain about how successful the movie would be. “No one who saw it was getting it,” Elfman said. “Tim, Henry, and I thought it was going to flop.”
Fortunately they were wrong, and the film is still being shown in theatres 15 years later.
Following the interview with Elfman, Amy Lee performed a rendition of “Sally’s Song.” Though different from O’Hara’s version, Lee’s was a welcome adaptation. Her mournful vocals lent themselves well to the song’s sorrowful tone.
After the interview with Elfman and Lee’s performance, the film felt like a bit of a letdown. It opened with several 3D gimmicks, but the movie itself was surprisingly devoid of them.
However, the picture quality and the depth of field in each scene was significantly improved by the 3D. The details of each character model were aesthetically richer, which brought out the life in the stop motion models. Seeing the film on the big screen was refreshing after watching it many times on a smaller television screen.
For those who missed opening night this year, inviting a special guest on opening night seems to be a new tradition. The El Capitan Theatre will screen The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D from Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, but Danny Elfman and Amy Lee will not make an appearance at any of these showings.
The El Capitan Theatre is located on Hollywood and Highland. Take the 2 South onto the 101 North, exit Highland Ave, and go west. There is parking directly across the street from the theatre.
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